Jerry Lewis excludes his six sons from his will

[tenderfoot]

Jerry Lewis' six sons were purposely excluded from the late comic's will. The legendary comedian, who died in August at 91, explicitly asked that they receive no benefits from his estate.

In documents obtained by the Blast and People, the Emmy-winning star's last will and testament declares the exclusion of his children with ex-wife Patti Palmer, whom he was married to from 1944 to 1980.

"I have intentionally excluded Gary Lewis, Ronald Lewis, Anthony Joseph Lewis, Christopher Joseph Lewis, Scott Anthony Lewis, and Joseph Christopher Lewis and their descendants as beneficiaries of my estate, it being my intention that they shall receive no benefits hereunder," the excerpt said.

<snip>

Lewis is said to have cut ties with his other children shortly after adopting Danielle as a newborn. Lewis admitted in several interviews that he had been unfaithful to Palmer, particularly at the height of his popularity with comedy partner Dean Martin.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-entertainment-news-updates-jerry-lewis-six-sons-excluded-from-will-1506107758-htmlstory.html

But he raised billions...

[Kingofalldems]

1. One of the biggest jerks in Hollywood history.

I know Gary has his own money at least.

[dembotoz]

2. wills are the last opportunity for some to be an asshole

[Alice11111]

33. Even to his grandchildren 😂

[Warpy]

42. Yeah, no excuse for that, no matter how messy the divorce was

It's mean, spiteful, and vindictive.

[Alice11111]

43. All of that money, and his last message to his grandkids is, fuck off.

[Kaleva]

60. He gave it all to his wife. Everything I have is going to my wife.

There's nothing going to the adult kids and the grandkids.

[underpants]

3. Damn that's pretty cold

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. Can't say I'm surprised

His son Joseph, who died of an overdose at age 45, went public about Jerry's abusive nature. Gary later confirmed this.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Same result but different approach

My father disinherited me and my sister and brother, but left $35,000 to the neighbor across the street.

Instead of explicitly disinheriting us like Jerry Lewis, Dad was cagier. My parents each owned 50% of two houses with property. When Mom died, my sister and I inherited her 50% and we expected to get the other 50% when Dad passed. Instead, Dad put in his Will that his 50% of the houses should be made into a life estate. That means my sister and I didn't get full rights to the property. We can use and enjoy 100% of the property and we must pay taxes and maintain the property, if we sell the property, we only keep 50% of the proceeds. The other 50% of the proceeds go to four charities. Or if we die, our estate doesn't get the 100%; the charities get the same 50% of the properties.

You may assume that Dad was generous to a fault regarding his charitable intentions. He wasn't. The charities together will get over one million dollars (divided by four). My sister offered to pay Dad to buy her 50% before he died, but he refused to sell it.

Our brother was willed a trust but without sufficient assets in the estate, there was no corpus for a trust.

At least Jerry Lewis wasn't pretending to have them in his estate. His kids, my siblings, and I still get nothing essentially from our fathers' estates but he didn't give the illusion of inheritance.

[Alice11111]

34. So sorry

As an attorney, I saw a lot of people who were told they were in a will, and maybe even saw it executed, but at the end, they were disinherited. Not uncommon at all. Parents get pissed, get dementia, or someone influences them. You must be competent to make a will, but that is a low bar.

[mnhtnbb]

46. My husband was essentially written out of his father's will

when the father's 4th wife--yes #4--took a dislike to him. She got him to abolish the trust and leave
everything to her and my husband's sister and half sister.

The fourth wife was a real piece of work. Lived to be about 100. And as far as I know left everything she
had remaining (which had come from my husband's father) to her nephew. Had herself buried in the family
plot in Georgia. I've often fantasized about hiring someone to desecrate her grave/tombstone. I doubt
anyone in the family would replace it.

[More_Cowbell]

6. So Jerry and his wife knew only, like, six names?

And just rotated them around for those boys?

[Different Drummer]

15. I noticed that, too. n/t

[bdtrppr6]

7. final act of assholery

from one of the biggest, most unfunny(except for Nutty Professor) SOBs in the business. what a hateful old bastard.

[monmouth4]

8. Not a nice man. As was mentioned I used to perform as a child on the Steel Pier in AC and one of my

"friends" was the late, great Sophie Tucker. She liked me and was very kind to me. She hated Jerry Lewis and I trusted her judgment..

[lucca18]

12. Interesting story. Thanks!

[mountain grammy]

24. I grew up listening to Sophie Tucker.. my mom a huge fan.

wonderful artist. I would trust her judgement also.

[spanone]

9. Thanks Dad....

[oberliner]

10. Alternate headline: Jerry Lewis leaves his entire estate to his widow

To whom he was married for the last 35 years of his life.

[dsc]

11. Not according to the article

some went to his adopted daughter.

[oberliner]

13. No, it all went to his widow

Their daughter is second in line.

[Alice11111]

35. She will get it when wife dies, most likely likely.

[Mr. Ected]

16. Except that he specifically disinherited his 6 sons by name

It was not a quiet omission. And it underscores his innate assholery.

[oberliner]

18. Parents disinherit their children all the time

The most important thing about drafting a will is clarity so there is no room for dispute over the correct interpretation of anything left vague. Thus, he did what he did in the proper manner.

What his motivation was is something we don't know, but this sort of thing is not especially uncommon.

[Kaleva]

27. So? It was his money.

[tazkcmo]

52. Exactly.

His "children" can get a job and make their own money.

[PoliticAverse]

31. His lawyers most likely advised him to mention them specifically to preempt possible challenges...

of the will.

[Drahthaardogs]

49. Friends of mine have written their heroin addict child out

And I agree. There is money entrusted to another child for rehab, should she agree, but there won't be money to get high.

In their mind, it would only be perpetuating her problem by giving her a nice sum of money.

[LisaL]

45. Left money to his second wife, nothing to his six sons.

[oberliner]

47. Leaving one's estate to one's wife of 35 years is not unusual

Even if one had a wife and family prior to getting remarried.

[Mr. Ected]

50. Actually, it is unusual

Having prepared Last Wills and Testaments for literally thousands of clients over the years.

I have heard every conceivable angle regarding disinheritance. Some are poignant and understandable; others are driven by personal demons and would shock you if you heard them explained to you.

It was his money. Legally, he had every right to do what he did.

Maybe his six sons were jerks and knew they were to be disinherited because of their behavior. Maybe dad changed his will every month based on his last interactions with his family. Maybe Jerry was the jerk. None of us truly knows.

[oberliner]

51. How about if I amend "not unusual" to "not unheard of" ?

In any case, we have no way of really knowing what the relationship was like between them so I do not feel like it is fair to pass judgement - just my opinion.

[Mr. Ected]

53. Fair enough. I concur.

I was never a fan of Jerry Lewis and last night my feelings for him were the basis of my original post. Upon further reflection, this could have been predicated on any number of rationales. We're only privy to the result, not the basis.

[oberliner]

55. Thanks

And I'm a big fan of his, so that might be why I am looking for a less negative perspective on this.

[gilbert sullivan]

14. Thanks for the heads up! It's hard to know

who to hate without a scorecard!

[Xolodno]

17. I'll hold my remarks.

As much of an asshole move it was, from what I read, there really wasn't much left anyway, some property and a couple million. Apparently his sons and him haven't talked in a very long time...read somewhere that in one case it was at least 20 years, and we don't know if he made overtures. Also appears his sons had no love for the new wife and adopted daughter. Plus the ex-wife demanded 450k a year....don't know if she got it, but going to guess it was up there.

Appears the main thing of value is the "Intellectual Property"...and his sons have shown they had no problem in devaluing it. Internal family dynamics were obviously bad, but we obviously don't know the whole story.

[mentalsolstice]

19. Yet I was excoriated for my remarks in this thread

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029494674. Many advocates for persons with disabilities knew he was an ass. Yep you can go out there and bark like carnival dog and get credited for raising billions, but act like an ass behind the curtain. Are you still a hero?

[tenderfoot]

20. It appears the same people that flamed you...

are defending his actions here.

[Major Nikon]

22. I think so

When someone is dead, whether or not they were an asshole has to be balanced with what they managed to accomplish. Some people know they are assholes and figure out some way to redeem themselves. There also may be another side to this story that's not been revealed and never will be now that he's gone.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

21. It's more common than you think

I have seen it done for lots of reasons, one guy disinherited his son because he hadn't served in the military, another both his daughters because he believed they aided and abetted their mother's affairs.

Most of them were either because their kids were pieces of shit or they had offended their religious of social sensibilities in some way.

[Xolodno]

23. Yeap.

Seen a lot of it. We don't know the full story, so...

But its this type of headline that gets clicks. When it comes to celebrities, I always take the article with a truckload of salt.

[Alice11111]

36. ...political differences too

[WinkyDink]

25. Nobody here knows how his adult sons treated him. He did.

[Kaleva]

26. I don't really care if he left everything to his wife of 35 years.

[USALiberal]

28. My will leaves everything to my wife also. Nothing to children unless we both die. Not unusual! nt

[Alice11111]

38. That's standard because eventually you both die & the kids

get what's left. Mostly AHs disinherit their kids. There are many assholes though.

[LisaL]

44. This isn't the same.

He left money to his second wife and adopted daughter. His sons won't get anything even if second wife dies.

[Kaleva]

66. We dont know if the sons wont get anything when the 2nd wife dies.

She'll have her own will.

[JI7]

29. How old were the sons ?

[WinkyDink]

37. You don't remember Gary Lewis and the Playboys in the 1960s?! 😁 (He is 71 now.)

IOW, the sons are old men themselves.

[karynnj]

61. They had some good songs in 1964/1965 - then seemed to disappear

It was sort of sad to google to check if the songs I associated with them were correct and found that they actually have a website and they are an oldies act.

[LeftInTX]

65. Gary was drafted in January 1967

He served in South Korea

[karynnj]

67. I never knew that -- unlike someone with bone spurs who had less reason to want to remain in the US

Even a year later in 1968, music was totally different.

[Lunabell]

30. Abusive sob

And trump supporter.

[Warpy]

32. He was such a colossal fucking jerk offstage they probably didn't want anything

It's still got to feel like a final slap from the old man. I hope Palmer took him to the cleaners enough that their sons were educated.

More than one of "Jerry's Kids" reported feeling manipulated and used as props.

No, he was not a nice man.

[WinkyDink]

39. His sons were in their 20s and 30s when Lewis divorced, except for the youngest at 16.

That son died at 45 of a drug overdose.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lewis

[kerry-is-my-prez]

40. He had an after-death experience where instead of white light, he saw flames - sort of like hell.

I had always heard of people who had these wonderful experiences with a white light and there was an article where he had like a hellish experience.

[BannonsLiver]

41. There seems to be some who doubt that Jerry Lewis was an asshole.

Here is exhibt A and B (among many, msny more) that he was an asshole to the tenth power.

Dripping with misogyny and bigotry:

[oberliner]

48. The first clip is great

I'm not sure what you are objecting to there.

[BannonsLiver]

56. Probably the same thing the women in the audience objected to

Or did you miss their looks of utter disgust when he started waxing nostalgic about how he can't fuck anymore and his porn collection? During the telethon? Must have. Did you actually watch all of the clip?

[oberliner]

57. Didn't bother me

Old comedians make jokes about their declining sex life all the time. He's always been a pretty blue comedian. Not every audience member is going to find every joke amusing.

[TexasBushwhacker]

63. He's raising money for a disease that mostly effects CHILDREN

So yes, it's inappropriate. He's on national TV.

[elehhhhna]

54. Never funny, mean as a snake.

[Liberal In Texas]

58. Looks like he became a crotchety old man in his later years.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jerry-lewis-final-awkward-interview-explained-1031107

Met him in the 70s when I was working floor crew for an interview he did at our TV station. Seemed likeable then. Joked around a lot off-camera.

[MoonRiver]

59. Mean people suck!

[Abu Pepe]

62. that is fucked up and selfish

Even if the kids are asholes they should get some of his estate. Just by creating them he owes them some of his estate. IMHO

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

64. Talk about vindictive ...

Even his grandchildren cut from the will.

Oh, well, RIP anyway.

[Kaleva]

68. Why is this an act of assholery? The wife gets everything as is common.

She'll have her own will. The sons maybe excluded in that or they may get something when she dies. It'll be up to her to decide what becomes of her assets , including what she was willed by her husband, when she passes.

[tenderfoot]

69. From a friend that grew up in the industry...

I personally knew Joey Lewis, and even played his 17th birthday, with Jack Sherman, at the house in Bel-Air on St.Cloud Rd, in 1980, now owned by The Rock.

That was also the last night I'd ever see Darby Crash again, because he left that party, went home and killed himself...Dick Rude was there too.

That night, Joey told me horror stories about Jerry, what a monster he was, and Patti wasn't happy with him either.
Jerry was a total junkie, by self admission, for decades.

I know for fact Jerry was way strung out on Percodan all through the 1980s-through to almost 2003 when he had an implant put in to regulate his addiction issue.

He was an asshole.

He was out of his mind.

=================

keep grasping for the straws DU's LIBERTARIAN DOUCHEBAGS