Tel Aviv, Sept 19: Veteran comedian Jerry Lewis, who once played a Nazi clown in the notorious 1972 Holocaust comedy "The Day the Clown Cried," is getting his own film festival in Israel.Veteran comedian Jerry Lewis, who once played a Nazi clown in the notorious 1972 Holocaust comedy "The Day the Clown Cried," is getting his own film festival in Israel. The Jerry Lewis World Jewish Film Festival will take place in Tel Aviv next year from Oct. 28-Nov. 3 in cooperation with the Jerusalem-based Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives.
Lewis, 77, who has battled ill health in recent years, has agreed to attend the event and lend his support through other activities, organizers said.
"The Day the Clown Cried," in which Lewis' character led Jewish children to their deaths, never made it to theaters officially because of litigation over its financing. It has been seen by only a handful of people, elevating it to a mythic status among film buffs and conspiracy theorists. Bureau Report