The 86-year-old legendary comedian Jerry Lewis was hospitalized Tuesday night in New York just before he was due on stage to receive an award and also present another to Tom Cruise at the Friars Club Entertainment Icon Awards.
Lewis was scheduled to take the stage in front of hundreds at Waldorf Astoria on Tuesday night. Lewis was due to be honored with the Applause Award and to present Tom Cruise with the Friars Club Entertainment Icon Award.
Chairman of the Friars Foundation Ambassador Joseph Zappala told the crowd that Lewis had fallen ill shortly before the event and had been taken to hospital, but was expected to recover.
Accepting his award, Cruise later told the crowd, “I am sorry Jerry couldn’t be here tonight, but I know he is going to be fine.”
A publicist for comedian Jerry Lewis says he should be released from the hospital sometime Wednesday.
Publicist Candi Cazau in Las Vegas said colleagues have told her Lewis is fine. She says he is very busy and simply forgot to eat or drink and his blood sugar level took a dive. She says she doesn’t know if he collapsed, but he became weak and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
