American comedian Jerry Lewis dies, aged 91

Jerry Lewis, the American comedian, has died of natural causes aged 91.

Candi Cazau, Lewis’s publicist, said he died in Las Vegas yesterday morning, with his family by his side. Lewis became a star in a duo with Dean Martin, entertaining audiences in nightclubs, on television and in the movies. After their split in 1956, he starred in and directed hit films such as The Nutty Professor.

Later generations of Americans knew him as a conductor of telethons to raise funds for victims of muscular dystrophy. Lewis retired from making films in 1995, but returned in 2016 as the star of the drama Max Rose.