Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1991-12-26

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Ohio Hist.Society Libr
1982 Velma Ave. ^
Columbus, Ohio W
43-11 COMP
The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Serving Columbus and Central Ohio
Jewish Community for Cher 60 Years
VOLUME 69
NUMBER 53
DECEMBER 26,1991
19TEVET5752
DEVOTED   TO   AMERICAN   AND   JEWISH   IDEALS
Federations debate
raising Jews, money
;  page 2
UN Resolution repeal
is victory for all    .
* page 5
Wasserstrom program
scheduled
.. ...... page5
Binyan schedules
Amerijudaica '92
page 10
Population study to
be lecture topic
page 12
EARLY DEADLINE
Thursday, Jan. 2 issue
NOON, THURSDAY, DEC. 26
The OJC office will be closed on
Wednesday, Jan. 1.
i
In The Chronicle
At The JCC ..;.. 11
Community 5-7
.Federation ,  ;,..'.,: A ......... 4
FrontPage ,., ...... .2
' Lifecycle .....,.., 8
Marketplace. ..,-..,, ,;.,.....,,,..,.. U
New Generation .,  10
Scoreboard — ,.,..,...'....,. 8
' Synagogues  ,»9,
Viewpoint"......, ♦ ,< ..,,, 3
FEATURE
Ted Lewis — Star of stars
By Phil Sheridan
It was my pleasure recently
to participate in a special multi-media program honoring
Ted Lewis, who died in his
sleep on Aug. 25,1971 at age
81.
The activities were held in
the Ted Lewis Museum in
downtown Circleville and
were tied into the Central Ohio
Hot Jazz Society's "Fall Dixieland Jazz Festival," held
later in the day at the American Legion Hall. The free
event was funded by the Ohio
Humanities Council. In addition to my slide presentation,
the program featured a lecture by Andy Klein about
Lewis' influence on jazz and
videotaped excerpts from his
movies.
If you haven't visited the
Ted Lewis Museum, plan to do
so soon. It's right downtown,
at 133 W, Main St. A pleasant
30-minute drive south on Rt. 23
will get you there with no
problems. There isn't any ad>
mission charge, and you'll be
conducted on an entertaining,
informative tour, veiy likely
by either Polly Miller or
"Fritz" Cox, two wonderful
ladies who are ardently devoted to the cause of preserving
the memory of Ted Lewis.
Dedicated in 1977 by Ted's
widow, Adah, the museum is
housed in the only remaining
edifice that stood on the original town circleTSveiything is
arranged for easy viewing in
antique walnut display cases.
There are photographs, recordings, sheet music, posters, awards and many other
items of Lewis memorabilia.
A spotlighted focal point is a
memorial case containing
Lewis' clarinet, lucky top hat
and the sheet music of "When
My Baby Smiles at Me."
The Ted Lewis Museum is
open from 1 to 5 p.m. every
Friday and Saturday. Special
group tours may be arranged
by calling 474-3231 or 474-3834.
Circleville correctly claims
Lewis as its most famous native son, but Columbus can
claim him as a favorite son
"by adoption." Whenever he
came to the capital city, capacity crowds turned out to enjoy
his unique entertainment.
* Lewis played engagements
at the Loew's Broad, Loew's
Ohio and RKO Palace theatres and at old Memorial
Hall. He starred opposite
Sophie Tucker in a lavish
revuew called "Le Marie's Affairs" at the Hartman in 1926.
Lewis occupied the RKO
Palace stage longer than any
other Jstar performer in that
theater's history! He played
there three full weeks and four
"split" weeks for a grand total
of 33 days. Only Duke Ellington ever came close, playing
seven "split" weeks at the
Palace. Lewis and his band
appeared at the Loew's Ohio
three "full weeks, totaling 21
days. ~       ——
It was in 1907 that Lewis,
bom Theodore Leopold Friedman, began his show business
career as a vaudeville entertainer. His family and most of
his friends thought he must be
out of his mind, but that didn't
stop young Theodore ... or
| even slow him down! By 1925,
Lewis, Circleville's pride and
joy, had become the highest
paid star in show business. He
was Columbia Records' top
artist. He starred in 10 full-
length motion pictures.
Show business, vaudeville in
particular, was a rough, tough
way of earning a living. Con-,
stantly on the move, two
strange cities in a typical
week — if you were lucky
enough to be working at all—
packing and unpacking, and
often tied to the theater by a
grueling schedule. (The
"grind houses" ran from mid-
morning to near midnight
with as many as six shows a
day.) You had to have the
right stuff just to survive.
Lewish not only survived, he
prospered and led the field,
decade after decade, both in
the United States and overseas. He had the right stuff for
it. He was a star of stars.
Whether appearing in his
own club; or starring in New
York revuews, such as "Zieg-
feld-Midnight Frolic" (1919),
"Greenwich Village Follies"
(1921), "Le Marie's Affairs"
(1926) or "Artists and Models" (1927), or headlining his
own touring revue on stages of
theaters like the RKO Palace
and Loew's Ohio in Columbus,
Lewis gave his all. People
knew what to expect from a
Ted Lewis show, and he never
disappointed them with anything less. ._    *
But it was never easy.
Given a chance, the public will
forget you. Knowing that,,
Lewis never missed a promiP
tional opportunity. He entertained seven United States
presidents. He was the subject
of "This Is Your life" on television. Damon Runyon once
reported a poll listing the five
greatest showmen of modern
times: Enrico Caruso, Will
Rogers, John Banymore, Ted
Lewis, and Charlie Chaplin.
But vast fame and fortune
never caused Lewis to lose his
common touch. When I was
attending North High School
see LEWIS pg. 3