Remembering the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon by Aaron Tanner
Labor Day on the first Monday of September usually means a day of work for most people as a sign that summer is coming to a close, and fall's crisp air will soon arrive. For some kids in the United States, it also means back to school. Once upon a time, kids in Alabama didn't go back to school until after Labor Day.
For many years during the last half of the twentieth century, Labor Day also meant that many television stations aired the almost twenty-four hour-long Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day telethon to raise money and awareness for Muscular Dystrophy. Many celebrities, including Dean Martin, Hulk Hogan, Cher, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Ed McMahon, would join Lewis and entertain viewers all night while operators were by their phones to help take donations from viewers. The numbers on the tote board got bigger after each act performed.
In north Alabama, the telethon aired on WHNT 19. I did not think much of the telethon as a child, except that meant no Price Is Right that day. However, I do remember local news anchors Jerry Hayes and Robert Reeves dressed in tuxedos standing by station staff operating the phones to raise money for the local MDA chapter late into the night.
Like anything involving helping those with the disability, there were mixed opinions about the telethon that ran from 1966 until 2014. The positive aspect was that the Muscular Dystrophy Association raised billions of dollars for the organization. Lewis helped bring the disability to the public forefront of public consciousness, which generated funds necessary for research and cures for Muscular Dystrophy.
On the flip side, some critics thought Lewis telethon was another way for non-disabled people to feel sorry for those with Muscular Dystrophy and only donated to the cause because they thought the show's people were helpless and were incapable of leading normal lives. Some reports indicated that Lewis used language that would not be considered politically correct today off stage to describe those with Muscular Dystrophy. Keep in mind that the public's opinion of those with disabilities was much different back then than it is today.
Whether Lewis' compassion for kids with muscular dystrophy was genuine or just for show, there is no doubt that promoting awareness of the condition would not be where it is today without the telethon. In 2016, the FDA approved a drug that could cure certain forms of Muscular Dystrophy for the first time thanks in part to the research funds raised during all those telethons. Lewis even had a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
Love it or not, the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon was once an American staple for the unofficial end of summer along with barbeques, a day on the lake or by the pool. It takes stamina to be up all night for something you are passionate about, which many who volunteered with the telethon had.
What are your thought and memories about Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon? Comment in the section below.