Jerry Lewis, 82, received the ‘Jean Hersholt Humanatarian Award’ at the 81st Academy Awards on Sunday and gave a heartfelt,  short speech,  in which he thanked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Eddie Murphy presented  the award to Lewis who is best-known for his annual telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association as an advocate of “Jerry’s Kids.”

Holding his hand over his heart, Lewis said, “Thank you…For most of my life I thought that doing good for someone didn’t mean you would receive commendation for that act of kindness. At least until now. This award touches my heart and the very depth of my soul because of who the award is from, and those who will benefit.”

The award is named after Hersholt, a Danish actor who co-founded the Motion Picture Relief Fund and served as an Academy president. The relief fund was established to help care for movie industry employees who couldn’t pay for their own care.

Murphy also paid homage to Lewis‘ role as an actor,  “Jerry has had a huge influence on my career and the career of just about every other comic who’s working in movies today,” Murphy said.

The muscular dystrophy telethon has been broadcast on Labor Day since 1966.

Posted by:  Holly Heels

Related Articles:

• 2009 Academy Awards Gallery [LINK]
• 2009 Academy Award Winners [LINK]
• Trivia Test Your Oscar Knowledge [LINK]
• Camera Zooms In On Brad and Angelina [LINK]

Topics:  BehindBlondiePark/Academy Awards                                                                                                source:  ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tags: 2009 oscars, Academy Awards, humanatarian award, jean hersholt, jean hersholt humanatarian award, jerry lewis

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 8:11 am and is filed under Academy Awards, jerry lewis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.