Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY
The comedian, director and actor was also known for his career-long battle against muscular dystrophy. He hosted The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon from 1966 to 2010.
At the end of a remarkable show business life, Jerry Lewis might be best remembered for "Jerry's Kids," the children affected by muscular dystrophy.
The consummate showman, comedian, director and actor became synonymous with throwing his worldwide fame into a career-long battle against the degenerative disease, most notably through The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, which he hosted from 1966 to 2010.
The prominent and seemingly unstoppable force, who ended each telethon singing You'll Never Walk Alone, was silenced for good when Lewis died Sunday
morning at age 91, his close friend Nancy Kane and his manager Mark Rozzano confirmed to USA TODAY.
Rozzano said Lewis died at home of natural causes, surrounded by family. "The world has lost one of the most significant human beings of the 20th century," Rozzano manager told USA TODAY.
The comedian's death was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The international star had worked through highly publicized health issues before. In June, Lewis had been hospitalized near his Las Vegas home for a urinary tract infection. His publicist Candi Cazau had predicted a complete recovery and a return to the actor's still-busy schedule; he was about to travel to Toronto for a movie shoot.
Previously, Lewis fell ill during a June 2011 appearance in Sydney, moments before he was expected onstage to raise money for muscular dystrophy.
He overcame that health setback and set his sights on appearing in what was to be his final performance at the 21-hour Labor Day telethon. But MDA chairman R. Rodney Howell thanked Lewis for "more than a half-century of generous service" and pulled the plug on the star's final show for reasons never fully explained.
Lewis would fall into his legendary grouchiness whenever he declined to talk about the departure - and never disclosed why he had dedicated himself to the cause for so many decades. But he remained supremely proud of his efforts to raise an estimated $2.6 billion for the disease.
"I don't know anyone in the world who has ever done anything that represented $2 billion dollars," Lewis told USA TODAY in 2016.
It would take someone of Lewis' energy and massive worldwide fame to make it happen.