Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis (born Gary Harold Lee Levitch; July 31, 1945) is an American musician who was the leader of Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Gary Lewis is the son of Jerry Lewis and singer Patti Palmer. His mother, who was performing at the time with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra, intended to name him after her favorite actor, Cary Grant, but her son became "Gary" as the result of a clerical error. He received a set of drums as a gift for his 15th birthday in 1960. When he was 18, Lewis formed the band "Gary and the Playboys" with four friends. Joking at the lateness of bandmates to practice, Lewis referred to them as "playboys", and the name stuck. Lewis was the drummer, and Dave Walker was the singer and guitarist. Gary's mother was quietly funding the purchases of equipment as they believed Gary's father would not support the band financially. Without the Lewis cachet, the band was relatively anonymous. Even though he lived down the street from the Lewis family, producer Snuff Garrett was not aware of the band until a mutual friend, conductor Les Brown, informed him that the group was appearing at the Space Bar in Tomorrowland at Disneyland and that Garrett should give them a listen. Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on the Lewis name, Garrett put the band into the studio to develop, still financed by Gary's mother. Garrett pushed Lewis to improve his drumming skill, even getting Buddy Rich to tutor him, and, more importantly, made Lewis the singer and therefore the focal point of the group. By Lewis' own admission, his natural singing voice was not one of his strengths, and Garrett employed overdubbing techniques in the studio to enhance it. "This Diamond Ring" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 20, 1965, making Lewis an instant star. Besides The Lovin' Spoonful, the group was the only act during the 1960s to have its first seven Hot 100 releases each reach that chart's top 10. In addition to "This Diamond Ring", his hits include "Count Me In," the only non-British Commonwealth record in the Hot 100's top 10 on May 8, 1965, (number two); "Save Your Heart for Me" (number two); "Everybody Loves a Clown" (number four); "She's Just My Style" (number three); "Sure Gonna Miss Her" (number nine); and "Green Grass" (number eight). Lewis says he composed "Everybody Loves a Clown" as a gift for his father's birthday. He believed the song was too good, so instead of giving it as a gift, he recorded it. By 1966, Lewis was exclusively singing, replaced on the drums by, among others, Jim Keltner. Though he had the unusual talent of being able to play drums and sing lead simultaneously, Lewis opted to switch to guitar for concerts because the limitations of 1960s stage setups made it hard for audiences to fully see drummers, and he felt he should be more connected to the audience due to his role as frontman. In January 1967, his career was put on hold when he was drafted into the U.S. Army serving during the Vietnam War with the Eighth Army, until 1968. During his two years of service, he spent two months at the Saigon Airport and the remainder of the time in South Korea. Lewis has stated that he was reluctant to go to Vietnam, but he credits the Army with being the time when he "grew up". Lewis released a solo album in 1967 for Liberty Records called Listen!. He returned to performing and recording, but did not recapture his earlier success and five releases by the band that year peaked from 13th to 39th. In 1971, Lewis took a break from performing, operating a music shop in the San Fernando Valley and giving drumming lessons. In 1974, an attempt to start a band called Medecine, with Bill Cowsill of the Cowsills was not successful. His musical career was later marketed as a "nostalgia act" with appearances on his father's Labor Day telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, including the 2010 telethon which was his father's final one as host. In January 2012, Lewis released a new single, "You Can't Go Back". Lewis resumed touring in the 1980s, with various incarnations of the Playboys, generally featuring no other original members. One of the tours was scheduled to last nine months. In the summer of 2013, Lewis, along with a group of 1960s musicians including Gary Puckett (Gary Puckett & The Union Gap), Chuck Negron (formerly of Three Dog Night), Mark Lindsay (former lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders), and The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, toured 47 cities in Paradise Artist's "Happy Together" tour. As of 2025[update], Gary Lewis and the Playboys are still touring the world on their own and occasionally with other popular acts of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. The group performs on cruise ships, at casinos, festivals, fairs, and corporate events. Gary Lewis appeared in a credited role singing "The Land of La-la-la" with his father in Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958), where he played Jerry Lewis as a boy. He also was seen in the movie The Family Jewels (1965). He was cast in his father's movie The Nutty Professor (1963), but his part was cut out of the film because he appeared in a bar and was not of legal age to drink alcohol at the time. In 2009, on the nationally syndicated program Inside Edition, Gary met his half-sister Suzan Kleinman, who had learned from DNA testing results that they are related siblings, the children of comedy star Jerry Lewis. Lewis and his family reside in Rush, New York. Kehr, Dave (August 20, 2017). "Jerry Lewis, Mercurial Comedian and Filmmaker, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2017. Three months later they were married, and on July 31, 1945, while Patti was living with Jerry's parents in Newark and he was performing at a Baltimore nightclub, she gave birth to the first of the couple's six sons, Gary, who in the 1960s had a series of hit records with his band Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Shelley, Michael (October 23, 2018). "Gary Lewis, 'Jerry's Kid,' Runs for His Life". PleaseKillMe.com. Malamut, Joseph L. (1957). Southwest Jewry - Volume 3. Sunland Publishing Company. p. 80. Hoenig, Leopold (1999). Four Families. University of Wisconsin. p. 20. Levy, Shawn (1996). King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis. St. Martin's Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-3121-3248-4. Eder, Bruce. "Gary Lewis Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2017. Vogel, Michelle (2005). Children of Hollywood. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-2046-9. Lewis, Jerry; Gluck, Herb (1982). Jerry Lewis In Person. New York: Athenum. ISBN 978-0-6891-1290-4. Kamm, Herbert (January 9, 1957). "It's Quits For Martin And Lewis - Article 3" (PDF). Schenectady Gazette. United Feature Syndicate. Retrieved January 30, 2011. "Gary Lewis and the Playboys". Classic Bands. Retrieved January 30, 2011. James, Gary. "Interview With Gary Lewis". Classic Bands. Retrieved January 30, 2011. "The Space Bar in Disneyland's Tomorrowland [CLOSED]". Duchess of Disneyland. March 19, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2026. "Hot 100: Week of February 20, 1965". Billboard. September 12, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2011. "Hot 100: Week of May 08, 1965". Billboard. September 12, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2011. Violanti, Tony (July 15, 2016). "Gary Lewis admits to identity crisis because of his famous father". Villages-News.com. Retrieved August 25, 2016. Shasho, Ray (January 6, 2023). "Gary Lewis Leader of 60s Top40 Legends Gary Lewis & the Playboys". YouTube. Retrieved May 27, 2026. Relevant content occurs at 8:13-9:34. Cromelin, Richard (June 14, 1985). "Lewis: He's Not in the Army Now". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 28, 2019. "Gary Lewis – Listen! (2010, CD)". Discogs. October 16, 2023. Cromelin, Richard (June 14, 1985). "Lewis: He's Not in the Army Now". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 24, 2024. Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958 film) at IMDb Shasho, Ray (January 6, 2023). "Gary Lewis Leader of 60s Top40 Legends Gary Lewis & the Playboys". YouTube. Retrieved May 27, 2026. Relevant content occurs at 24:12-24:30. "Jerry Lewis' Alleged Illegitimate Daughter Homeless In