Michael Hayde’s latest book, Side by Side: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on TV and Radio, fills in a gap that most biographers tend to overlook – their radio career.
His mother introduced him to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis when they watched Jumping Jacks(1952) on television one afternoon in the early 1970s. “They were much funnier on The Colgate Comedy Hour,” she remarked. That sparked a lovely conversation that planted the seed for Hayde’s love and appreciation for their careers.
In an era where most biographers are preoccupied with the motion-pictures and their bitter breakup, the comedians’ radio and television program have largely gone overlooked or – at best – documented through observations of viewing the programs and listening to the recordings.
Die-hard fans will agree that Martin and Lewis were at their best on the weekly television comedy, and the radio program flopped at first until the fall of 1951 when the same script writers of the television series began writing the radio scripts. (Anyone who listens to those 1950 radio broadcasts and compares them to the 1951-1954 broadcasts will agree as well.)
That is the beauty of Michael Hayde’s book – he fills in the gap that has been overlooked. Heavily researched, with details from salary costs and recorded interviews, Hayde corrects a number of errors that appear in other books and sets the record straight.
Anyone who has a copy of Michael’s other books (Dragnet, Charlie Chaplin, The Adventures of Superman) know how well he writers and how far he digs into the archives. Looking for a Christmas gift? You can buy a copy of the book today at www.bearmanormedia.com
