|
Post by Jessica on Apr 10, 2021 0:26:46 GMT
I think it's more likely that he had bi-polar disorder. My friend Kayla who has that issue, has said many times that it seems Jerry was suffering from that issue. He definitely had the paranoid thoughts at times. There were notes sold on ebay that he had written in 1954, that seemed like he was having a paranoid episode, and the writing was all over the place and seemed frantic a bit. I think Patti had left at that time, and he was definitely trying to figure out how to "cut the cord" with Dean and even Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. Also I had no idea until the other day, when I read in an article, that Jerry's doctor at one time was the notorious Dr. Feelgood who was basically injecting everyone in Hollywood with meth. I'm sure that didn't help his state of mind.... I mean I knew he took uppers and downers, but didn't know about this. He also did cocaine at some point, because Patti found it along with the pot. Oh yeah, I remember you telling me bi-polar has been suspected. I did not know that he might have been injected with meth. That's horrible! Struggling that much mentally along with the physical pain from his 1965 fall. It explains lot and he was probably taking things in desperation if he didn't get proper help. It may also explain his mood swings. We can only go with what's more likely and speculate, and bi-polar might not be that far off. I had no intention of spreading misinformation by posting that article, but was curious as what others think and what to make of it. If it's too much, I don't mind it being deleted.
|
|
|
Post by Jessica on Apr 23, 2021 17:37:03 GMT
1948 article on how Dean and Jerry teamed up. That bike Jerry brings up though, aw. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by denise on Apr 26, 2021 18:14:46 GMT
@ Jessica: The author of that article has a wild imagination. Very little in there is true. For example, Dean never worked in a coal mine. He worked for a brief period in a steel mill in Steubenville. And Jerry was not working as a waiter at the 500 Club when he and Dean teamed up there. There are numerous other examples. It's an amusing read for those who don't know their real stories, but not very accurate.
|
|
|
Post by Jessica on Apr 26, 2021 23:30:21 GMT
@ Jessica: The author of that article has a wild imagination. Very little in there is true. For example, Dean never worked in a coal mine. He worked for a brief period in a steel mill in Steubenville. And Jerry was not working as a waiter at the 500 Club when he and Dean teamed up there. There are numerous other examples. It's an amusing read for those who don't know their real stories, but not very accurate. Oh, right, sorry, I didn't catch that. That's true. I guess they didn't fact checked correctly as Jerry was a performer at that point and not a waiter, among the other inaccuracies. I think most of us want the stories as accurate as possible.
|
|
|
Post by naedra on Apr 27, 2021 22:24:22 GMT
It’s still really fun to read articles from the 40’s. Hollywood publicity was amusing and sometimes you gain some playful insight. Generally speaking accuracy was not their game.
|
|
|
Post by Jessica on Apr 27, 2021 22:43:22 GMT
1. Jerry and Patti, 1951. 2. Dean and Jerry with Joe Foss, 1956. Attachments:

|
|
|
Post by Jessica on Jul 6, 2021 17:45:18 GMT
I have seen this article in different newspapers from December of 1953, but didn't know why they eventually didn't go through with it.  Then I found this printed in February, 1954. 
|
|
|
Post by denise on Jul 7, 2021 11:01:34 GMT
Interesting that the first article says that they have adopted a girl and the second article says they can't after all. There has been all sorts of speculation about that child, what happened to her, did she even really exist, why the adoption didn't go through, did she have MD and later die, etc. Note that the first article is from the AP, not some supermarket tabloid. So I believe there must have been some truth to it. But what happened to the child, why there are no photos of her (that I have ever seen), was she ever with the Lewis family at all -- well, we can only speculate. I've seen another article that also says that the biological mother changed her mind about putting the little girl up for adoption, but this article did not state the reason why. I have a tabloid article that says that the girl was with the Lewis family, but the adoption agency, in New York of all places, insisted on the child's return after the child was diagnosed with MD, and Jerry and Patti had to surrender her and didn't even get to say good-bye. (That sounds very fishy to me.) The same article says that Jerry and Patti were so heartbroken that they could not adopt the girl that they never spoke about the subject again (explaining why no one has seen photos of her) and denied that there was ever a Sally Mae. Another mystery in Jerry's life.
|
|
|
Post by Jessica on Jul 7, 2021 22:19:48 GMT
Interesting that the first article says that they have adopted a girl and the second article says they can't after all. There has been all sorts of speculation about that child, what happened to her, did she even really exist, why the adoption didn't go through, did she have MD and later die, etc. Note that the first article is from the AP, not some supermarket tabloid. So I believe there must have been some truth to it. But what happened to the child, why there are no photos of her (that I have ever seen), was she ever with the Lewis family at all -- well, we can only speculate. I've seen another article that also says that the biological mother changed her mind about putting the little girl up for adoption, but this article did not state the reason why. I have a tabloid article that says that the girl was with the Lewis family, but the adoption agency, in New York of all places, insisted on the child's return after the child was diagnosed with MD, and Jerry and Patti had to surrender her and didn't even get to say good-bye. (That sounds very fishy to me.) The same article says that Jerry and Patti were so heartbroken that they could not adopt the girl that they never spoke about the subject again (explaining why no one has seen photos of her) and denied that there was ever a Sally Mae. Another mystery in Jerry's life. It's definitely a mystery. This was printed in several papers but I have not seen any with more information than the one I posted. If this occured and Jerry and Patti were forced to return the baby, it's understandable they were heartbroken. It's hard to know for sure what happened.
|
|
|
Post by Classickat on Jul 8, 2021 6:12:45 GMT
1948 article on how Dean and Jerry teamed up. That bike Jerry brings up though, aw. I bet this is one of those stories in the early days that Jack Keller made up, because Dean and Jerry (especially Jerry) had a hard time speaking to reporters. Jerry was very shy and nervous back then, talking to reporters, according to Keller. My friend Kayla had seen this article somewhere before, but this is the first time, that I've seen in completely. Somehow it escaped me, when you posted it months ago!
|
|
|
Post by Classickat on Jul 8, 2021 6:23:45 GMT
Interesting that the first article says that they have adopted a girl and the second article says they can't after all. There has been all sorts of speculation about that child, what happened to her, did she even really exist, why the adoption didn't go through, did she have MD and later die, etc. Note that the first article is from the AP, not some supermarket tabloid. So I believe there must have been some truth to it. But what happened to the child, why there are no photos of her (that I have ever seen), was she ever with the Lewis family at all -- well, we can only speculate. I've seen another article that also says that the biological mother changed her mind about putting the little girl up for adoption, but this article did not state the reason why. I have a tabloid article that says that the girl was with the Lewis family, but the adoption agency, in New York of all places, insisted on the child's return after the child was diagnosed with MD, and Jerry and Patti had to surrender her and didn't even get to say good-bye. (That sounds very fishy to me.) The same article says that Jerry and Patti were so heartbroken that they could not adopt the girl that they never spoke about the subject again (explaining why no one has seen photos of her) and denied that there was ever a Sally Mae. Another mystery in Jerry's life. I'm sure if she had MD that it would not have been mentioned publicly at that time in newspapers or magazines. So perhaps the excuse about the mother is false. First time I've seen it. Denise, did you ever show me that article saying something about the biological mother changing her mind? I tend to believe some of the tabloid, about Jerry and Patti refusing to speak about it, which is always strange to me. If it was as simple as the newspaper article states, then why the secrecy? Whether or not Joey Stabile and Jerry's former secretary's accounts are true, I'm not sure. Sally Mae was also mentioned in one of the books on Dean Martin. I believe there was another article mentioned in the tabloid, which they referenced from 1953 which said the child was at their home. So a bunch of contradicting stories as usual with JL. Also I believe the first story happened in November, 1953? Then of course the Dec 1953 clipping says the adoption happened then, then two months later they still didn't have her? Odd. Maybe they had her in their home for a trial period. December '53/January '54 was a tense time for JL. Also when he and Tony Curtis were having disagreements in Dec/Jan, followed by Dean in January.
|
|
|
Post by Jessica on Jul 8, 2021 16:25:40 GMT
Interesting that the first article says that they have adopted a girl and the second article says they can't after all. There has been all sorts of speculation about that child, what happened to her, did she even really exist, why the adoption didn't go through, did she have MD and later die, etc. Note that the first article is from the AP, not some supermarket tabloid. So I believe there must have been some truth to it. But what happened to the child, why there are no photos of her (that I have ever seen), was she ever with the Lewis family at all -- well, we can only speculate. I've seen another article that also says that the biological mother changed her mind about putting the little girl up for adoption, but this article did not state the reason why. I have a tabloid article that says that the girl was with the Lewis family, but the adoption agency, in New York of all places, insisted on the child's return after the child was diagnosed with MD, and Jerry and Patti had to surrender her and didn't even get to say good-bye. (That sounds very fishy to me.) The same article says that Jerry and Patti were so heartbroken that they could not adopt the girl that they never spoke about the subject again (explaining why no one has seen photos of her) and denied that there was ever a Sally Mae. Another mystery in Jerry's life. I'm sure if she had MD that it would not have been mentioned publicly at that time in newspapers or magazines. So perhaps the excuse about the mother is false. First time I've seen it. Denise, did you ever show me that article saying something about the biological mother changing her mind? I tend to believe some of the tabloid, about Jerry and Patti refusing to speak about it, which is always strange to me. If it was as simple as the newspaper article states, then why the secrecy? Whether or not Joey Stabile and Jerry's former secretary's accounts are true, I'm not sure. Sally Mae was also mentioned in one of the books on Dean Martin. I believe there was another article mentioned in the tabloid, which they referenced from 1953 which said the child was at their home. So a bunch of contradicting stories as usual with JL. Also I believe the first story happened in November, 1953? Then of course the Dec 1953 clipping says the adoption happened then, then two months later they still didn't have her? Odd. Maybe they had her in their home for a trial period. December '53/January '54 was a tense time for JL. Also when he and Tony Curtis were having disagreements in Dec/Jan, followed by Dean in January. Initially it almost sounds that she was on a trial period and that they hadn't gone through with the whole process yet, even though that is strange too. According to the article, Jerry calls Sally Mae wonderful and if they had her for a while in their home, surely their love for her must have grown and they were heartbroken of being notified they had to return her for the sole reason of being show business people. If it's true, maybe it was too hard for them to talk about in public.
|
|
|
Post by denise on Jul 11, 2021 13:17:24 GMT
I have never heard of an adoption agency demanding the return of a child for medical reasons (this is a human being, not a broken gadget on warranty!), and especially from a family that could afford to get her the proper medical care until she died and also a family that loved her and wanted to keep her. And the adoption agency was supposedly in NY, and the Lewises were in California and they had to take her to New York? That whole story stinks.
On the other hand, several sources in late 1953 stated that the Lewises were adopting a little girl, named her Sally Mae and would have her in time "to put her under the Christmas tree." It's even mentioned in Nick Tosches' biography of Dean, a book that was well researched. And then shortly thereafter the stories appeared that the adoption did not go through. IF there is anything to that adoption, then I would more readily believe that the biological mother changed her mind, rather than that malarky about the adoption agency.
@classickat: I don't have the article about the adoption not succeeding because the mother changed her mind. I saw that - I think - somewhere on this forum. All I personally have on that topic are 2 STAR articles, one dated Sept 3, 1985 and one dated Sept. 17, 1985. The Sept. 3rd article quotes 3 1950's sources that state that Jerry and Patti had adopted a little girl: an AP story dated Dec. 11, 1953 (the first article above); a story by columnist Mary Callahan in Motion Picture magazine in March 1954; and a story by Hollywood author Maurice Zolotow in the Oct. 1955 issue of Cosmopolitan. Zolotow was a personal friend of the Lewises and said in the STAR article that the girl died, but he did not remember details. Compare that to Jerry's repeated statement that no one in his family had MD. The Sept. 17th STAR article says that the girl was delivered to the Lewis home (at that time on Amalfi Drive in Pacific Palisades) 3 hours after birth "with the prospect that she would be officially adopted later". Little Sally Mae "soon contracted a motor neuron disease that began atrophying her muscles. That prompted the adoption agency in New York to take the girl back after she had lived in the Lewis' household for six months". The article goes on to say that after the adoption agency realized that the child had MD, they notified Jerry and Patti that their adoption "must be rescinded". Jerry and Patti argued that they wanted to keep her and care for her, they loved her, but to no avail. It was Jerry's former secretary, Rita Stone, who gave the STAR this story. And she said that the baby was beautiful, suggesting that she at least saw photos, if not the child herself. When Joe Stabile asked Jerry about this story, Jerry just smiled and said "Forget it.", thus neither confirming nor denying it. Jerry supposedly swore to secrecy everyone who knew about the girl. Keep in mind that the STAR is a tabloid, so I would be very cautious about how much is really true. Rita Stone said that she discussed the adoption details and the girl's death with Jack Keller, Jerry's press agent at that time. Conveniently, Jack Keller was already deceased by the time of the STAR's two articles in 1985.
|
|
|
Post by denise on Jul 13, 2021 9:41:17 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Classickat on Jul 25, 2021 21:04:31 GMT
I have never heard of an adoption agency demanding the return of a child for medical reasons (this is a human being, not a broken gadget on warranty!), and especially from a family that could afford to get her the proper medical care until she died and also a family that loved her and wanted to keep her. And the adoption agency was supposedly in NY, and the Lewises were in California and they had to take her to New York? That whole story stinks. On the other hand, several sources in late 1953 stated that the Lewises were adopting a little girl, named her Sally Mae and would have her in time "to put her under the Christmas tree." It's even mentioned in Nick Tosches' biography of Dean, a book that was well researched. And then shortly thereafter the stories appeared that the adoption did not go through. IF there is anything to that adoption, then I would more readily believe that the biological mother changed her mind, rather than that malarky about the adoption agency. @classickat: I don't have the article about the adoption not succeeding because the mother changed her mind. I saw that - I think - somewhere on this forum. All I personally have on that topic are 2 STAR articles, one dated Sept 3, 1985 and one dated Sept. 17, 1985. The Sept. 3rd article quotes 3 1950's sources that state that Jerry and Patti had adopted a little girl: an AP story dated Dec. 11, 1953 (the first article above); a story by columnist Mary Callahan in Motion Picture magazine in March 1954; and a story by Hollywood author Maurice Zolotow in the Oct. 1955 issue of Cosmopolitan. Zolotow was a personal friend of the Lewises and said in the STAR article that the girl died, but he did not remember details. Compare that to Jerry's repeated statement that no one in his family had MD. The Sept. 17th STAR article says that the girl was delivered to the Lewis home (at that time on Amalfi Drive in Pacific Palisades) 3 hours after birth "with the prospect that she would be officially adopted later". Little Sally Mae "soon contracted a motor neuron disease that began atrophying her muscles. That prompted the adoption agency in New York to take the girl back after she had lived in the Lewis' household for six months". The article goes on to say that after the adoption agency realized that the child had MD, they notified Jerry and Patti that their adoption "must be rescinded". Jerry and Patti argued that they wanted to keep her and care for her, they loved her, but to no avail. It was Jerry's former secretary, Rita Stone, who gave the STAR this story. And she said that the baby was beautiful, suggesting that she at least saw photos, if not the child herself. When Joe Stabile asked Jerry about this story, Jerry just smiled and said "Forget it.", thus neither confirming nor denying it. Jerry supposedly swore to secrecy everyone who knew about the girl. Keep in mind that the STAR is a tabloid, so I would be very cautious about how much is really true. Rita Stone said that she discussed the adoption details and the girl's death with Jack Keller, Jerry's press agent at that time. Conveniently, Jack Keller was already deceased by the time of the STAR's two articles in 1985. I'm ready to believe your theory about it, but why would Jerry, Patti, and Joe Stabile be so secretive and odd acting about it, and why would Rita Stone tell an elaborate lie regarding this particular subject? The mystery remains.
|
|