5. Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy
Jerry Lewis may not be along the all time greats like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in regards to slapstick humor, but his imprint is hardly ever going to fade away. His screwball faces when he orchestrated his slippery, clumsy routine on stage would transfer to the screen and provide thunderous laughter to many. He may have never achieved critical acclaim film-wise nor pieces that would be regarded amongst the greatest of all time, but people did not buy tickets for his films for the sake of cinematic integrity. They solely attended to slap their foreheads whenever something inexplicable would tumble towards them. Martin Scorsese noticed his acting potential, somehow, and it will astonish many that the King of Comedy is nothing to laugh about. Lewis plays Jerry Langford, a successful comedian stalked by De Niros Rupert Pupkin. Pupkin pursuits his happiness by becoming a celebrity comedian like his idol and pressures the man into a professional meeting in order to kickstar his stand up career. Unfortunately for Pupkin, nothing ever comes easily in life. Lewis role may not be memorable, but this is perhaps what shocks audiences. One expects a wacky, indescribable buffoon, but we are granted a straightforward, off-camera, and boring persona. If anything, he is a grouch irritated by Pupkins persistence. To be fair, how else would one react when held hostage? De Niros performance eclipsed Lewis in every way unsurprisingly, so Lewis is rarely ever acknowledged when the film is discussed. Try asking anyone out there if they recognize who the other guy is, though, and I guarantee not many will notice that it is The Nutty Professor. He triumphs in this aspect, at least.