Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Jerry Lewis and Secret ‘Holocaust Clown’ Project Subject of BBC Documentary

The BBC has released a short documentary about Jewish comedian Jerry Lewis’ never-before-seen Holocaust film.

“The Day the Clown Cried,” which Lewis wrote and directed at the height of his Hollywood career in 1971, has never been released. The BBC documentary released on Tuesday includes behind-the-scenes footage of production, stills from the film and narration by Jewish comedian David Schneider.

The film was reportedly a drama with comedic elements. It centers on a fictional clown named Helmut Doork who is imprisoned by the Nazis and is forced to lead children into the gas chambers.

“This is a very interesting film because very few people have seen anything from it, Swedish film critic Jan Lumholdt told the BBC. “He’s a comedian and this is his most serious film ever. This gives it a very interesting energy and dynamic.”

Lewis was reportedly passionate about the project at first but has hidden all of its footage, saying recently that he is too embarrassed to show it.

“It was all bad, and it was bad because I lost the magic,” Lewis told Reuters in 2013. “You will never see it. No one will ever see it, because I am embarrassed at the poor work.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.