June 4, 1963: “The Nutty Professor” Premieres

Jerry Lewis as Dr. Julius Kelp

June 4, 1963: The Nutty Professor premieres. Not to be confused with the 1961 film The Absent-Minded Professor, this film is also a screwball comedy, Jerry Lewis' take on the story of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

The top of the film's poster showed Lewis, as Dr. Julius Kelp, mixing the chemicals that would change him, and asked, "What does he become? What kind of monster?" The bottom of the poster shows a shadow stalking Stella Stevens as Stella Purdy, and makes her look interested in him, and says, "Well, any scientist who makes a girl like this can't be all mad."

Julius is a college chemistry professor (the movie was filmed at Arizona State University), and a stereotypical nerd: He's funny-looking, he has a funny voice, his lab coat has a front pocket full of pens, he's socially awkward, he's accident-prone, and he's physically weak. He's tired of being bullied. So he plays to his strength, science, and when he drinks the formula he's made, he turns into a handsome, suave, confident man. He names himself Buddy Love.

Jerry Lewis as Buddy Love.

Note the Dean Martin-like hair.

As Buddy, he pursues Stella, one of his students -- thus avoiding what would now be considered a conflict of interest. At a students' hangout, he sings and plays piano, and becomes popular. But Buddy is a narcissist, mean and violent to those he considers his inferiors. And the formula starts to wear off at inopportune times: For example, Buddy sings beautifully, and then Julius' nasal whine breaks through, and he knows he has to flee the scene, or else be exposed.

Julius knows that, as Buddy, he becomes a bad person, but he's addicted to the attention he gets. Finally, while performing at the students' annual dance, the formula slowly wears off, and he can't hide it any longer. He admits his mistakes, and that he has to learn to like himself as he is, and everyone else has to like themselves as they are. Stella tells him she prefers his normal self, and kisses him.

For 10 years, 1946 to 1956, Lewis had teamed in a comedy duo with singer Dean Martin, a man nicknamed "The King of Cool" after his death. But the act broke up because Lewis wanted to do other things. Some people saw the Buddy Love character as a slap at Martin. Even after Frank Sinatra, a friend of both men, got them to reconcile in 1976, Lewis still faced charges that Buddy was based on Dino.

Instead, he insisted the character was based on every obnoxious, self-important, hateful hipster he ever knew, and wished that, instead of simply obnoxious, he'd made the character genuinely evil. As Lewis grew older, he began to care less about his image as a good guy who raised millions for charity, and the dark side of his personality became less a well-kept secret, and more obvious, and people began to see that Buddy Love was the real Jerry Lewis. 

Eddie Murphy remade The Nutty Professor in 1996, as a comedy, though a considerably more lowbrow one, with a sequel in 2000. He altered the good guy's name to Sherman Klump, but kept the bad guy's name as Buddy Love.

Lewis was an executive producer for Murphy's versions, but later expressed regret: "I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around, and all you're going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it."

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June 4, 1963 was a Tuesday. This was also the day that Hockey Hall of Fame goaltenders Jacques Plante and Gump Worsley were traded for each other. I have a separate entry for that event.

All-Pro offensive tackle Jim Lachey and NBA All-Star Xavier McDaniel were born. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Steve Barber -- his arm apparently neither sore nor a little stiff -- outpitched Ralph Terry. John "Boog" Powell hit a home run. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3. Mickey Mantle had a home run and a single; otherwise, the Yankees got just 3 hits.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 3-2 at the Polo Grounds. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 1-0 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Tom Cheney pitched a 5-hit shutout to outpitch Earl Wilson. The only run of the game came on a home run by Don Lock in the bottom of the 6th. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Willie Mays went 1-for-4. Willie McCovey appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Jim Perry pitched a 4-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Colt .45s, 2-1 at Colt Stadium in Houston. This was a no-frills temporary facility to be used by the expansion franchise in the 1962, '63 and '64 seasons, after which they moved to the Astrodome for the 1965 season, changing their name to the Houston Astros.

Being completely open to the elements, Colt Stadium had problems with heat, mosquitoes, and even snakes, which became a bigger problem when the Astros kept using it as a practice facility after the Astrodome opened, until it was finally demolished in 1971. Sandy Koufax, who did not appear in this game, remarked on the size of the mosquitoes, calling them "twin-engine jobs."

* And the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were groundsharing while waiting for their stadium in Anaheim to be built. Dan Osinski pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Gary Peters. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 2nd, when Lee Thomas singled Félix Torres home.

* The Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader 2 days later. The Reds swept, 7-5 and 10-5. Over the 2 games, Frank Robinson went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs, rookie Pete Rose went 5-for-9 with a walk, and Roberto Clemente went 2-for-8.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled.