A sample collection of thirteens in Jerry’s films. Some visual, some audio. Thirteen is Jerry’s lucky number. To quote his autobiography: “As I’ve said, thirteen is my lucky number, has been ever since Grandma Sara gave me her Bar Mitzvah present - the gold Star of David.” (Jerry Lewis: In Person, page 189).
My sister was the first to notice the recurring thirteens. It went from coincidence to a noticeable pattern quite quickly so she, my mom, and me collectively started to hunt for them when we watched one of Jerry’s movies and by golly if we didn’t usually catch one (or more). Some of them you need to look a little harder and pay closer attention to catch, but they’re there. We all wondered if this number had any meaning for Jerry, surely it must have, and then that feeling was confirmed after I read that passage in his book later on. That was honestly kind of an exciting moment; like Jerry had somehow communicated a little secret to us. “Spot the thirteen” has become a fun little challenge for us and every time one of us does, it’s met with an excited announcement of “I FOUND THE THIRTEEN!!!” It’s a real bit of silly fun and quite a feeling of pride when we find one, like a kid on a treasure hunt.
The thirteens come as no surprise to us for a couple of reasons - one being that Jerry was a big kid and always, in clever fashion, infused his work with a sense of play and whimsy; including personal easter eggs (or as my mom calls them “egg shells”) seems all too fitting his creative impulses. The other reason, we feel, is to pay homage to his grandmother who supported and nurtured him to be the artist he became. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was a way to keep her spirit, and the spirit of encouragement she provided, alive in his work, almost like a constant reminder of his roots and a heartfelt “thank you” to the person who told the child, “you can be anything you want to be, go for it”.
To my knowledge, the hidden thirteens have never been talked about. I personally have not seen or heard anyone mention them; if anyone does know about them, I apologize for my assumption (and also have you found any that we haven’t???!), but as of now I’m going to be a little bit boastful, give myself, my mom and my sister a pat on the head and say that we are the first to notice. It just makes us feel good (and it’s been a heckuva stressful few years in our little personal world, so you know, let us have this one ok? Okay). Feel as if I was channeling my inner Jerry just then.
I know that there are plenty of other thirteens that I’ve forgotten about, and some that we may not have caught yet, so another post in the future will probably be on the way...for now these are the ones that I remembered. Guess it just means I’ll have to rewatch Jerry’s movies some more times. Oh darn it all.
