In February of 2005, David Weddle wrote an open letter to the Motion Picture Academy in Los Angeles Times Magazine. He urged the Academy to give Jerry Lewis an honorary Oscar for his body of work. Three years later, Lewis received an Oscar and told Weddle his article was instrumental in motivating the Academy to grant him the award. In the years that followed, Weddle and his wife went to dinner a number of times with Lewis and a friendship blossomed.
Here is a link to Weddle’s article: Jerry Lewis Deserves an Oscar