This Year’s MDA Telethon Will Be The Last For Jerry Lewis [VIDEO]

After 45 years Jerry Lewis says he'll be stepping down as host of the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon after this year.   The 85-year old entertainer says his final appearance on the annual Labor Day telthon will be September 4th, but he'll stay on as the association's national chairman.

TV columnist Tom Shales says Lewis seemed to be especially emotional last year especially at the end of the telethon when he sings his signature "I'll Never Walk Alone."  According to Shales Lewis "was so overcome he sobbed through much of the song."

Lewis' first MDA telethon was in 1966 and broadcast on one New York City TV station.  It raised more than $1-million.  Last year's telethon raised almost $59-million to fund research and find a cure for muscular dystrophy and ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease.