The State : Appeal Raises $78 Million

The 24th annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon concluded Monday with the comic coaxing $42,209,727 from viewers. Corporations contributed an additional $36,228,846 during the 21 1/2-hour event. Lewis used a parade of top-name entertainers and poignant stories from muscular dystrophy victims and their families to push the total telethon donations since 1966 to $526,524,210. Lewis opened the show in Las Vegas Sunday night by saying that “stunning” had been made against 40 neuromuscular diseases. As in previous years, it was the victims and their families who provided the most touching moments. More than 50 entertainers were featured on this year’s show, including Tony Orlando, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Crystal, Alabama, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jack Jones, Robert Goulet, the McGuire Sisters, LaToya Jackson, Ringo Starr, Waylon Jennings and Maureen McGovern.