Telethon Draws $45 Million in Pledges

Comedian Jerry Lewis joined celebrities and people with muscular dystrophy in coaxing a record $45,071,857 out of viewers during his 26th annual Labor Day telethon.

Pledges to the show, which ended Monday afternoon, surpassed last year’s record total of $44,172,186 for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.

The studio audience at the host Sahara Hotel tossed confetti and cheered as the tote board went over last year’s record. Lewis cheered again when a second tote, minutes later, pushed the total over $45 million.

The telethon drew a handful of pickets in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles, seven demonstrators showed up in wheelchairs at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, a local headquarters for the telethon, to protest what they described as the high telethon costs and depiction of those afflicted with muscular dystrophy as “helpless human beings.”