Martin Lewis
Encyclopedia
Martin Neil Lewis is a US
-based English
humorist, writer
, radio
/TV host
, producer
and marketing strategist
. He is known for his participation in a variety of projects in the arts and entertainment worlds including his work as the co-creator and co-producer of the Secret Policeman's Ball
benefit shows for Amnesty International
(a series he created with Monty Python
alumnus John Cleese
and Amnesty fund-raising officer Peter Walker) and as a comedic performer and writer on American TV. He hosts his own daily radio show - heard nationally in America on Sirius Satellite Radio
and worldwide on Sirius Internet Radio. He is a prolific columnist for The Huffington Post
website.
s (people who excel in multiple fields) - including Sir Peter Ustinov
, Peter Cook
and Monty Python alumni Michael Palin
and Terry Jones
.
Arguably his most notable work has been co-creating and producing the Secret Policeman's Ball
series of benefits for Amnesty International (initially held 1976-1981) that brought together comedic talents (including Monty Python, Beyond The Fringe
, Rowan Atkinson
and Billy Connolly
) and rock musicians (including Paul McCartney
, Pete Townshend
, Sting, Eric Clapton
, Jeff Beck
, Phil Collins
, Tom Robinson
, Donovan
and Bob Geldof
.) In addition to producing the original stage shows, Lewis produced albums, TV specials and movies that documented the shows. The film of the fourth show of the series, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
, was a box office success in the UK and US in 1982 and also inspired a book co-edited by Lewis. The series continued through the 1980s and 1990s (though the Secret Policeman's Ball name was not used after the 1989 show). In 2006, Amnesty revived the Secret Policeman's Ball title for its fundraising shows and this prompted multiple press articles in Britain reflecting on the impact of the original shows - including the attribution by Bob Geldof
that Live Aid
had been inspired in part by the shows.
A series of live, acoustic performances by rock musicians Pete Townshend, Sting, Phil Collins, Tom Robinson, Donovan and Bob Geldof that Lewis conceived and produced for the 1979 and 1981 Secret Policeman's shows are widely regarded as being one of the inspirations for the "Unplugged
" format that was introduced by MTV in 1989.
His work as a comedy producer includes recordings with Sir Peter Ustinov, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
and the first audio recordings of new-wave British comedians such as Jennifer Saunders
(of Absolutely Fabulous
), Alexei Sayle
, Rik Mayall
and other performers in Britain's The Young Ones
/Comic Strip
comedy troupe. Many of these recordings were released on Lewis’ own Springtime! Records label.
As a film producer, Lewis gained a reputation in the 1980s for engaging respected, veteran film directors such as Sam Peckinpah
and Lindsay Anderson
to work on film projects centered on contemporary music. Lewis produced Peckinpah's last works - a series of music videos featuring Julian Lennon
. Anderson was hired by Lewis to direct Foreign Skies: Wham! In China - a film that documented the 1985 tour of China
by the George Michael
-led pop group Wham!
which was the first visit to China by Western pop artists.
In 1995, Lewis produced a reunion of the Rutles, the comedic ensemble created by Monty Python alumni Eric Idle
and Neil Innes
in 1977 to lampoon the Beatles. Lewis executive-produced the band's Archaeology
album, a pastiche
of the Beatles' Anthology
project.
In 1999, Lewis produced a special American tribute for It's... the Monty Python Story - the BBC’s four-hour TV special on Monty Python’s 30th anniversary. For this, Lewis conceived an animated sequence featuring the characters from South Park
and he produced this tribute with series creators Trey Parker
and Matt Stone
.
Lewis’ work in the DVD field includes producing the DVD edition of the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night
. He was Associate Producer of the DVD editions of the 1979 Who
documentary The Kids Are Alright
and the DVD release of all four full-length shows featuring live appearances by the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show
.
Lewis has also been a producer of TV specials for NBC
, VH1
and E! Entertainment TV.
, The Golden Globes, The British Academy Awards
, and The BRIT Awards
(the British Grammys)). He frequently appears as a commentator discussing politics and pop culture on a broad array of major US TV networks. He has appeared as a satirist or comedic performer on shows such Politically Incorrect
HBO's Night Rap, VH1’s My Generation, and The Tom Arnold
Show. He has also appeared on British TV, serving as US correspondent for BBC shows such as The Terry Wogan
Show and Good Morning.
's Underground Garage
channel on Sirius Satellite Radio
since 2005. Prior to that, Lewis hosted his own weekly radio show in Los Angeles
on KGIL-AM and wrote, hosted and produced a series of radio specials for L.A. radio station KLSX-FM
.
From 1998 to 2004 Lewis was a regular commentator on the British radio program Up All Night
on BBC Radio Five Live
(heard in the UK and worldwide on the internet) offering perspectives on American politics and pop culture. He was a Special Correspondent for the show during the political conventions in the 2000 and 2004 US presidential elections and also reported for the show from Washington DC during the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush
.
and was the debut production at the Steven Spielberg Theatre in Los Angeles in July 1999.
Lewis has been a Master of Ceremonies for multiple awards shows and benefits, including the Hollywood Reporter
Key Art Awards (2000), the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
' annual Interactive Achievement Awards (2001) and the American Cinematheque
’s Moving Picture Ball honoring Michael Douglas
(1993).
Lewis also wrote and performed additional comedic material incorporated on the 1994 CD-ROM Monty Python's Complete Waste Of Time (7th Level)
and Disc
.
He has written speeches, commercials and material for many entertainers including members of Monty Python as well as Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jennifer Aniston
, Zsa Zsa Gabor
, Elliott Gould
, Teri Hatcher
, Anjelica Huston
, Quincy Jones
, Patrick Macnee
, Roger Moore
, Sarah Jessica Parker
, Sally Jessy Raphael
and Susan Sarandon
.
He was the sole writer of the 1998 VH1 Honors Awards – Divas Live - which launched the VH1’s Divas franchise and featured Celine Dion
, Mariah Carey
, Gloria Estefan
and Aretha Franklin
. He has also written for the annual British Academy Awards, collaborating with Oscar show writer Bruce Vilanch
.
Lewis wrote the extensive ‘companion narrative’ for the 1998 re-publication of Beatles manager Brian Epstein
’s 1964 autobiography A Cellarful Of Noise (Pocket Books
, 1998).
Lewis re-commenced his journalistic career in 2000 when he was invited to become a Special Correspondent for TIME.com, for which he covered the 2000 United States presidential election
and various cultural events in 2001. Lewis writes columns for various online publications including Salon.com
, the Huffington Post (for which he is a regular contributor) and his own Agent Provocateur literary website.
Bob
and Harvey Weinstein
- founders of Miramax Films
and the Weinstein Company have credited Lewis with providing the inspiration and prototype for their own expertise in movie marketing. A story about Lewis in the Hollywood Reporter in June 2001 included a joint statement by the Weinstein Brothers: "Back in 1982 when we were starting Miramax Films, Martin Lewis was the producer of what became our first hit movie - The Secret Policeman's Other Ball starring the Monty Pythons. Martin had a background in publicity and marketing and came up with a great campaign for the movie, creating a huge buzz and getting us free publicity, which was crucial to the film's success. We learned a lot about publicity and marketing from our experience with Martin Lewis."
Early in his career, Lewis had been a protégé of former Beatles publicist Derek Taylor
- then working for the UK division of Warner
/Elektra
/Atlantic Records
. Lewis subsequently worked at British independent record company Transatlantic Records
as Director Of Publicity & Marketing - where he worked on campaigns for musicians and comedic artists such as Gerry Rafferty
, Billy Connolly
, Ralph McTell
, Gryphon
, the Sadista Sisters, Mike Harding
, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra
, and the Portsmouth Sinfonia
.
In 1994-1996 he reunited with Derek Taylor when he was engaged by Capitol Records
as US marketing strategist for the Beatles' Anthology and Live at the BBC
projects.
Other notable projects in recent years include the worldwide launch of Sir Paul McCartney
's Music & Animation Collection DVD of animated musical films for children (2004), the 50th anniversary of the movie Blackboard Jungle
and the 50th anniversary of the song Rock Around the Clock
(2005).
His work as a marketing and publicity strategist includes two successful Oscar campaigns for movies that won the Academy Award for Best Picture
: the 2005 Best Picture winner Crash and the 2011 Best Picture winner The King's Speech.
The promotional website Lewis created and wrote for the 2000 theatrical reissue of A Hard Day's Night won the Gold Pencil Award - the advertising industry's equivalent of the Oscar - for the Best Promotional Website of 2000 – awarded annually by The One Club
.
. He has produced and hosted multiple film festivals in Los Angeles since 1993 including the Mods & Rockers Film Festival celebrating 1960s and rock-related movies (presented annually since 1999)- and Lust For Glory! the official 25th Anniversary celebrations of the Monty Python troupe (1994). Other film festivals produced and hosted by Lewis in Hollywood have saluted Peter Sellers
, Richard Pryor
, Peter Cook, Graham Chapman, Ken Russell
, Nicolas Roeg
, and the feature film output of Britain's Channel Four. He also organized the official celebrations marking the 90th birthday of actor Glenn Ford
in 2006.
Lewis has served as Chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
(Los Angeles), sitting on its Board of Directors for six years. He produced and hosted multiple film events for BAFTA/LA including co-presentations with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
and The Directors Guild of America
.
In 2009, Lewis instigated, produced and hosted The Secret Policeman's Film Festival an in-depth retrospective of 25 films and TV specials produced as fund-raisers for Amnesty International over the preceding three decades. The festival was presented over five weeks in the summer of 2009 in New York at Lincoln Center and the Paley Center For Media, Manhattan and in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque's Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the Paley Center For Media, Beverly Hills. The festival was subsequently presented in Washington DC in December 2009 at the American Film Institute coinciding with International Human Rights Day.
' official biography of the group. Years later, he wrote, hosted and produced the only TV documentary made about the Beatles' Anthology project' - Re-Meet The Beatles! (E! - 1995)
He was a consultant for Michael Lindsay-Hogg
’s 2000 VH1
television film, Two of Us
, a fictionalized account of the last-ever encounter between John Lennon and Paul McCartney (in New York in 1976). Lewis advised on the music for the film (which included a 1997 recording of The Quarrymen
made by Lewis) and worked with actors Jared Harris
(Lennon) and Aidan Quinn
(McCartney) on their characterizations.
In 2004, Lewis produced and hosted The Fab 40!, a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first US visit. Lewis has hosted Beatles fan conventions in New York, Chicago
, Los Angeles, San Francisco
, Boston, Orlando
, and Las Vegas
since 1992. He created the Official Brian Epstein Website and spearheads the campaign to have Epstein inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
.
On 4 February 2008, Lewis, in conjunction with NASA
, arranged for the recording of the Beatles' song "Across the Universe
" to be transmitted towards the North Star, Polaris
, via the Deep Space Network
antenna. The transmission was timed to coincide with celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of NASA, the 50th anniversary of the launch of America's first satellite, Explorer 1 and the 40th anniversary of the Beatles recording John Lennon
's composition Across the Universe.
Bill Maher
referred to Lewis' reputation as a Beatles scholar on his HBO show Real Time With Bill Maher
in March 2010 - jokingly referring to Lewis as the fifth Beatle.
, Donovan
and The Comets
. He has been the manager of the infamous Portsmouth Sinfonia
– the self-described World’s Worst Orchestra whose alumni include ambient
pioneer Brian Eno
, film composer Michael Nyman
, avant-garde composer Gavin Bryars
and rock producer Clive Langer
- since 1973.
, Sting and Peter Gabriel
as having been a major factor in the growing social activism of rock musicians since the early 1980s. In a 1986 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Bono said: "I saw The Secret Policeman's Ball
and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Live Aid
and Live 8
organizer Bob Geldof's first-ever participation in a benefit show was at 1981's The Secret Policeman's Other Ball - the event where he first worked with Midge Ure
who later collaborated on Geldof’s worldwide fund-raisers.
Amnesty also credits Lewis with conceiving its 1988 Human Rights Now! world tour
of all five continents that featured Bruce Springsteen
, Sting and Peter Gabriel
.
In December 2009, Lewis instigated and co-hosted a major event saluting Amnesty International in Washington DC. The event was attended by Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep
, Martin Short
, Mel Brooks
, Matthew Broderick
, Carol Burnett
, Jon Stewart
, Jack Black
, Edward Norton
, Bruce Springsteen
, Patti Scialfa
, Sting, Trudie Styler
, Eddie Vedder
, Ben Harper
, Laura Dern
, Dave Brubeck
, Herbie Hancock
, Bob Balaban
, Joe Mantegna
, Bill Irwin
, Richard Kind
, Florence Henderson
, Roger Bart
, Gary Beach
, Shuler Hensley
, Cory English
, Jennifer Nettles
of Sugarland and opera singer Grace Bumbry
.The event was co-hosted by Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International, USA.
in the county of Surrey
in southern England
. He was born into an orthodox Jewish family. He was raised in Hampstead
, a bohemian enclave in north-west London. He was educated at a private school - University College School
in Hampstead - but was expelled at the age of 14. He had no formal education after his expulsion. He lived and worked in London until he moved to America in 1982. Between 1982-1988 he lived and worked in New York
. He moved to Los Angeles
in 1988 and has lived and worked there since. Lewis is single.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
humorist, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, radio
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
/TV host
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
and marketing strategist
Marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.-Developing a marketing strategy:...
. He is known for his participation in a variety of projects in the arts and entertainment worlds including his work as the co-creator and co-producer of the Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Balls
The Secret Policeman's Balls is the collective name informally used to describe the long-running series of benefit shows staged in England to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International...
benefit shows for Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
(a series he created with Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
alumnus John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
and Amnesty fund-raising officer Peter Walker) and as a comedic performer and writer on American TV. He hosts his own daily radio show - heard nationally in America on Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
and worldwide on Sirius Internet Radio. He is a prolific columnist for The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
website.
Career overview
Described by L.A. Weekly as “a true Renaissance Man”, Lewis’ career has encompassed work in music, comedy, TV, radio, film, theatre, books and politics. Lewis' official website credits the diversity in his professional life to his having been inspired by individuals he worked with early in his career who were noted polymathPolymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
s (people who excel in multiple fields) - including Sir Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
and Monty Python alumni Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
.
Producer
Lewis has worked since 1974 as a producer of comedy and music recordings, stage shows, films, music videos, TV shows, DVDs and radio programs.Arguably his most notable work has been co-creating and producing the Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Balls
The Secret Policeman's Balls is the collective name informally used to describe the long-running series of benefit shows staged in England to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International...
series of benefits for Amnesty International (initially held 1976-1981) that brought together comedic talents (including Monty Python, Beyond The Fringe
Beyond the Fringe
Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. It played in London's West End and then on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in 1960s Britain.-The...
, Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
and Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
) and rock musicians (including Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
, Sting, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson is an English singer-songwriter, bassist and radio presenter, better known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson Band...
, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
and Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
.) In addition to producing the original stage shows, Lewis produced albums, TV specials and movies that documented the shows. The film of the fourth show of the series, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field...
, was a box office success in the UK and US in 1982 and also inspired a book co-edited by Lewis. The series continued through the 1980s and 1990s (though the Secret Policeman's Ball name was not used after the 1989 show). In 2006, Amnesty revived the Secret Policeman's Ball title for its fundraising shows and this prompted multiple press articles in Britain reflecting on the impact of the original shows - including the attribution by Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
that Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
had been inspired in part by the shows.
A series of live, acoustic performances by rock musicians Pete Townshend, Sting, Phil Collins, Tom Robinson, Donovan and Bob Geldof that Lewis conceived and produced for the 1979 and 1981 Secret Policeman's shows are widely regarded as being one of the inspirations for the "Unplugged
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
" format that was introduced by MTV in 1989.
His work as a comedy producer includes recordings with Sir Peter Ustinov, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
and the first audio recordings of new-wave British comedians such as Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
(of Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
), Alexei Sayle
Alexei Sayle
Alexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
, Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
and other performers in Britain's The Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
/Comic Strip
The Comic Strip
The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
comedy troupe. Many of these recordings were released on Lewis’ own Springtime! Records label.
As a film producer, Lewis gained a reputation in the 1980s for engaging respected, veteran film directors such as Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
and Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
to work on film projects centered on contemporary music. Lewis produced Peckinpah's last works - a series of music videos featuring Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon
John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...
. Anderson was hired by Lewis to direct Foreign Skies: Wham! In China - a film that documented the 1985 tour of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
by the George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
-led pop group Wham!
WHAM!
Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band....
which was the first visit to China by Western pop artists.
In 1995, Lewis produced a reunion of the Rutles, the comedic ensemble created by Monty Python alumni Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
and Neil Innes
Neil Innes
Neil James Innes is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles.-Personal life:...
in 1977 to lampoon the Beatles. Lewis executive-produced the band's Archaeology
The Rutles Archaeology
The Rutles Archaeology is an album by the comedy band The Rutles. Like their previous release, the album contains pastiches of Beatles' songs....
album, a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of the Beatles' Anthology
The Beatles Anthology
The Beatles Anthology is the name of a documentary series, a set of three double albums and a book focusing on the history of The Beatles. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all participated in the making and approval of the works, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the...
project.
In 1999, Lewis produced a special American tribute for It's... the Monty Python Story - the BBC’s four-hour TV special on Monty Python’s 30th anniversary. For this, Lewis conceived an animated sequence featuring the characters from South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
and he produced this tribute with series creators Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
.
Lewis’ work in the DVD field includes producing the DVD edition of the Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
. He was Associate Producer of the DVD editions of the 1979 Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
documentary The Kids Are Alright
The Kids Are Alright (film)
The Kids Are Alright is a 1979 rockumentary film about the English rock band The Who, including live performances, promotional films and interviews from 1964 to 1978.-Production:...
and the DVD release of all four full-length shows featuring live appearances by the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
.
Lewis has also been a producer of TV specials for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
and E! Entertainment TV.
Television personality
Lewis has appeared on American TV since 1990 as a satirist, commentator, comedic performer and special correspondent. He has been co-host of US TV specials celebrating award shows (The Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, The Golden Globes, The British Academy Awards
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
, and The BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
(the British Grammys)). He frequently appears as a commentator discussing politics and pop culture on a broad array of major US TV networks. He has appeared as a satirist or comedic performer on shows such Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
HBO's Night Rap, VH1’s My Generation, and The Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold (actor)
Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...
Show. He has also appeared on British TV, serving as US correspondent for BBC shows such as The Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
Show and Good Morning.
Radio host and correspondent
Lewis has hosted and produced his own daily radio show heard nationally on Steven Van ZandtSteven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
's Underground Garage
Underground Garage
Underground Garage is the name shared by two related but different radio outlets, a syndicated show and a satellite radio station, both created and supervised by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt to present rock 'n' roll and garage rock on radio...
channel on Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
since 2005. Prior to that, Lewis hosted his own weekly radio show in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on KGIL-AM and wrote, hosted and produced a series of radio specials for L.A. radio station KLSX-FM
KLSX
KAMP-FM 97.1 FM, known on-air as 97.1 AMP Radio, is a Rhythmic Contemporary radio station in Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by CBS Radio.The station had long been known as KLSX before the call sign changed on June 30, 2009....
.
From 1998 to 2004 Lewis was a regular commentator on the British radio program Up All Night
Up All Night (radio show)
Up All Night is a programme broadcast on the national radio station BBC Radio 5 Live in the United Kingdom, and is on air between the hours of 1 am and 5 am every night...
on BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
(heard in the UK and worldwide on the internet) offering perspectives on American politics and pop culture. He was a Special Correspondent for the show during the political conventions in the 2000 and 2004 US presidential elections and also reported for the show from Washington DC during the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Comedic performer
Lewis has written two autobiographical one-man stage-shows - Great Exploitations! and Murder, He Wrote! Great Exploitations! was selected for inclusion in the 9th Annual Toyota Comedy Festival (June 2001) in New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and was the debut production at the Steven Spielberg Theatre in Los Angeles in July 1999.
Lewis has been a Master of Ceremonies for multiple awards shows and benefits, including the Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
Key Art Awards (2000), the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
' annual Interactive Achievement Awards (2001) and the American Cinematheque
American Cinematheque
The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Image in all its forms. It is considered among the premier organizations of its kind in America....
’s Moving Picture Ball honoring Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
(1993).
Lewis also wrote and performed additional comedic material incorporated on the 1994 CD-ROM Monty Python's Complete Waste Of Time (7th Level)
Writer
Lewis started his career in 1970 as a freelance journalist writing for British music weeklies such as the New Musical Express, Record MirrorRecord Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
and Disc
Disc (magazine)
Disc was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into Record Mirror. It was also known for periods as Disc Weekly and Disc and Music Echo ....
.
He has written speeches, commercials and material for many entertainers including members of Monty Python as well as Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
, Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
, Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress, writer, and presenter. She is known for her television roles as Susan Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and Lois Lane on the ABC comedy-drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...
, Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
, Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
, Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
, Sally Jessy Raphael
Sally Jessy Raphaël
Sally Lowenthal , better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American talk show host, known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades.-Early years:...
and Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
.
He was the sole writer of the 1998 VH1 Honors Awards – Divas Live - which launched the VH1’s Divas franchise and featured Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. He has also written for the annual British Academy Awards, collaborating with Oscar show writer Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch is an American comedy writer, songwriter and actor. He is a six-time Emmy Award-winner Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as a celebrity participant; in the entertainment industry he is best known as head writer for the show...
.
Lewis wrote the extensive ‘companion narrative’ for the 1998 re-publication of Beatles manager Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
’s 1964 autobiography A Cellarful Of Noise (Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
, 1998).
Lewis re-commenced his journalistic career in 2000 when he was invited to become a Special Correspondent for TIME.com, for which he covered the 2000 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
and various cultural events in 2001. Lewis writes columns for various online publications including Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, the Huffington Post (for which he is a regular contributor) and his own Agent Provocateur literary website.
Publicity and marketing strategist
Lewis also works as a publicity and marketing consultant through his company Springtime! which he founded in 1977.Bob
Bob Weinstein
Robert "Bob" Weinstein is an American film and theatre producer, the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films, and current head, with his brother Harvey Weinstein, of The Weinstein Company.-Career:...
and Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
- founders of Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
and the Weinstein Company have credited Lewis with providing the inspiration and prototype for their own expertise in movie marketing. A story about Lewis in the Hollywood Reporter in June 2001 included a joint statement by the Weinstein Brothers: "Back in 1982 when we were starting Miramax Films, Martin Lewis was the producer of what became our first hit movie - The Secret Policeman's Other Ball starring the Monty Pythons. Martin had a background in publicity and marketing and came up with a great campaign for the movie, creating a huge buzz and getting us free publicity, which was crucial to the film's success. We learned a lot about publicity and marketing from our experience with Martin Lewis."
Early in his career, Lewis had been a protégé of former Beatles publicist Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor was an English journalist, writer and publicist, best known for his work as press officer for The Beatles...
- then working for the UK division of Warner
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
/Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
/Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. Lewis subsequently worked at British independent record company Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...
as Director Of Publicity & Marketing - where he worked on campaigns for musicians and comedic artists such as Gerry Rafferty
Gerry Rafferty
Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty was a Scottish singer songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", "Days Gone Down", "Night Owl", "Get It Right Next Time", and with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in...
, Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
, Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
, Gryphon
Gryphon (band)
Gryphon were a British progressive rock band of the 1970s, best known for their unusual Medieval sound and instrumentation.-Career:Multi-instrumentalist Richard Harvey and his fellow Royal College of Music graduate Brian Gulland, a woodwind player, began the group as an all-acoustic ensemble that...
, the Sadista Sisters, Mike Harding
Mike Harding
Mike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and broadcaster. He is known as 'The Rochdale Cowboy' after one of his hit records...
, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra
Pasadena Roof Orchestra
The Pasadena Roof Orchestra is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed since 1969, although the line-up has frequently changed...
, and the Portsmouth Sinfonia
Portsmouth Sinfonia
The Portsmouth Sinfonia was an orchestra founded by a group of students at the Portsmouth School of Art in Portsmouth, England, in 1970. The Sinfonia had an unusual entrance requirement, in that players had to either be non-musicians, or if a musician, play an instrument that was entirely new to...
.
In 1994-1996 he reunited with Derek Taylor when he was engaged by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
as US marketing strategist for the Beatles' Anthology and Live at the BBC
Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by The Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 through 1965. The monaural album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks...
projects.
Other notable projects in recent years include the worldwide launch of Sir Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's Music & Animation Collection DVD of animated musical films for children (2004), the 50th anniversary of the movie Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
and the 50th anniversary of the song Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock
"Rock Around the Clock" is a 12-bar-blues-based song written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954...
(2005).
His work as a marketing and publicity strategist includes two successful Oscar campaigns for movies that won the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
: the 2005 Best Picture winner Crash and the 2011 Best Picture winner The King's Speech.
The promotional website Lewis created and wrote for the 2000 theatrical reissue of A Hard Day's Night won the Gold Pencil Award - the advertising industry's equivalent of the Oscar - for the Best Promotional Website of 2000 – awarded annually by The One Club
The One Club
Founded in New York City as The One Club for Art & Copy, The One Club produces three annual award competitions: One Show, One Show Design, and One Show Interactive...
.
Film festival producer
Lewis is a long-term member of the Board of Trustees of The American CinemathequeAmerican Cinematheque
The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Image in all its forms. It is considered among the premier organizations of its kind in America....
. He has produced and hosted multiple film festivals in Los Angeles since 1993 including the Mods & Rockers Film Festival celebrating 1960s and rock-related movies (presented annually since 1999)- and Lust For Glory! the official 25th Anniversary celebrations of the Monty Python troupe (1994). Other film festivals produced and hosted by Lewis in Hollywood have saluted Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
, Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, Peter Cook, Graham Chapman, Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
, Nicolas Roeg
Nicolas Roeg
Nicolas Jack Roeg, CBE, BSC is an English film director and cinematographer.-Life and career:Roeg was born in London, the son of Mabel Gertrude and Jack Nicolas Roeg...
, and the feature film output of Britain's Channel Four. He also organized the official celebrations marking the 90th birthday of actor Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
in 2006.
Lewis has served as Chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
(Los Angeles), sitting on its Board of Directors for six years. He produced and hosted multiple film events for BAFTA/LA including co-presentations with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
and The Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
.
In 2009, Lewis instigated, produced and hosted The Secret Policeman's Film Festival an in-depth retrospective of 25 films and TV specials produced as fund-raisers for Amnesty International over the preceding three decades. The festival was presented over five weeks in the summer of 2009 in New York at Lincoln Center and the Paley Center For Media, Manhattan and in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque's Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the Paley Center For Media, Beverly Hills. The festival was subsequently presented in Washington DC in December 2009 at the American Film Institute coinciding with International Human Rights Day.
Beatles scholar
Lewis is considered a leading Beatles historian and is frequently interviewed or asked to write on Beatles-related topics. His association with the Beatles dates back to 1967, when, as a teenage fan, he was engaged to compile the discography for Hunter DaviesHunter Davies
Edward Hunter Davies is a prolific British author, journalist and broadcaster, perhaps best known for writing the only authorised biography of The Beatles.- Early life :...
' official biography of the group. Years later, he wrote, hosted and produced the only TV documentary made about the Beatles' Anthology project' - Re-Meet The Beatles! (E! - 1995)
He was a consultant for Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet is a British television and stage director and an occasional writer and actor.-Background and early work:...
’s 2000 VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
television film, Two of Us
Two of Us (2000 television)
Two of Us is a 2000 television drama which offers a dramatized account of April 24, 1976 , the day in which Lorne Michaels made a statement on Saturday Night Live offering The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on his program.It was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Two of Us is a 2000 television drama (and...
, a fictionalized account of the last-ever encounter between John Lennon and Paul McCartney (in New York in 1976). Lewis advised on the music for the film (which included a 1997 recording of The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, initially formed in Liverpool in 1956, that eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960...
made by Lewis) and worked with actors Jared Harris
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
(Lennon) and Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn
-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
(McCartney) on their characterizations.
In 2004, Lewis produced and hosted The Fab 40!, a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first US visit. Lewis has hosted Beatles fan conventions in New York, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Los Angeles, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Boston, Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, and Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
since 1992. He created the Official Brian Epstein Website and spearheads the campaign to have Epstein inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
On 4 February 2008, Lewis, in conjunction with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, arranged for the recording of the Beatles' song "Across the Universe
Across the Universe
"Across the Universe" is a song by the English group The Beatles. It was written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the various artists charity compilation album No One's Gonna Change Our World in December 1969, and later, in different form, on Let It Be,...
" to be transmitted towards the North Star, Polaris
Polaris
Polaris |Alpha]] Ursae Minoris, commonly North Star or Pole Star, also Lodestar) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star....
, via the Deep Space Network
Deep Space Network
The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
antenna. The transmission was timed to coincide with celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of NASA, the 50th anniversary of the launch of America's first satellite, Explorer 1 and the 40th anniversary of the Beatles recording John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's composition Across the Universe.
Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
referred to Lewis' reputation as a Beatles scholar on his HBO show Real Time With Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...
in March 2010 - jokingly referring to Lewis as the fifth Beatle.
Artist management
Lewis is credited with discovering British comedian Alexei Sayle at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival and orchestrating Sayle’s breakthrough success in 1980-1984. Other artists who have engaged Lewis' services include Eric BurdonEric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
and The Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
. He has been the manager of the infamous Portsmouth Sinfonia
– the self-described World’s Worst Orchestra whose alumni include ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
pioneer Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, film composer Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
, avant-garde composer Gavin Bryars
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
and rock producer Clive Langer
Clive Langer
Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...
- since 1973.
Social activism
Lewis’ work with Amnesty International has been credited by politically-conscious and active artists such as BonoBono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
, Sting and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
as having been a major factor in the growing social activism of rock musicians since the early 1980s. In a 1986 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Bono said: "I saw The Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)
The Secret Policeman's Ball took place over four consecutive nights in London in June 1979. It was a successor to the 1976 show A Poke In The Eye and the 1977 show The Mermaid Frolics.The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and producers Martin Lewis and Peter Walker...
and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
and Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
organizer Bob Geldof's first-ever participation in a benefit show was at 1981's The Secret Policeman's Other Ball - the event where he first worked with Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...
who later collaborated on Geldof’s worldwide fund-raisers.
Amnesty also credits Lewis with conceiving its 1988 Human Rights Now! world tour
Human Rights Now! Tour
Human Rights Now! was a worldwide tour of twenty benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International that took place over six weeks in 1988. Held not to raise funds but to increase awareness of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on its 40th anniversary and the work of Amnesty...
of all five continents that featured Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Sting and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
.
In December 2009, Lewis instigated and co-hosted a major event saluting Amnesty International in Washington DC. The event was attended by Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
, Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
, Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
, Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
, Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
, Edward Norton
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Patti Scialfa
Patti Scialfa
Vivienne Patricia "Patti" Scialfa is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.- Early life :...
, Sting, Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...
, Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
, Ben Harper
Ben Harper
Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...
, Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
, Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Bob Balaban
Bob Balaban
Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban is an American actor, author and director.-Personal life:Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television...
, Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
, Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin
William Mills "Bill" Irwin is an American actor and clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He is known for his vaudeville-style stage acts, but has made a number of appearances on film and television and won a Tony Award for a dramatic role on...
, Richard Kind
Richard Kind
Richard John Kind is an American actor known for his roles in the sitcoms Mad About You and Spin City .- Early life :...
, Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
, Roger Bart
Roger Bart
Roger Bart is an American actor and singer.-Life and career:Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey. His uncle is journalist Peter Bart. He made his Broadway debut in Big River as Tom Sawyer in 1987...
, Gary Beach
Gary Beach
Gary Beach is an American actor, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Biography:Beach was born in Alexandria, Virginia and later went on to graduate from the North Carolina School of the Arts, the same school as Terrence Mann, his Beauty and the Beast costar.Beach and his partner, Jeffrey...
, Shuler Hensley
Shuler Hensley
-Early life:Hensley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The youngest of three children, Hensley grew up in Marietta, Georgia. His father, Sam P. Hensley, Jr., is a former Georgia Tech football star, retired civil engineer and former state senator. His mother, Iris Antley Hensley, was a ballerina and the...
, Cory English
Cory English
Cory English , is an American actor.Born into a blue collar family in upstate New York, Cory was the youngest of four boys. Cory attended Wayne Central in Ontario, New York...
, Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles is an American country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Before Sugarland's inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band...
of Sugarland and opera singer Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry , an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years...
.The event was co-hosted by Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International, USA.
Personal life
Lewis was born in the AshteadAshtead
Ashtead is a village situated within the Metropolitan Green Belt of Surrey, England, and is just outside of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common.- History :...
in the county of Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was born into an orthodox Jewish family. He was raised in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, a bohemian enclave in north-west London. He was educated at a private school - University College School
University College School
University College School, generally known as UCS, is an Independent school charity situated in Hampstead, north west London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views...
in Hampstead - but was expelled at the age of 14. He had no formal education after his expulsion. He lived and worked in London until he moved to America in 1982. Between 1982-1988 he lived and worked in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1988 and has lived and worked there since. Lewis is single.
External links
- "Rita Cosby Live & Direct" (featuring an interview with Martin Lewis) by Rita Cosby, MSNBC TV, 31 October 2005
- "The Apollonian spirit of the Beatles" by Martin Lewis, Variety (Centennial Issue), 16 October 2005
- "Box Set Sparks War Among Beatles Fans" (Interview with Martin Lewis) by Edna Gunderson, USA Today, 25 November 2004
- "Interview with Martin Lewis" by Frank Buckley, CNN Sunday Morning, 8 February 2004
- "America Gets Ready To Celebrate 40 Years of Beatlemania" (interview with Martin Lewis), by Fredericka Whitfield, CNN Live Saturday, 31 January 2004
- "Is An Australian Farmer Really the King of England?" (interview with Martin Lewis), The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News, 2 January 2004
- "British Humor: Martin Lewis" (Online chat with Martin Lewis), USA Today.com, 18 July 2003
- "Conflict with Iraq: Tony Blair, England, and the U.S." (Online chat with Martin Lewis), USA Today.com, 21 March 2003
- "Election 2002: BBC Political Commentator Martin Lewis" (Online chat with Martin Lewis), Usa Today.com, 31 October 2002
- "'A Hard Day's Night': Martin Lewis" (Online chat with Martin Lewis), USA Today.com, 27 September 2002
- "Beatles Biographer Speaks on George Harrison's Life and Music" by Paula Zahn, host of 'Mornings with Paula Zahn,' CNN, 30 November 2001
- "The Art of Lying", by Martin Lewis, Salon.com, 3 August 2001
- "Rock became art when Martin met the Beatles" (featuring an interview with Martin Lewis), by Edna Gundersen, USA Today, 18 July 2001
- "Meet the Beatles expert who started a 30-year hoax", by Edna Gunderson, USA Today, 5 June 2001
- Jim Henke, Human Rights Now! (Bloomsbury 1988) ISBN 0-7475-0318-4
- Martin Lewis, Peter Walker, editors, The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball (London: Methuen, 1981)
- Mark Wilkerson, "Amazing Journey: The Life of Pete Townshend" (Lulu 2006) ISBN 1411677005 ISBN 978-1411677005
- Brian Epstein, Martin Lewis "A Cellarful of Noise" Reprint edition (Byron Preiss 1998) ISBN 0671011960. ISBN 978-0671011963
- Chrissie MacDonald, "That's Anarchy: The Story of a Revolution in the World of TV Comedy" (Sid Harta 2005) ISBN 1877059242. ISBN 978-1877059247
- Dan Cairns "The Real Godfathers Of Punk" The Sunday Times (UK) 30 May 2004. http://www.portsmouthsinfonia.com/media/sundaytimes.html
- Official website
- Columns on Huffington Post
- Articles for TIME.com
- Agent Provocateur literary website