For 44 years, from 1966 to 2010, this holiday weekend was associated with the Jerry Lewis MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) Labor Day Telethon.
On Sunday night, September 3, 1972, my family and I watched an extraordinary performance during that annual telethon by the Oscar-winning actor Jack Palance, who delivered a chilling monologue, “I am Muscular Dystrophy.” They certainly got the right guy for that performance. It was reported that Palance, often typecast in ‘bad guy’ roles, was reluctant to deliver the disturbing monologue because of its graphic descriptions of the ways in which the degenerative disease progressively attacks those children who are born with it.
So transfixed were we by the performance that it never dawned on me to record Palance’s monologue on audio cassette. We didn’t have VCRs back then, so a video recording of it was not possible. Fortunately, on Labor Day, September 4, 1972, the Palance monologue was reintroduced by Jerry Lewis and rebroadcast to an even larger television audience. This time, I was fully prepared and recorded the monologue on audio cassette tape.
A few years later, my friends and I ran a street carnival outside my grandmother’s house to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy. We enlisted my brother Carl, and my sister-in-law Joanne, to perform live at the carnival. My sister Elizabeth also participated, giving her own terrific spin on “I am Muscular Dystrophy.” None of these performances were recorded for posterity.
Sadly, I have never seen a video of the Palance appearance anywhere on YouTube. In later years, Patty Duke provided her own reading of the monologue. But I have yet to discover either version anywhere on the web. I should note that I was able to find another highly truncated version of the monologue performed by an unidentified actor during the MDA Telethon on Sunday, September 3, 1989. Check out 47:47 on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. That shortened rendition doesn’t remotely approach the dramatic impact of the Palance performance.
In September 2024, as I was downsizing for my move into another apartment after 38 years, I rediscovered my recording of the Palance monologue. Though the tape was over fifty years old, it was in surprisingly good shape. Having settled into my new place, I carefully digitized the recording and created a video that I uploaded to YouTube for this occasion.
A time capsule of sorts, this digitized slideshow is no mere cultural artifact. It captures a superb 6-minute performance, illuminating the nightmarish effects of this debilitating, deadly disease. “I hate people,” declares Palance, “especially children.” The musical backdrop is as unsettling as Palance’s monologue.
Founded in 1950, the Muscular Dystrophy Association is celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary this year. Folks can still donate to the cause.
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