![]() It was her passion for performing that got her through. “That’s why it took my therapist five years to get me on medication, because I was afraid that my edge would go away.” “I was afraid that the edge would go away,” she said. “I slept under the covers in dark rooms.” Lewis has been in treatment for 20 years now, but it took five years of persistence for her therapist to convince her to take medication. “I came out of 30 years of depression before I was diagnosed,” she said. It took Lewis a long time to realize that the very thing that gave her that edge, that made people think she was fabulous, came at a cost. I used to say it out loud: ‘Not even me can stop me.’” Shining her light I was a locomotive with talent! So much talent. “When I walked into a room to audition, I knew they needed the triple threat,” said Lewis.T”hat grandiosity came from my bipolar disorder, the mania that comes with that. Initially, her undiagnosed bipolar disorder was an asset. I had to do it all.” Photo by Tyler Lacona. Well, I didn’t adhere to it I didn’t stoop to it. Back in those days, they would only market you as a singer or a comedian or a dancer - you had to do one thing. Lewis took inspiration from the best, watching legends like Bette Davis, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis, and Moms Mabley on TV, and she knew she needed to do it all. “I said, ‘If I can be famous, then I’ll be rich, and if I’m rich, I can give them some food.’ This is how I thought. I sat in front of the television one day, and I saw that the flies on their noses and faces and eyes,” Lewis explained. “I would see those PSAs of the starving children in Africa. Coming from humble beginnings, Lewis saw fame and fortune as a means of able to give back to those less fortunate. I had no idea I was manic.” The triple threat “When I was on stage and had all of that bravado and delusions of grandeur, I was in heaven! Everybody said, ‘she’s fabulous’ - and I was fabulous. “Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder was my biggest challenge,” Lewis said. Known as the “Mother of Black Hollywood,” she’s been the star of countless Broadway hits, films, and TV shows a tireless activist and a woman huge A-list stars call “auntie.” However, her biggest challenge had nothing to do with acting or activism. Jenifer Lewis - whose decades-long career spans TV, Hollywood, theater, and music - used her passion for performing to fuel her fight for mental health.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |