I . Carl Lewis
(1961– )
a US athlete who won eight Olympic gold medals. He took part in the games in 1988 and 1992.
II . C S Lewis
( Clive Staples Lewis 1898–1963)
a British author, born in Northern Ireland. He is best remembered for his children’s books about Narnia , but he also wrote serious historical works and science fiction novels. His books on Christian themes are also well known, particularly The Screwtape Letters , a humorous collection of letters from a senior to a junior devil. Lewis’ life was the subject of the film Shadowlands (1993).
III . Jerry Lee Lewis
(1935– )
a US singer of rock and roll and country music who plays the piano in a wild way, sometimes using his feet on the keys. He is sometimes known as ‘the Killer’. His early hits included Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On (1957) and Great Balls of Fire (1957). His career was damaged when he married his cousin when she was only 13, but he returned in the 1960s as a country-music singer. He was one of the first group chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
IV . Jerry Lewis
(1926– )
a US comic actor who also directs and produces films. He first became famous in the 1950s with Dean Martin in a series of 16 comedy films. Lewis was the loud, crazy one and Martin was the calm, romantic one who also sang. Lewis’s later films have included The Nutty Professor (1963). He became the star of the musical show Damn Yankees in which he appeared on Broadway in 1995 and later in London, England.
V . Lennox Lewis
(1965– )
a British heavyweight boxer. He spent his early years in Canada, where he achieved his first successes as a boxer, but returned to Britain to become European champion (1990), British champion (1991) and finally the world champion (1993–4).
VI . Sinclair Lewis
(1885–1951)
a US writer of novels which often show the more ridiculous aspects of American life. He was the first American to receive the Nobel Prize (in 1930). His books include Main Street (1920), Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith (1925) (which won the Pulitzer Prize though Lewis refused it), Elmer Gantry (1927) and Dodsworth (1929).
VII . Wyndham Lewis
(1882–1957)
an English artist and writer who led the artistic movement known as Vorticism . During World War I he was a soldier and an official war artist, and his later paintings include several portraits of artistic figures of the time, including T S Eliot and Ezra Pound . He also wrote several novels.