I am surprised no one has mentioned Jerry Lewis. His comedy was physical, imaginative, and brilliant. It's probably too sedate for today's audience, but that doesn't diminish the genius. Not only was he an exceptional comedian, he was an unbelievable influence in the film industry to the point he was responsible for some of the technological advances that make movies possible today. Since he was acting in and directing his own movies, he needed a way to see if a "take" was good before he could move on. He commissioned and worked with Sony back in the 60's to develop the video playback. That way he knew if the "take" could be printed or he would do another take before going on to the next sequence which saved millions for the studio over his career. He also wrote a book about directing called "The Total Film Maker". If you question whether it was good or not, Martin Scorsese used to carry a copy around with him.
Some of my favorite moves of his are:
The Nutty Professor
Rock-A-Bye Baby
Who's Minding the Store
The Disorderly Orderly
Cinderfella
If you've never seen them, check them out and pay particular attention to how good a shape he had to be in to achieve some of the physical demands of the films. In the movie Cinderfella, he ran up a flight of 64 steps in 8 seconds.
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