Lewis, 85, became ill minutes before he was due to go on stage in Australia – but was “miraculously” cured by a tasty meat pie.
The legendary comic had been set to perform at the Rooty Hill RSL club in Sydney on June 24 but started to feel woozy as his chauffeur pulled up in front of the place.
“He said he was about to collapse!” said an insider who spoke with Lewis’ driver.
“Jerry began complaining that he couldn’t go on.”
Richard Errington, CEO of the club said the comic looked very sick as he pulled up.
“He couldn’t even get out of the car. He was pale and looked extremely unwell.”
Lewis insisted on being driven back to his hotel.
“But on the way back, he said he was very hungry – and demanded to get a meat pie,” said the insider.
A traditional Aussie dish, meat pie is a hand-size pie containing largely diced or minced meat and gravy, sometimes with onion, mushrooms or cheese.
“Apparently, Jerry developed a taste for them when he’d been to Australia before,” said the insider.
“So before heading back to his hotel, the driver took him to a very well-known restaurant called Harry’s Cafe de Wheels so he could have a pie.
“After taking a bite, a delighted Jerry said, ‘Mmmmm, that’s good! Just what the doctor ordered.’ ”
After he wolfed down his meat pie, Jerry had his driver take him back to his hotel where he finally had a doctor examine him.
The source said, “He was just exhausted from jet lag and apparently hadn’t eaten much that day.”
