 Gore Vidal, who wrote the original play, was upset with the choice  of Jerry Lewis as the lead in the movie version. On Broadway,  Vidals play ran for 388 performances between Feb 7, 1957 and Jan  11, 1958, and won Cyril Ritchard, originator of the Kreton  character, a 1957 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in Play. But  Jerry Lewis was a star, twelve times named to the Top Ten list of  Box Office Stars, six times with partner Dean Martin (with whom he  was the top star of 1952), and six times solo (ranking as high as #3  in 1958). He got the part.