The State : Viewers Give $42 Million

Jerry Lewis coaxed a record $42,209,727 out of viewers of his annual Labor Day Telethon, with muscular dystrophy victims appealing for an end to the disease that kills children and devastates families. The final pledge figure surpassed the 1988 record of $41,132,113. A parade of corporate sponsors donated an additional $36,228,846 during the 21 1/2-hour event that ended Monday afternoon. The telethons have raised $526,524,210 for the New York City-based Muscular Dystrophy Assn. since Lewis, the association’s national chairman, began the event in 1966. Corporate contributions, which have amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, are not included in the telethon totals. More than 50 top-name entertainers were featured on this year’s show, which was based in Las Vegas.