Las Vegas Weekly

June 5, 2009 · 7:42 AM

Jerry Lewis films interview for documentary tribute to actress Ina Balin

By Robin Leach

Comedian Jerry Lewis.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Most people have never heard of actress Ina Balin, but she was a treasured star of Hollywood and Broadway. Ina had an incredible story of rescuing Vietnamese orphans from their war-ravaged country and adopted three of them herself. Now a documentary film is underway paying tribute to her humanitarian adventures and her entertainment career.

Our hometown hero Jerry Lewis was among the first to honor Ina with an in-depth interview, and our contributing photographer Denise Truscello captured this portrait before filming began.

In 1964, Jerry wrote, directed and starred in The Patsy with Ina as a co-star. The movie also featured Peter Lorre, Keenan Wynn and, playing themselves, Rhonda Fleming, George Raft and original gossip girl Hedda Hopper. Jerry told fascinating stories of his experiences with Ina and also touched on anecdotes with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Photo: Courtesy

Ina Balin and Elvis Presley in the Western film Charro!

Ina’s career began back in the 1950s on The Perry Como Show, and throughout the 1960s and ’70s, she made films alongside Sophia Loren, Elvis Presley, Paul Newman, John Wayne and Orson Welles.

But it was in 1970 when she toured Vietnam with the USO that she became involved with the war-torn country and assisted in the evacuation of orphans during the fall of Saigon. In 1980, she starred as herself in the TV movie The Children of An Lac, based on her experiences.

Ina died June 20, 1990, at age 52 from coronary heart disease and is survived by her three children.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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