ST LOUIS (LALATE) – Jerry Lewis is leaving as MDA Labor Day Telethon host. But Lewis says he will remain as the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s National Chairman. Lewis, now 85, has been the subject of health reports for two years. But since taking the hosting position in the early 1950s, Lewis says his September 4, 2011 appearance will be his last.

Lewis tells news that it’s time for a “new telethon era”. Lewis made news by revolutionizing how we consider telethons. When MDA’s annual Labor Day telethon first debuted, the notion of doing a six hour late night telethon was unheard of. The 2010 telecast raised $59 million for muscular dystrophy and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) research.

“As a labor of love, I’ve hosted the annual telethon since 1966, and I’ll be making my final appearance on the show this year by performing my signature song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,’” he said in a news statement today. This will mark his forty-fifth year.

Lewis clarified he is remaining national MDA chairman, adding, “I’ll never desert MDA and my kids.” Lewis added “I’ll continue to serve MDA as its national chairman as I’ve done since the early 1950s.”

Gerald C. Weinberg, MDA’s president and chief executive, thanked Lewis today. “As MDA continues the growth Jerry Lewis has done so much to inspire, all of us who’ve been privileged to work beside him, and the hundreds of thousands throughout the world affected by the myriad of muscle diseases MDA battles, will acknowledge in our hearts forever the unrivaled role Jerry has played in our lives and the lives of all Americans,” Weinberg said in a news statement Monday.

“This year’s six hour prime-time telethon on Sept. 4th will be spectacular and I’m thrilled to be part of it,” Lewis added in his statement. “We’re so close to treatments that it’s absolutely vital for everyone to tune in and make a generous donation. America has always found a way each year to give me that just one dollar more to help my kids.”