Jean-Luc Godard mentions that holocaust-project while delivering hagiographic praise of Jerry Lewis on the Dick Cavett Show, some time in the early 80s.
I also think that particular interview is the origin of the idea that Lewis was really popular in France: at one point Cavett observes that Lewis is popular in Europe, but doesn't say anything about France specifically, which leads me to conclude that the idea of Lewis-smitten Frenchmen doesn't predate the interview, and the date of the interview is right around the time of that stereotype entering the American imagination.
(You can find the interview on You Tube.)
I also think that particular interview is the origin of the idea that Lewis was really popular in France: at one point Cavett observes that Lewis is popular in Europe, but doesn't say anything about France specifically, which leads me to conclude that the idea of Lewis-smitten Frenchmen doesn't predate the interview, and the date of the interview is right around the time of that stereotype entering the American imagination.
(You can find the interview on You Tube.)