Joe E. Lewis (born Joseph Klewan, 1902–1971) was an American nightclub comedian and singer who became one of the highest-paid saloon entertainers of his era. Once a crooner, he was left with a scarred throat and gravelly voice after gangsters slashed him in 1927 for refusing to renew a contract at a Capone-linked Chicago club — a story told in his 1955 biography and the 1957 Frank Sinatra film The Joker Is Wild. His hard-living, quick-witted stage persona made him the natural home for the “you only live once… once is enough” gag.