Menu
all right
everyone, cmon, twang out the MUNSTERS' theme, in memory of AL LEWIS
Unsteady Freddie
'Grandpa Munster' Al Lewis Dies at 95 By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press
Writer 27 minutes ago
Al Lewis, the cigar-chomping patriarch of "The Munsters" whose work as a
basketball scout, restaurateur and political candidate never eclipsed his role
as Grandpa from the television sitcom, died after years of failing health. He
was 95.
Lewis, with his wife at his bedside, passed away Friday night, said Bernard
White, program director at WBAI-FM, where the actor hosted a weekly radio
program. White made the announcement on the air during the Saturday slot where
Lewis usually appeared.
"To say that we will miss his generous, cantankerous, engaging spirit is a
profound understatement," White said.
Lewis, sporting a somewhat cheesy Dracula outfit, became a pop culture icon
playing the irascible father-in-law to Fred Gwynne's ever-bumbling Herman
Munster on the 1964-66 television show. He was also one of the stars of another
classic TV comedy, playing Officer Leo Schnauzer on "Car 54, Where Are You?"
But Lewis' life off the small screen ranged far beyond his acting antics. A
former ballplayer at Thomas Jefferson High School, he achieved notoriety as a
basketball talent scout familiar to coaching greats like Jerry Tarkanian and Red
Auerbach.
He operated a successful Greenwich Village restaurant, Grandpa's, where he was
a regular presence chatting with customers, posing for pictures, signing
autographs.
Just two years short of his 90th birthday, a ponytailed Lewis ran as the Green
Party candidate against incumbent Gov. George Pataki. Lewis campaigned against
draconian drug laws and the death penalty, while going to court in a losing
battle to have his name appear on the ballot as "Grandpa Al Lewis."
He didn't defeat Pataki, but managed to collect more 52,000 votes.
\
Lewis was born Alexander Meister in upstate New York before his family moved
to Brooklyn, where the 6-foot-1 teen began a lifelong love affair with
basketball. He later became a vaudeville and circus performer, but his career
didn't take off until television did the same.
Lewis, as Officer Schnauzer, played opposite Gwynne's Officer Francis Muldoon
in "Car 54, Where Are You?" a comedy about a Bronx police precinct that aired
from 1961-63. One year later, the duo appeared together in "The Munsters,"
taking up residence at the fictional 1313 Mockingbird Lane.
The series, about a family of clueless creatures plunked down in middle
America, was a success and ran through 1966. It forever locked Lewis in as the
memorably twisted character; decades later, strangers would greet him on the
street with shouts of "Grandpa!"
Unlike some television stars, Lewis never complained about getting typecast
and made appearances in character for decades.
"Why would I mind?" he asked in a 1997 interview. "It pays my mortgage."
Lewis rarely slowed down, opening his restaurant and hosting his WBAI radio
program. At one point during the '90s, he was a frequent guest on the Howard
Stern radio show, once sending the shock jock diving for the delay button by
leading an undeniably obscene chant against the Federal Communications
Commission.
He also popped up in a number of movies, including the acclaimed "They Shoot
Horses, Don't They?" and "Married to the Mob." Lewis reprised his role of
Schnauzer in the movie remake of "Car 54," and appeared as a guest star on
television shows such as "Taxi," "Green Acres" and "Lost in Space."
But in 2003, Lewis was hospitalized for an angioplasty. Complications during
surgery led to an emergency bypass and the amputation of his right leg below the
knee and all the toes on his left foot. Lewis spent the next month in a coma.
A year later, he was back offering his recollections of a seminal punk band on
the DVD "Ramones Raw."
He is survived by his wife, Karen Ingenthron-Lewis, three sons and four
grandchildren.
---------------------------------
Brings words and photos together (easily) with
PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
In a message dated 2/4/2006 2:08:59 P.M. Central Standard Time, writes:
where the 6-foot-1 teen began a lifelong love affair with basketball
Just goes to show how television can be deceiving. I always perceived
Granpa Munster as a short fella. I guess next to Herman in those 6 inch
platforms
anyone would look short.
-Matt Crunk
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Plus Fred Gwynn was 6 ft. 6in.
Jeff(bigtikidude)
--- In , MattCrunk@... wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 2/4/2006 2:08:59 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> schizofredric@... writes:
>
> where the 6-foot-1 teen began a lifelong love affair with
basketball
>
>
> Just goes to show how television can be deceiving. I always
perceived
> Granpa Munster as a short fella. I guess next to Herman in those 6
inch platforms
> anyone would look short.
>
> -Matt Crunk
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
