Posted on 02/04/2006 5:25:49 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
NEW YORK (AP) -- 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.
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| Al Lewis, a longtime political activist best known for his television role as Grandpa Munster, appears at the Green Party of New York State convention in Albany, N.Y., in a Saturday, June 20, 1998 photo. 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.. (AP Photo/Tim Roske, file) |
Are you sure that is not a pic of Helen Thomas?
By the way, Grandpa was the coolest Munster of them all. RIP.
Rest in peace, Grandpa. I disagreed with your politics but appreciate your honesty in what you stood for.
RIP you old crackpot. He was quite a trip. I heard him call Howard Stern more than once and he was out of his mind. This was ten years ago and he was nuts then. He always gave me a good laugh. He was a true character.
None exist. So it's real easy to be against such a thing.
and the death penalty,
Then he shall be remembered as a pro-drug, anti-justice @hole
Al Frankin, the chomping schmuck whose work as a lame comedian and actor, and failed political candidate never eclipsed his role as loser, died after years of failing mental health.
A couple of Munster trivia facts: Beverly Owen, who originally played Marilyn, did not want to be in the show. She signed to do the pilot, thinking that it was to be a one shot performance. According to Lewis, she sulked in her trailer so much that they finally let her out of her contract.
Mel Blanc did the voice of the Raven that popped out of the clock.
Similar...
LOL!
Those stogies probably added 20 years to his life.
A great actor. Loved the Munsters.
RIP.
Methinks your mental health could use some examination. Or maybe you could tell me what TV shows YOU appeared on.
Differences of opinion should not be grounds for the type of pettiness that you just displayed here.
Didn't he talk about screwing young boys on Howard Stern years ago?
Come on. Grampa Lewis was a hell of a lot better looking than Helen Thomas. Stop putting him down !!
I agree, he was the coolest Munster, and may he rest in peace. Prayers for his family and friends during this difficult time.
Methinks your mental health could use some examination. Or maybe you could tell me what TV shows YOU appeared on.
Differences of opinion should not be grounds for the type of pettiness that you just displayed here.
Yeah explian your comment here he was talking about al franken not lewis
Leo Schnauzer was my favorite character on Car 54. I remember the episode when he was in the hospital and they were going to give him money from some sort of fund they kept.
Al Franken's dead?
You are dating yourself! ;-)
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