Al Lewis (actor)

Al Lewis (born Abraham Meister; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006) was an American actor and activist, best known for his role as Grandpa on the television series ''The Munsters'' from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co-starred with ''The Munsters'' Fred Gwynne in the television show '' Car 54, Where Are You? '' from 1961–1963. Later in life, he was a restaurant owner, political candidate, and radio broadcaster.

Early life

Lewis was born Abraham Meister on April 30, 1923 in Manhattan, New York City. His parents Alexander and Ida (''née'' Neidel), a house painter from Minsk and a garment worker respectively, were Jewish
immigrants from the Russian Empire; His two brothers were Phillip and Henry.Record of "Al Lewis"; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006; SSN: 050-18-4924. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2006. He had originally given his birth year as 1910. His reputed early radio work in the mid-1930s would indicate the earlier birth date, as did an off-the-cuff remark on the TVLegends interview, 2002, where he says "not a bad memory for 92". Ted Lewis, his son, firmly said his father was born in 1923 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. Other sources placed his birth in Wolcott, New York, but no official record of his birth has been published to date (2006), and officials in Wolcott say they have no record of any Meister. ''The Times'' wrote: "Lewis was born Albert Meister, probably in 1923, but he insisted that he was born in 1910. This, and Lewis's many other questionable stories, means that much of the actor's life is a broth of conjecture that his fans will no doubt squabble over for years to come." On his application for a Social Security number, completed sometime between 1936 and 1950, Lewis gave his date of birth as April 30, 1923. The 1925 New York State census lists Abe Meister, age 2, living with his parents Alexander and Ida Meister on 99th Street. The 1940 census lists an Albert Meister "age 16" living on Douglass (today's Strauss) Street in Brooklyn, New York.

In a 1998 interview with Walt Shepperd, Lewis said:

Education

According to a report in ''The Jewish Week'', Al Lewis attended Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York, in his youth and "asked annoying questions to the teachers." Lewis then attended Thomas Jefferson High School, which he left in his junior year. He claimed to have attended Oswego State Teachers College (now SUNY Oswego), notwithstanding his lack of a high school diploma, and to have earned a Ph.D. in child psychology from Columbia University in 1941, of which Columbia has no record. Lewis did send at least one of his children to Yeshiva in the San Fernando Valley.

Career

Acting

In 1949, after a suggestion from a friend, he decided to pursue a career as an actor after joining the Paul Mann Actors' Workshop in New York. He worked in burlesque and vaudeville theaters, then on Broadway in the dramas ''The Night Circus'' (1958) and '' One More River'' (1960) and as the character Moe Shtarker in the musical comedy '' Do Re Mi'' (1962).

His earliest television work includes appearances on the crime drama ''Decoy'' and ''The Phil Silvers Show''. From 1959 to 1963, he appeared in four episodes of '' Naked City''. Lewis's first well-known television role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on the sitcom ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' from 1961 to 1963, also starring Fred Gwynne (Lewis reprised the role in the 1994 movie of the same name). In the series, Lewis first played Al Spencer the Auto Body Man and a property developer in two early first-season episodes, then landed the more familiar role of Officer Schnauser. He is best remembered as Grandpa on ''The Munsters'', which ran on CBS from 1964 to 1966.

In 1967, Lewis played the part of Zalto the magician in the ''Lost in Space'' episode "Rocket to Earth". His first role in a movie was as Machine Gun Manny in ''Pretty Boy Floyd'' (1960). He had small roles in '' The World of Henry Orient'' (1964), '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1969), and ''They Might Be Giants'' (1971). He appeared as Hanging Judge Harrison in ''Used Cars'' (1980), played a security guard on an episode of ''Taxi'', and had a minor role in ''Married to the Mob'' (1988). His last film role was in ''Night Terror'' (2002).

In 1991, he appeared as Grandpa in an episode of '' Hi Honey, I'm Home'' on ABC. In 1991, he appeared in a low-budget movie titled ''Grampire'' (''My Grandpa Is a Vampire'' in the U.S. version), wearing much the same costume as he did in ''The Munsters''. From 1987 to 1989, Lewis hosted ''Super Scary Saturday'' on TBS in his Grandpa outfit. This was parodied in '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' with the character of Grandpa Fred (Robert Prosky). Lewis also used the role to promote a 1-900 number known as "the Junior Vampire Club" and in a series of public domain VHS compilations for Amvest Video.

Other pursuits

Lewis was a proponent of free speech and frequently spoke out in the late 1980s and early 1990s against government entities such as the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and non-government entities such as the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center). A recurring guest on the Howard Stern Show, Lewis famously uttered the phrase "fuck the FCC", during a 1987 speech at a "Howard Stern Freedom Rally" held in Manhattan and organized by the radio personality. Lewis shouted the phrase repeatedly until Stern was able to take the microphone away from him. The FCC did not punish Stern or the station for Lewis's comments and Stern later used the speech as the opening track of Stern's Crucified by the FCC comedy album in early 1999.

Lewis appeared in an episode of ''The American Experience'' where he recalled his experiences at Coney Island, which he frequently visited and worked at as a game barker. He was featured in the Atari 7800 videogame '' Midnight Mutants'', an action-adventure title with a Halloween theme. His appearance in the game mirrored his Grandpa persona in ''The Munsters''.

In 1987, he opened an Italian restaurant named Grampa's Bella Gente at 252 Bleecker Street in Manhattan. In September 1989, he licensed a comedy club named Grampa's to an entrepreneurial mafia family named Cataldo in New Dorp Plaza in Staten Island.

Politics

As a left-wing activist, he hosted a politically oriented radio program on WBAI (whose theme song was King Curtis' "Foot Pattin'") and ran as Green Party candidate for governor of New York in 1998. In that race, he sought to be listed on the ballot as Grandpa Al Lewis, arguing that he was most widely known by that name. His request was rejected by the Board of Elections, a decision upheld in court against his challenge.

Despite this setback, he achieved one of his campaign objectives. His total of 52,533 votes exceeded the threshold of votes set by New York law (50,000) and hence guaranteed the Green Party of New York an automatic ballot line for the next four years (see New York gubernatorial elections). He said that, with no political machine and no money backing him, the likelihood of winning the governorship would be "like climbing Mount Everest barefooted". In 2000, he sought the Green Party nomination for US Senate; he ultimately placed second in the primary, with about 32 percent of the vote, losing to Mark Dunau.

Personal life and final years

Lewis married Marge Domowitz in 1956, with whom he had three sons, Dave, Ted, and Paul. The marriage ended in divorce in 1977. In 1984, he married actress Karen Ingenthron, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life.

In his final years, he resided on Roosevelt Island in New York City. In 2003, he was hospitalized for an angioplasty, and complications from the surgery led to an emergency bypass and the amputation of his right leg below the knee as well as all of the toes on his left foot. He died on February 3, 2006, aged 82, of natural causes in Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Electoral history

References

External links

*

"Television's Grandpa Munster dies"
bbc.co.uk, February 5, 2006


mediafilter.org, October 21, 1997


munstermansion.com; accessed September 13, 2015.
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Al
1923 births
2006 deaths
Male actors from Manhattan
American male film actors
American male television actors
American radio personalities
New York (state) Greens
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American people in New York (state) politics
American amputees
American actors with disabilities
People from Brownsville, Brooklyn
People from Roosevelt Island
Age controversies
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Activists from New York (state)
Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) alumni
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
Jewish American film people
Horror hosts