<!-- Before you change his birth year to 1910 from the correct 1923, please read the talk page, or look at the links providing his true age such as his entry in the Social Security Death Index-->

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. 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,

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

thumb|right|Al Lewis as Grandpa (back) with the cast of [[The Munsters, 1964]]

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). 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). 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. His memorial service was held at Riverside Memorial Chapel in Manhattan on February 18, 2006.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

| 1951

| London Entertains

| Himself

|Documentary

|-

| 1957

| I Vampiri

| Assistant

|

|-

| 1960

| Pretty Boy Floyd

| Manny 'Machine Gun Manny'

|

|-

| 1964

| The World of Henry Orient

| Tobacconist

|

|-

| 1966

| Munster, Go Home!

| Grandpa Munster

|

|-

| 1969

| They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

| Turkey

|

|-

| 1970

| The Boatniks

| Bert

|

|-

| 1971

| They Might Be Giants

| Messenger

|

|-

| 1973

| The Night Strangler

| Hobo

|

|-

| 1974

| Death Wish

| Guard At Hotel Lobby

| Uncredited

|-

| 1974

| Black Starlet

| Sam

|

|-

| 1974

| Coonskin

| The Godfather

| Voice, uncredited

|-

| 1975

| White House Madness

| Judge Cirrhosis

|

|-

| 1979

| That's Life

|

| unfinished film

|-

| 1980

| Used Cars

| Judge Harrison

|

|-

| 1987

| Comic Cabby

| Al the Cabsmith

|

|-

| 1988

| Married to the Mob

| Uncle Joe Russo

|

|-

| 1988

| Bum Rap

| Mr. Wolfstadt

|

|-

| 1992

| My Grandpa is a Vampire

| Vernon Cooger

|

|-

| 1993

| The Garden

| Holocaust survivor Abel

| short film

|-

| 1994

| Car 54, Where Are You?

| Leo Schnauzer

|

|-

| 1994

| Piedras rodantes

|

| short film

|-

| 1996

| Fast Money

| Poon

|

|-

| 1996

| South Beach Academy

| Uncle Gene

|

|-

| 1998

| Sidoglio Smithee

| Himself

|

|-

| 2002

| Night Terror

| Father Hanlon

|

|-

| 2006

| Goodbye, America

| Himself

|Documentary

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

| 1953–1957

| The Big Story

| Willie

| 2 episodes

|-

| 1957

| Decoy

| Chi Chi

| Episode: "Queen of Diamonds"

|-

| 1957

| Brenner

| Logan

| Episode: "Thin Ice"

|-

| 1959

| The Phil Silvers Show

| Bruno the Mobster, Mobster Bengal, Mike

| 3 episodes

|-

| 1959

| Deadline

| Fletcher

| Episode: "Jail Break"

|-

| 1959–1960

| The United States Steel Hour

| Bartender, Paul Gordon

| 2 episodes

|-

| 1959–1963

| Naked City

| Mr. Carrari, Mr. Tanner, Harry McGoglan, Bookie, Gus, Mr. Pike

| 6 episodes

|-

| 1961–1963

|Car 54, Where Are You?

| Officer Leo Schnauser

| 44 episodes

|-

| 1962

| The Defenders

| Sergeant Cross

| Episode: "The Search"

|-

| 1964–1966

| The Munsters

| Grandpa Munster

| 70 episodes

|-

| 1967

|Lost in Space

| Zalto

| Episode: "Rocket to Earth"

|-

|1968

|Gomer Pyle, USMC

|Harry Whipple

|Season 5,

1 episode

|-1968 gomer pyle:usmc episode: 'hit and write'...harry whipple

| 1971

| Green Acres

| Charlie

| Episode: "Star Witness"

|-

| 1971

| Night Gallery

| Mishkin

| 1 episode

|-

| 1972

| Love, American Style

| Bernie

| 1 episode

|-

| 1973

| The Night Strangler

| Tramp

| Television film

|-

| 1973

| The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

| Grandpa Munster

| Episode: "The Mini-Munsters"

|-

| 1973

| Here's Lucy

| Lionel Barker

| Episode: "Lucy Plays Cops and Robbers"

|-

| 1978

| Ring of Passion

| Mike Jacobs

| Television film

|-

| 1980

| CBS Children's Mystery Theatre

|

| Episode: "The Treasure of Alpheus T. Winterborn"

|-

| 1981

| The Munsters' Revenge

| Grandpa Munster

| Television film

|-

| 1981

| Taxi

| Security Guard

| Episode: "On the Job: Part 2"

|-

| 1981

| Best of the West

| Judge

| Episode: "The Hanging of Parker Tillman"

|-

| 1988

| Super Scary Saturday

| Albert Einstein Grampa

| Episode: "War of the Gargantuas"

|-

| 1990

| Mathnet

| Ring Announcer

| Episode: "The Case of the Masked Avenger"

|-

| 1991

| Hi Honey, I'm Home

| Grandpa Munster

| Episode: "Grey Skies"

|-

| 1995

| Here Come the Munsters

| Restaurant Guest

| Television film

|}

Theater

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

| 1958

| The Night Circus

| Owner/Bartender

|

|-

| 1960

| One More River

| Performer

|

References

  • "Television's Grandpa Munster dies", bbc.co.uk, February 5, 2006
  • Shadow Interview, mediafilter.org, October 21, 1997
  • Munster Mansion Memorial for Al Lewis, munstermansion.com; accessed September 13, 2015.