I hate to hear this. In every interview I saw with Lewis, he was a
jovial guy who obviously enjoyed life. I remember him once poking fun
good-naturedly at Fred "Herman Munster" Gwynne, who I guess got to a
point where he wanted to put that show behind him. "Don't call him
'Herman'", Lewis joked. And then, in a faux sophisticated voice, "He's a
real act-or now, and doesn't want to talk about that show". Then he
burst into laughter that was almost identical to Grandpa Munster's. But
you could tell it was all in fun. Lewis enjoyed the fame the show
brought him. I had no idea he was so accomplished: a children's book
author? A trapeze artist? A sports scout? A gubernatorial candidate?
Working to free the Scottsboro Boys???? Wow--I feel like such a slacker!
Al Lewis, grandpa on TV's "The Munsters," dies
By Jeanne KingSat Feb 4, 7:33 PM ET
Al Lewis, best known for his role as Grandpa in television's "The
Munsters," has died after a long illness, a local radio station said on
Saturday. A movie Web site listed his age as 95, but there have been
reports that he was 83. Lewis, who died on Friday, was born in Brooklyn
and was raised by his mother, an immigrant sweatshop worker in the
Brownsville district of that borough.
"Brownsville was the largest Jewish ghetto in America," he once said.
"We all were very poor. But we stood together when people were evicted.
When the marshals and sheriffs would leave, we'd break the lock and move
the furniture back inside. Back then, we didn't let people live in the
street."
Lewis worked as salesman and waiter and once owned a successful
restaurant in Greenwich Village. He also was a poolroom owner, store
detective and political candidate. He worked as a circus clown and
performed stunts on the trapeze bar, taught school, wrote two children's
books and by the time he was 31, received a doctorate in child
psychology from Columbia University. An avid college basketball fan, he
also scouted for several basketball teams.
1313 MOCKINGBIRD LANE
It wasn't until 1949 that he turned to acting and joined the Paul Mann
Actor's Workshop where his classmates were Sidney Poitier and Vic
Morrow. It was at the workshop that Lewis developed his comedic style.
His first big role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on the "Car 54, Where
Are You?" series that ran from 1961 to 1963. In 1964, Lewis began
playing Grandpa Munster, part of a wacky, endearing family of monsters
whose fictional address was 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Mockingbird
Heights. "The Munsters" ran for two years on CBS, then continued on in
syndication.
In 1988, he accepted the Green Party nomination for governor of New York
saying, "We don't inherit the world from our ancestors, we borrow it
from our kids." Although he lost to incumbent Republican Gov. George
Pataki, he still managed to collect more than 52,000 votes with his name
on the ballot as "Grandpa Al Lewis." Lewis' first political work was for
the Sacco and Vanzetti defense committee. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists, were executed in Massachusetts in 1927
for a double murder and robbery amid doubts about their guilt. Lewis
worked in the 1930s to free the Scottsboro Boys -- nine black teenagers
accused of raping two white women in another highly publicized case. All
but one were sentenced to death, but eventually they were cleared.
"If anything I consider myself an anarchist," he once said on his weekly
radio show on WBAI in New York City.
Lewis had three angioplasties, and in 2003 doctors were forced to
amputate his right leg below the knee and all five toes of his left
foot. He is survived by his wife, Karen, three sons and four
grandchildren.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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