Al Lewis (actor)

Al Lewis (born Abraham Meister; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006) was an American actor best known for his role as Count Dracula lookalike Grandpa on the television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. Later in life, he was a restaurant owner, political candidate, and radio broadcaster.[1]

Al Lewis
Al Lewis as Grandpa (right)
Born
Abraham Meister

(1923-04-30)April 30, 1923
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 2006(2006-02-03) (aged 82)
Roosevelt Island, New York, U.S.
Other namesGrandpa Al Lewis
OccupationActor
Years active1949–2006
Political partyGreen
Spouse(s)
  • Marge Domowitz
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1956; div. 1977)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1984)​
Children3

Early life

Lewis was born Abraham Meister on April 30, 1923 in Manhattan; the son of Alexander Meister (1893–1929), house painter and immigrant from Minsk, Belarus, and Ida Neidel (1900–1950), garment worker and immigrant from the Russian Empire. Two brothers were Phillip (1926–1982) and Henry (1930–2017).[2][3][4][5] 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[6][7] to a Jewish family in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York.[8][9] Other sources placed his birth in Wolcott, New York,[7] 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."[7] On his application for a Social Security number, completed sometime between 1936 and 1950, Lewis gave his date of birth as April 30, 1923.[3] The 1940 census lists an Albert Meister "age 16" living on Douglass Street in Brooklyn, New York.[10]

In a 1998 interview with Walt Shepperd, Lewis said:

My mother was a worker, worked in the garment trades. My mother was an indomitable spirit. My grandfather had no sons. He had six daughters. They lived in Poland or Russia, every five years it would change. My mother being the oldest daughter, they saved their money, and when she was about sixteen they sent her to the United States, not knowing a word of English. She went to work in the garment center, worked her back and rear-end off and brought over to the United States her five sisters and two parents. I remember going on picket lines with my mother. My mother wouldn't back down to anyone.[11][12]

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.[11] Lewis did send at least one of his children to Yeshiva in the San Fernando Valley.

Career

Acting
Al Lewis as Grandpa (back) with the cast of The Munsters, 1964

His acting career begins the well-documented portion of his life. 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).[13]

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' 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).[14] In the series, Lewis first played Al Spencer the Auto Body Man 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.[14]

In 1967, Lewis played the part of Zalto the wizard 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), 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).[14]

Al Lewis caricature by Jim McDermott

Lewis was a recurring guest on The Howard Stern Show. In 1987, during a "Howard Stern Freedom Rally" against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that was broadcast live, Lewis repeatedly shouted "fuck the FCC!" until Stern was able to take the microphone away from him. Stern and the station were not punished for Lewis' comments.

Unlike some actors, Lewis did not mind being typecast. He enjoyed acting out his Grandpa character—in the original costume—and got a surprising amount of mileage from such a short-lived role. "Why not?" he said. "It pays the bills."

In 1991, he appeared as Grandpa Munster 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 Munster outfit. This was parodied in Gremlins 2: The New Batch with the character of Grandpa Fred (Robert Prosky).[14]

Partial filmography

Other pursuits

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,[14][15] an action-adventure title with a Halloween theme. His appearance in the game mirrored his Grandpa persona in The Munsters.[14]

In 1987, he opened an Italian restaurant named Grampa's Bella Gente at 252 Bleecker Street in New York City. In September 1989, he licensed a comedy club named Grampa's to an entrepreneurial family on 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.[16]

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 election results, New York governor). 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".[17]

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.[4]

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, of natural causes in a hospital.[1] Following his body's cremation, his ashes were reportedly "placed in his favorite cigar box."[18]

References
  1. "Al Lewis, 95, Is Dead. Played Grandpa on 'The Munsters'". The New York Times. February 5, 2006. Retrieved 2010-10-10. An obituary of the television actor Al Lewis by The Associated Press on Sunday misstated his age. His son Ted Lewis says he was 82, not 95. ...
  2. 1940 United States census extract which supports the 1923 year of birth
  3. 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.
  4. Pitel, Laura (2006). "Actor and storyteller famous for his role as Grandpa Munster". Times Online. London, UK. Retrieved 2008-03-20. Lewis was born Albert Meister, probably in 1923, although 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...He is survived by his second wife, Karen, and by three sons from his first marriage.
  5. "Henry Meister (1930–2017)". legacy.com. New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  6. Barry, Dan (February 11, 2006). "Hey, Whose Grandpa Didn't Tell Some Tales?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Newspapers across the country, including this one, published a small correction a few days ago. Al Lewis, the actor who played Grandpa in The Munsters, died on Roosevelt Island last week at the age of 82. He was not, repeat, not 95. A 13-year discrepancy in the age of a minor celebrity poses no threat to the well-being of our nation. Nor does it silence the laughter that Mr. Lewis continues to coax from us through sitcom perpetuity, or diminish the passion he demonstrated as an advocate for reform and the Green Party candidate for governor in 1998, when he was 88 – that is, 75.
  7. "Al Lewis, 95, Dies; Portrayed Grandpa on 'The Munsters'". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 5, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-21. 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 on Friday after several years of failing health. He was 95 [sic] and lived on Roosevelt Island. Mr. Lewis died with his wife at his bedside, said Bernard White, program director at WBAI-FM in New York City, where the actor had been the host of a weekly radio program for years
  8. Alpert, Lukas I. (February 5, 2006). "'Grandpa' Al Says Goodbye – 'Munsters' Star Lewis Dead at 82". New York Post. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  9. "'Grandpa Munster' Al Lewis dies", abc.net.au, May 2, 2006.
  10. Ancestry.com
  11. "Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis runs for governor". New Times. Archived from the original on 2006-02-18. Retrieved 2007-02-14. Al Lewis figures he could be the next governor of New York state if he had a million dollars. All he needs, he says, is six television commercials and 25 to 30 radio spots running across the state for a month. Then he could turn the governor's mansion into a day-care center and kick every member of the state Legislature out of Albany.
  13. Al Lewis at the Internet Broadway Database
  14. Al Lewis at IMDb
  15. AtariAge – Atari 7800 – Midnight Mutants (Atari), atariage.com; accessed June 9, 2015.
  16. Green, David B. (February 3, 2015). "This Day in Jewish History The Actor Who Played Grandpa Munster Dies". Haaretz. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  17. "Al gets fangs into Big Apple". BBC. August 11, 1999. Retrieved 2008-03-20. The 89-year-old, who played Hermann Munster's blood-sucking father-in-law, is hoping to become the Green Party's candidate and has formed a Senate exploratory committee.
  18. Wright, John (2006). "Al Lewis," Find a Grave; memorial (13223693) created February 4, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
Party political offices
Preceded by
 Green Party of New York Nominee for Governor of New York
1998		 Succeeded by
Stanley Aronowitz
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