l Lewis was born Alexander Meister on April 30, 1923 in upstate
New York. (Contrary to what is listed in some sources, the actor
was not born 1910. He changed his birth date to April 30, 1910
when he was cast in the role of Grandpa on The Munsters
so that he would appear to be older than Yvonne DeCarlo, who
played his daughter Lily.) His family later moved to Brooklyn,
where the 6" 1' teenager began a lifelong love affair with basketball.
He started his show business career as a vaudeville and circus
performer, and achieved success playing Officer Schnauzer opposite
Fred Gwynne's Officer Francis Muldoon in Car 54, Where Are
You? The actor became a pop culture icon playing the cigar-chomping
vampire patriarch on The Munsters, and Lewis never
escaped association with the charmingly warped 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 appeared in a number of movies,
including They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Married
to the Mob. He reprised his role of Schnauzer in the
movie remake of Car 54 . . ., and appeared as a guest
star on television shows including Taxi, Green Acres
and Lost in Space.
The irrepressible Lewis achieved notoriety as a basketball
talent scout familiar to coaching greats like Jerry Tarkanian
and Red Auerbach. He operated a successful restaurant in New
York City's Greenwich Village, Grandpa's, where he was a regular
presence - chatting with customers, posing for pictures, and
signing autographs. 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. 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 than
52,000 votes.
In 2003, Lewis was hospitalized for an angioplasty. Complications
during surgery led to an emergency bypass and Lewis spent
the next month in a coma. A year later, he was back offering
his recollections of the punk band The Ramones on the DVD
Ramones Raw.
Lewis died on Friday, February 3, 2006 in New York City
at the age of 95. His wife was by his side. The news of the
actor's death was announced by Bernard White, program director
at WBAI-FM -- where Lewis, a lifelong activist, hosted a weekly
radio program -- 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.
