Grandpa Munster, Al Lewis, 95
Posted: Saturday, February 4th, 2006 12:58 pm
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 after years of failing health. He was 95.
Lewis, with his wife at his bedside, passed away Friday night, said Bernard White, program director at WBAI-FM, where the actor hosted a weekly radio program. …
Lewis, sporting a somewhat cheesy Dracula outfit, became a pop culture icon playing the irascible father-in-law to Fred Gwynne’s ever-bumbling Herman Munster on the 1964-66 television show. He was also one of the stars of another classic TV comedy, playing Officer Leo Schnauzer on “Car 54, Where Are You?”
But Lewis’ life off the small screen ranged far beyond his acting antics. …
He operated a successful Greenwich Village restaurant, Grandpa’s..
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 also popped up in a number of movies…
But in 2003, Lewis was hospitalized for an angioplasty. … A year later, he was back offering his recollections of a seminal punk band on the DVD “Ramones Raw.” … Read full obituary
