Al Lewis
Lewis inThe Munsters in 1964
Born	Abraham Meister (1923-04-30)April 30, 1923 New York City, U.S.
Died	February 3, 2006(2006-02-03) (aged 82) Roosevelt Island, New York City, U.S.
Other names	Grandpa Al Lewis
Alma mater	Columbia University
Occupations	Actor activist
Years active	1949–2002
Political party	Green
Spouses	Marge Domowitz ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1977)​ Karen Ingenthron ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	3

Al Lewis (bornAbraham Meister; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006) was an American actor and activist, best known for his role asGrandpa on the television seriesThe Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co-starred withThe Munsters'Fred Gwynne in the television showCar 54, Where Are You? from 1961–1963. Later in life, he was a restaurant owner, political candidate, andradio broadcaster.^[1]

Lewis was born Abraham Meister on April 30, 1923 inManhattan, New York City. His parents Alexander (Yiddish:אלכסנדר מייסטער;Russian:Александр Мейстер) and Ida (née Neidel;Yiddish:ידאַ נעידעל מעיסטער;Russian:ида неидел меистер) , a house painter fromMinsk and a garment worker respectively, wereJewishimmigrants from theRussian Empire; His two brothers were Phillip and Henry.^[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] in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York.^[8][9] Other sources placed his birth inWolcott, 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 aSocial Security number, completed sometime between 1936 and 1950, Lewis gave his date of birth as April 30, 1923.^[3] The 1925 New York State census lists Abe Meister, age 2, living with his parents Alexander and Ida Meister on 99th Street. The 1940 census lists an Albert Meister "age 16" living on Douglass (today's Strauss) 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]

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According to a report inThe Jewish Week, Al Lewis attendedYeshiva Chaim Berlin inBrooklyn, New York, in his youth and "asked annoying questions to the teachers." Lewis then attendedThomas Jefferson High School, which he left in his junior year. He claimed to have attended Oswego State Teachers College (nowSUNY Oswego), notwithstanding his lack of a high school diploma, and to have earned a Ph.D. in child psychology fromColumbia University in 1941, of which Columbia has no record.^[11] Lewis did send at least one of his children toYeshiva in theSan Fernando Valley.

In 1949, after a suggestion from a friend, he decided to pursue a career as an actor after joining the Paul Mann Actors' Workshop inNew York.^[13] He worked inburlesque andvaudeville theaters, then on Broadway in the dramasThe Night Circus (1958) andOne More River (1960) and as the character Moe Shtarker in the musical comedyDo Re Mi (1962).^[14]

His earliest television work includes appearances on the crime dramaDecoy andThe Phil Silvers Show. From 1959 to 1963, he appeared in four episodes ofNaked City. Lewis's first well-known television role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on the sitcomCar 54, Where Are You? from 1961 to 1963, also starring Fred Gwynne (Lewis reprised the role in the 1994 movie of the same name).^[1] In the series, Lewis first played Al Spencer the Auto Body Man and a property developer in two early first-season episodes, then landed the more familiar role of Officer Schnauser. He is best remembered as Grandpa onThe Munsters, which ran on CBS from 1964 to 1966.^[1]

In 1967, Lewis played the part of Zalto the magician in theLost in Space episode "Rocket to Earth". His first role in a movie was as Machine Gun Manny inPretty Boy Floyd (1960). He had small roles inThe World of Henry Orient (1964),They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), andThey Might Be Giants (1971). He appeared as Hanging Judge Harrison inUsed Cars (1980), played a security guard on an episode ofTaxi, and had a minor role inMarried to the Mob (1988). His last film role was inNight Terror (2002).^[1]

In 1991, he appeared as Grandpa in an episode ofHi Honey, I'm Home on ABC. In 1991, he appeared in a low-budget movie titledGrampire (My Grandpa Is a Vampire in the U.S. version), wearing much the same costume as he did inThe Munsters. From 1987 to 1989, Lewis hostedSuper Scary Saturday onTBS in his Grandpa outfit. This was parodied inGremlins 2: The New Batch with the character of Grandpa Fred (Robert Prosky).^{[citation needed]} Lewis also used the role to promote a 1-900 number known as "the Junior Vampire Club" and in a series of public domain VHS compilations for Amvest Video.

Lewis was a proponent of free speech and frequently spoke out in the late 1980s and early 1990s against government entities such as the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and non-government entities such as the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center). A recurring guest on the Howard Stern Show, Lewis famously uttered the phrase "fuck the FCC", during a 1987 speech at a "Howard Stern Freedom Rally" held in Manhattan and organized by the radio personality. Lewis shouted the phrase repeatedly until Stern was able to take the microphone away from him. The FCC did not punish Stern or the station for Lewis's comments and Stern later used the speech as the opening track of Stern's Crucified by the FCC comedy album in early 1999.^{[citation needed]}

Lewis appeared in an episode ofThe American Experience where he recalled his experiences atConey Island, which he frequently visited and worked at as a game barker. He was featured in theAtari 7800 videogameMidnight Mutants,^[15] an action-adventure title with a Halloween theme. His appearance in the game mirrored his Grandpa persona inThe Munsters.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

As aleft-wing activist, he hosted a politically oriented radio program onWBAI (whose theme song wasKing Curtis' "Foot Pattin'") and ran asGreen Party candidate forgovernor of New York in 1998. Inthat 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 theBoard 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 theGreen Party of New York an automatic ballot line for the next four years (seeNew York gubernatorial elections).^[17] He said that, with nopolitical machine and no money backing him, the likelihood of winning the governorship would be "like climbingMount Everest barefooted".^[18] 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.^[19]

Lewis married Marge Domowitz in 1956, with whom he had three sons, Dave, Ted, and Paul. The marriage ended in divorce in 1977.^[1] In 1984, he married actressKaren Ingenthron, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life.^[4][1]

In his final years, he resided onRoosevelt Island inNew 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, aged 82, ofnatural causes in Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island.^[1] His memorial service was held atRiverside Memorial Chapel in Manhattan on February 18, 2006.^[20]

• Al Lewis atIMDb
• "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.
• Al Lewis atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television

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• 1923 births
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