Al Lewis

Al Lewis will always be remembered as the crazy Grandpa on The Munsters. He was born April 30, 1923 in New York and started his acting career as a circus performer in the late 1920s. Many facts about his life are not well documented. He claimed to earn a college degree in 1941 from Columbia University, but the University has no record of this. His acting career is better documented - he started working in burlesque and vaudeville in the 40s and later worked on Broadway in the 50s.

His first big TV role was that of Officer Leo Schnauser on Car 54, Where Are You? along with The Munsters co-star Fred Gwynne. He then went on to his role as Grandpa in The Munsters.

He starred in a few movies after The Munsters, but not with much success. In 1987 he opened his restaurant “Grandpa’s Belle Gente” in Greenwich Village, a popular restaurant with fans of The Munsters. He loved to be called Grandpa Al.

In 1998 he decided to run for Governor of New York for the Green Party. He wanted to be listed on the ballot as “Grandpa Al Lewis” but this was rejected by the courts. He received a total of 52,533 votes which was more than the minimum of 50,000 votes needed to give the Green Party an automatic ballot line for the next four years.

He was married twice and had three sons. He lived on Roosevelt Island (between Manhattan and Queens) for most of the later part of his life. He died on February 3, 2006 of natural causes at the age of 82. He was later cremated and laid to rest in his favorite cigar box.

Living in New Jersey, I had a chance to hear him a number of times on the radio and remember his run for Governor. He was known for his generosity and kindness and was a great character!

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