"Grandpa" Al Lewis, R.I.P.

allewis01

I never had the opportunity to really meet "Grandpa" Al Lewis, who has just passed away at the age of 95. [Correction: He was 82.] For several years, he fronted a restaurant in Greenwich Village where the main attraction was not the food but being seated and insulted by the man who'd played Grandpa Munster on The Munsters. On one trip to New York, the fine cartoonist Carol Lay took me there because, she said, all her friends loved going there and bantering with Grandpa. As it turned out, we arrived at the place only hours after it had closed forever.

It was a disappointment because I'd always found Al Lewis to be a crusty but colorful character. This obit will tell you the story of his career but basically, there were two high points: Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters. Car 54 was one of my favorite shows and Lewis was brilliant on it playing the chronic kvetch, Officer Leo Schnauzer. He was so good that at several points during the show's two season run, when the producers were having troubles with co-star Joe E. Ross, the decision was made to fire Ross and to elevate Lewis to co-star. Had the series returned for a third season, that would probably have happened.

It was The Munsters that made him famous and gave him his lasting nickname. I remember taking the Universal Studios tour at the time and seeing Grandpa Munster, in full blue-green make-up, coming out to sign autographs for folks on the tram. He managed to act quite cranky while obviously loving every second of it. Before and after that series, he had some fine screen roles, especially that of the hanging judge in Used Cars, a 1980 comedy that didn't get nearly enough attention.

Even into his nineties, Lewis remained an outspoken pain-in-the-butt to many, running for public office, broadcasting a local radio show in New York, and giving outrageous and outraged interviews whenever possible. It's sad to lose someone like that because he really was one of a kind.