Al Lewis

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An American character actor best known for his role as Count Dracula lookalike "Grandpa", opposite Fred Gwynne's and Yvonne De Carlo's characters on the CBS television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and its subsequent film versions. Later in life, he was also a restaurant owner, political candidate, and radio broadcaster. His acting career begins the well-documented portion of his life. He worked in burlesque and vaudeville theaters, then on Broadway in the dramas The Night Circus (1958) and One More River (1960) and as the character Moe Shtarker in the musical comedy Do Re Mi (1962). His earliest television work includes appearances on the Beverly Garland crime drama Decoy and The Phil Silvers Show. From 1959–63, he appeared in four episodes of Naked City. Lewis' first well-known television role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on the NBC sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? from 1961–63, also starring Fred Gwynne (Lewis reprised the role in the 1994 movie of the same name). In the series, Lewis first played Al Spencer the Auto Body Man in two early first-season episodes before landing the more familiar role of Officer Schnauser. But he is best remembered as "Grandpa" on The Munsters, which ran on CBS from 1964–66. In 1967, Lewis played the part of Zalto the wizard in the Lost in Space episode, Rocket to Earth. His first role in a movie was as Machine Gun Manny in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960). He had small roles in The World of Henry Orient (1964), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), They Might Be Giants (1971). He appeared as Hanging Judge Harrison in Used Cars (1980) and had a minor role in Married to the Mob (1988). His last film role was in Night Terror (2002). Lewis was a recurring guest on The Howard Stern Show. In 1987, during a "Howard Stern Freedom Rally" against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that was broadcast live, Lewis repeatedly shouted "F*** the FCC!" until Stern was able to take the microphone away from him. Stern and the station were not punished for Lewis' comments. Unlike some actors, Lewis did not mind being typecast. He enjoyed acting out his "Grandpa" character—in the original costume—and got a surprising amount of mileage from such a short-lived role. "Why not?" he said. "It pays the bills." In 1991, he appeared as Grandpa Munster in an episode of Hi Honey, I'm Home on ABC. In 1991, he appeared in a low-budget New Zealand family movie called Grampire (My Grandpa Is a Vampire in the U.S. version), wearing much the same costume as he did in The Munsters. From 1987–89, Lewis hosted Super Scary Saturday on TBS in his Grandpa Munster outfit. This would later be parodied in Gremlins 2: The New Batch with the character of "Grandpa Fred" (Robert Prosky). [Biography from Wikipedia]

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  • wc Gender: Male
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1923-04-30
  • event Death Date 2006-02-03
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 3
  • info Birth Place New York City, New York, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by Al Lewis

7

Ring of Passion

1978-02-04

6.3

The Munsters' Revenge

1981-02-27

6.6

The Night Strangler

1973-01-16

5.8

Goodbye, America

2007-03-02

0

The Mini-Munsters

1973-10-27

7.6

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1969-12-10

6.4

Munster, Go Home!

1966-06-15

6

Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy

2001-01-20

5.3

My Grandpa Is a Vampire

1991-06-01

0

Comic Cabby

1987-01-02

5.9

Married to the Mob

1988-08-19

6.9

They Might Be Giants

1971-06-09

5.7

The World of Henry Orient

1964-03-19

3.4

Car 54, Where Are You?

1994-01-28

5.3

Here Come the Munsters

1995-01-11

0

Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities Edition

2006-01-31

6

Fast Money

1996-08-13

6.9

Death Wish

1974-07-24

0

Auto-Tune the Munsters: A Rock Opera

2015-10-31

0

Save the Dog!

1988-03-19

2

Fright House

1989-10-16

6.4

Used Cars

1980-07-11

6

Coney Island

1991-02-04

0

White House Madness

1975-01-01

0

Howard Stern's U.S. Open Sores

1989-09-29

3.2

Black Starlet

1974-12-01

0

Grampa's Silly Scaries

1988-10-12

0

Grampa's More Silly Scaries

1989-10-12

0

Grampa’s Monster Movies

1988-10-03

0

Grampa's Sci-Fi Hits

1989-09-29

3.1

South Beach Academy

1996-09-24

5.4

Ramones: Raw

2004-09-28

6.3

Pretty Boy Floyd

1960-01-01

0

Midnight Blue: Vol. 5: Porn King

2006-06-27

3.5

Bum Rap

1988-09-26

5.3

The Boatniks

1970-07-01

6.3

Lust of the Vampire

1957-04-05

5

Porn King: The Trials Of Al Goldstein

2005-01-05

0

Marineland Carnival: The Munsters Visit Marineland

1965-04-18

0

Al Lewis in the Flesh

1993-01-01

6

Coonskin

1975-08-20

3

Night Terror

2002-11-11

0

Grampa Presents Carnival Of Souls

1988-01-01

8

The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright

2004-01-01

7.3

Green Acres

1965-09-15

7

Here's Lucy

1968-09-23

5.8

Love, American Style

1969-09-29

8

The Munsters

1964-09-24

6.4

Route 66

1960-10-07

4

Hi Honey, I'm Home!

1991-07-19

6

Best of the West

1981-09-09

5.3

Naked City

1958-09-30

5.3

The Merv Griffin Show

1962-10-01

7.1

Lost in Space

1965-09-15

4

The United States Steel Hour

1953-10-27

6.6

The Phil Silvers Show

1955-09-20

6.2

Decoy

1957-10-14

7.8

Night Gallery

1970-12-16

5.3

Naked City

1958-09-30

5.3

Naked City

1958-09-30

5.3

Naked City

1958-09-30

7.2

Taxi

1978-09-12

6.6

The Phil Silvers Show

1955-09-20

7.5

American Experience

1988-10-04

7.3

Baseball

1994-09-18

7.4

Car 54, Where Are You?

1961-09-17

7.1

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

1964-09-25