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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]

External links

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0506891

Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1970201

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Filmography (Movies)

Auto-Tune the Munsters: A Rock Opera

Character:Grandpa Munster (archive footage)

Release Date:31/10/2015

The Munsters: Family Portrait

Character:Grandpa

Release Date:07/10/2008

Goodbye, America

Character:Himself

Release Date:02/03/2007

Midnight Blue: Vol. 5: Porn King

Character:

Release Date:27/06/2006

Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities Edition

Character:Self (archive footage)

Release Date:31/01/2006

Porn King: The Trials Of Al Goldstein

Character:

Release Date:05/01/2005

Ramones: Raw

Character:Self

Release Date:28/09/2004

The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright

Character:self

Release Date:01/01/2004

Night Terror

Character:Father Hanlon

Release Date:11/11/2002

Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy

Character:Self

Release Date:20/01/2001

Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa

Character:Self

Release Date:30/11/2000

South Beach Academy

Character:Uncle Gene

Release Date:24/09/1996

Fast Money

Character:Poon

Release Date:13/08/1996

Here Come the Munsters

Character:Restaurant Guest

Release Date:11/01/1995

Car 54, Where Are You?

Character:Leo Schnauzer

Release Date:28/01/1994

Al Lewis in the Flesh

Character:

Release Date:01/01/1993

My Grandpa Is a Vampire

Character:Vernon Cooger

Release Date:01/01/1992

Coney Island

Character:Self - Actor

Release Date:04/02/1991

Fright House

Character:Captain Levi

Release Date:16/10/1989

Grampa's More Silly Scaries

Character:Grampa

Release Date:12/10/1989

Howard Stern's U.S. Open Sores

Character:Himself

Release Date:29/09/1989

Grampa's Sci-Fi Hits

Character:Grampa

Release Date:29/09/1989

Grampa's Silly Scaries

Character:Grampa

Release Date:12/10/1988

Grampa’s Monster Movies

Character:Grampa

Release Date:03/10/1988

Bum Rap

Character:Mr. Wolfstadt

Release Date:26/09/1988

Married to the Mob

Character:Joe Russo

Release Date:19/08/1988

Save the Dog!

Character:

Release Date:19/03/1988

Grampa Presents Carnival Of Souls

Character:Grampa

Release Date:01/01/1988

Comic Cabby

Character:

Release Date:02/01/1987

The Munsters' Revenge

Character:Grandpa

Release Date:27/02/1981

Used Cars

Character:Judge Harrison

Release Date:11/07/1980

Ring of Passion

Character:Mike Jacobs

Release Date:04/02/1978

Coonskin

Character:The Godfather (voice) (uncredited)

Release Date:20/08/1975

White House Madness

Character:Judge Cirrhosis

Release Date:01/01/1975

Black Starlet

Character:Sam Sharp

Release Date:01/12/1974

Death Wish

Character:Guard at Hotel Lobby (uncredited)

Release Date:24/07/1974

The Mini-Munsters

Character:Grandpa

Release Date:27/10/1973

The Night Strangler

Character:Tramp

Release Date:16/01/1973

They Might Be Giants

Character:Messenger

Release Date:09/06/1971

The Boatniks

Character:Bert

Release Date:01/07/1970

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Character:Turkey

Release Date:10/12/1969

Munster, Go Home!

Character:Grandpa Munster

Release Date:15/06/1966

Marineland Carnival: The Munsters Visit Marineland

Character:Grandpa Munster

Release Date:18/04/1965

The World of Henry Orient

Character:Store Owner

Release Date:19/03/1964

Pretty Boy Floyd

Character:Machine Gun Manny

Release Date:01/01/1960

Lust of the Vampire

Character:Assistant (uncredited)

Release Date:05/04/1957

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Television Appearances

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