Al Lewis, the big, Brooklynesque actor who found pop fame as Leo Schnauzer in Car 54 Where Are You? and as Grandpa in The Munsters died on February 3 in his native New York of natural causes. He was 82.

He was born Albert Meister on April 30, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York. As little Albert grew, he discovered a love of basketball. His height topped out at (a tall for the day in the '30s) 6'1" and he played for Thomas Jefferson High School. Afterwards, he became a basketball talent scout and toured the country looking for "bird-dog" (i.e. undiscovered) talent for colleges. Encouraged by a friend to engage in performing, he joined Paul Mann's Workshop in 1949 and worked on the stage until Nat Hiken chose for some cameos in The Phil Silvers Show. By now known as Al Lewis, Hiken remembered him when casting the role of Leo Schnauzer, the big, loud policeman who works in a luckless Bronx police precinct for the hilarious Car 54 Where Are You? (1961-63). Although the show starred Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynn, Lewis, complete with a broad mouth, devilish eyes, beaked nose, and delivering every line with a pinch of salt:

Leo (to his wife): If you hadn't started with that mouth of yours..look what I'm calling a mouth, that's a burglar alarm with teeth!

Lewis made an undeniable impression on the public. The show lasted only two seasons, but his stock was rising. The following year, he landed the part that made him lovable to millions - that of Grandpa in The Munsters (1964-66). Decked out in a poor man's Dracula costume, Lewis was the father-in-law to Fred Gwynn's childlike Herman Munster, everyone's favorite suburban Frankenstein. The series may have not lasted long, but every kid in the country has seen nearly episode since its been in syndication.

It should be noted that while his biggest success was on television, Lewis made some good forays in to film starting with Pretty Boy Floyd (1960) playing under Vic Morrow; The World of Henry Orient (1964) a funny Peter Sellers vehicle; They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), a rare dramatic turn; The Boatniks (1970) a cute Disney outing; They Might Be Giants (1971) an especially funny role as a messenger bemused by George C. Scott's delusion as Sherlock Holmes; Used Cars (1980) an underrated Robert Zemeckis comedy; Married to the Mob (1988) where he was memorable as an old mobster; and Car 54, Where Are You? (1994) repeating his television role as Leo Schnauzer.

Even when he was wasn't acting, grass simply never grew under Lewis' feet. In the '90s, he opened a popular restaurant in Greenwich Village called Grandpa's and he had a weekly radio program on New York's WBAI-FM. Most impressively, in 1998, he ran on the Green Party candidate against incumbent New York Governor George Pataki using draconian drug laws and opposing the death penalty as his political platform. He didn't win, but he did receive more than 52,000 votes, proving conclusively that you should never underestimate the reach of a kitsch culture icon. He is survived by his wife, Karen; three sons; and four grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole