R.I.P. Grandpa Munster

An Obit

Actor Al Lewis passed away yesterday in New York after years of failing health. Best known for his seminal role as 'Grandpa' in the campy 60's sitcom The Munsters, news of Lewis death was broken this morning during the time slot of the weekly radio show he hosted for WBAI-FM in New York City. Though he had long listed his birth year as 1910 Al's son Ted today reveled this his father had added 13 years to age, presumably for publicity reasons and doubtless aided by his easy identification with the elderly. Though he had a long career as an actor Lewis felt himself typecast by his most famous role, though he learned to exploit that by opening a restaurant called Granpas in Greenwich Village. An outspoken liberal Al Lewis ran as the Green Party candidate for New York Govener (he was a life long resident of the state) several years ago against George Pataki. On a personal note the only movie I ever saw Al in was They Might Be Giants, he has a small role in this misguided Sherlock Holmes flick that is literally the best thing in the movie and denotes a comic talent that probably could have gone farther then it did.

P.S. You will note that Grandpa Munster warrants a post on my blog, but the new Republican majority leader does not. These are my priorities in a nutshell.