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May 30, 2010



Lewis was an outspoken progressive, a chronic cigar smoker...
He lived long enough for those to be mutually exclusive. Well at least he is a "good progressive"* now.

*(in the Injun sense)


A Great man indeed!


Another great bio....thanks giving me something to read that's better (and prolly more useful) than anything in today's Sunday NYT!


Great piece on a great man. Lewis dropped by the old FMU studios 20 years ago:


Incredible life, well researched and told! Thanks.


But what happened when Mr. Lewis passed on? What was his legacy? The answer is here ....



An interesting comparative life story is that of the perennial palooka character actor, Lionel Stander, who was a labor organizer, founder of the Screen Actors Guild, and HUAC target; blacklisted after he essentially told them to go fuck themselves.


Car 54 really had great writing and the actors had fantastic comic timing. Better than any of the crap on TV today that the likes of Charlie Sheen make a few million an episode for.

I ate at Grampa's a time or two, the 'cash only' policy and the mob hit in front of the place made me erroneously question his association with the mob so I never went back.

Marc North

I met Al Lewis in 1991 during the making of a New Zealand film we were both in called "Grampire". I'm not sure if it's available in the US. He was very flamboyant, dramatic, attention seeking but completely wonderful. I liked him very much. I brought my young sister to the set on the last day of my filming and introduced her to him. He pushed me out of the way and took her under his wing and went off to buy her sweets and baloons (she was only 11 at the time).

I will always remember him from Munsters but also I adored him as a great 'larger-than-life' personality as well.

Gregg Lopez

So what did happen on August 16th?


Here's the man in Ron Jeremy music video :)

Michael Powers

What a peculiar character. The problem with some (certainly not all) raconteurs I've met is that the truth gets stretched or just plain raped, and once that person's credibility is blown, you can't really believe a word they say.

Michael Powers

Like so many television series of the era, "Car 54, Where Are You?" had a rapturously exhilarating theme song, right up there with "The Jetsons," "Maverick," "Cimarron Strip," and "The Virginian." Not to mention the movie "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," the only John Ford talkie not marred by bad music (thankfully, Ford didn't use the comparatively awful Gene Pitney top ten hit that followed in the movie's wake). Too bad the film's exquisite real theme song never received any radio play.

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