Al Capp veterans returning from the war. Capp was also involved with the Sister Kenny Foundation, which pioneered new treatments for polio in the 1940s. Serving in his capacity as honorary chairman, Capp made public appearances on its behalf for years, contributed free artwork for its annual fund-raising appeals, and entertained crippled and paraplegic children in children's hospitals with inspirational pep talks, humorous stories and sketches. In 1940, an RKO movie adaptation starred Granville Owen (later known as Jeff York) as Li'l Abner, with Buster Keaton taking the role of Lonesome Polecat, and featuring a title song with lyrics by Milton Berle.
Al Capp was a popular guest speaker at universities, and on radio and television. He remains the only cartoonist to be embraced by TV; no other comic artist to date has come close to Capp's televised exposure. Capp appeared as a regular on "The Author Meets the Critics" (1948–'54) and made regular, weekly appearances on "Today" in 1953. He was also a periodic panelist on ABC and NBC's "Who Said That?" (1948–'55), and co-hosted DuMont's "What's the Story?" (1953). Between 1952 and 1972, he hosted at least "five" television shows–three different talk shows called "The Al Capp Show" (1952 and 1968) and