Al Lewis, best known for his iconic role as Grandpa Munster in the hit television series The Munsters but also a familiar presence on Main Street, died in his Roosevelt Island apartment on February 3 with his wife and partner, Karen Ingenthron at his side. He had been in failing health for several years following a mishap during routine surgery.

Photo: Trevor Augustus Brown

Recognized everywhere he went and loved by millions, Lewis was one of a select group of celebrities who used his fame to promote a cause. For Al Lewis, candidate for governor of New York in 1998, a popular talk show host on the progressive radio station WBAI, and an activist who picketed Albany for years urging reform of the Rockefeller drug laws, the cause was social justice. He was the rare performer who was able to transcend the limits of his profession.

But Al Lewis was first and foremost a personality. From Karen Ingenthron: "Al loved being a performer. He liked nothing more than making people laugh. He thought that was his purpose in life, because laughter is healing." His talent appeared effortless, but he worked at it, studying for 18 years with the method-acting coach Paul Mann.

Al Lewis was always on stage, most famously the small screen of television, first as Officer Leo Schnauzer in his first hit show, Car 54, Where Are You? from 1961 to 1963, and then, after a year, reunited with his Car 54 co-star, Fred Gwynne, this time playing the classic Grandpa Munster, along with a cast that included Gwynne as the hapless Herman, the child Eddie and the daughter Marilyn. The show made him famous. Decades after The Munsters went off the air, Lewis was recognized by his fans wherever he went.

Fame was a mixed blessing. It gave him a recognizable voice and allowed him to pursue many things that gave him pleasure, but he would spend the rest of his life fighting his typecasting as a clueless vampire. Although he remained active in his profession, performing in dozens of roles on shows with names that bring a smile of recognition (Taxi, Green Acres, Here’s Lucy, Love American Style) Lewis would never again star in a major show.

Performing was in his blood, beginning with his early jobs when the circus came to Brooklyn, and continuing after The Munsters went off the air. Lewis opened a restaurant with two partners in the Village. "Grandpa" was a success and allowed the genial host to once again play the role he loved — entertainer. And he loved putting on the Grandpa costume and making appearances, often with his Munsters co-stars. Halloween was his busiest season, naturally, but people were always eager to be in the presence of the famous Grandpa Munster.

Neal Altman of Abrams Artists Agency, Lewis’s long-time agent said, "A lot of celebrities tend to shy away from personal appearances, but Al loved them. I’ve never seen a guy who was so loved by people – and who loved being around people. It was never about the money. Al was truly a character in the most wonderful sense of the word. Damon Runyon couldn’t write a character like Al Lewis."

Photo: Trevor Augustus Brown

Grandpa, as so many knew him, made an indelible impression on everyone he worked with. To Howard Stern, he was "awesome, one of the most brilliant comedy actors in the world, and we will never see the likes of him again."

When a publisher of children’s books put out a line of scary books to encourage kids to read, Al was delighted to be spokesperson. Roy Wandelmaier, now an editor at Scholastic, reminisced about the time Al came to promote Deadtime (Get it? — Deadtime, not bedtime) Books. He walked into a room of corporate publishing types, dressed in full Grandpa costume. Decades later, Wandelmaier remembered the way Lewis "captured and captivated the large crowd," and, speaking without notes, charmed everyone in the room." Karen Ingenthron still has the series of books, and remembers how pleased Al was to use his celebrity to promote reading for children. A voracious reader himself, Lewis often bragged that he read a book a day.

When old friends and colleagues reminisce about Al, they always talk about his personal generosity to colleagues down on their luck. Al would offer to accept a smaller fee for his appearances at Munster events so that other former Munster actors could appear and be paid. When WBAI fired staff, Lewis was one of the first to contribute to a fund for laid-off staffers.

Colleagues remember other aspects of Al Lewis, notably his penchant for phrases often associated with small rooms with lots of porcelain and shiny chrome. Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) remembers fondly the time that he, Lewis and John Wayne were eating in the Universal Studios commissary. Commenting on Wayne’s roles, Lewis said, "Duke, your career has been a series of bowel movements. First you killed Japs, then you killed Indians, then more Japs, then more Indians. You call that a career?"

He wasn’t loved by everyone. Randy Credico, a political comedian and Director of the Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, often accompanied Al to correctional facilities, trying to provide support for prisoners who were caught by the Rockefeller drug laws. Credico remembers the time that the NYS Commissioner of Corrections banned Lewis from attending a rally at a prison. After that, for years, Lewis reviled Commissioner Goord on his WBAI program, calling him "a fat piece of crap" and other phrases that barely passed FCC muster. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it, Lewis was one of the most popular hosts on WBAI. Program manager Bernard White said the station kept his Saturday noon spot open for the last few years, in the hopes that he would be able to return. Sadly, that will not happen, but the station has scheduled a memorial service on February 18 at Riverside Church.

When Al Lewis was 13, he ran off to join the circus. It was just for the summer, and it wasn’t a very glamorous job. He was assigned to clean up after the elephants. The animals did what they do, and young Al walked behind with a shovel, trying to keep the Big Top clean. That first taste of show business hooked him. Sixty years later, he was still trying to clean up, only this time it was a political system that he believed in, but found seriously flawed. Famous for his use of four letter words, he will be remembered most for pointing out where the sh*t was and cleaning it up – except that in his later years, he walked behind politicians who were both elephants and donkeys.

Wherever Al Lewis is now, he’s still using four-letter words and still trying to make the world cleaner. Even angels sometimes make mistakes.