"Grandpa" Al Lewis 1923-2006: Actor, Radio Host and Lifelong Political Activist

Today we remember actor, radio host, and political activist "Grandpa" Al Lewis. He died Friday after years of failing health. There are conflicting reports over his age at the time of his death. He was thought to be 95 years old, but according to the Associated Press, his family now says he was in fact 82. Lewis was best known for his roles on two 1960s comedy series - as "Grandpa" on the "The Munsters" and Officer Leo Schauzer on "Car 54, Where Are You." He was also a life-long political activist, and an outspoken critic of US policy at home and abroad. In 1998, he ran for Governor of New York, as the Green Party candidate against Governor George Pataki. He also took turns as a basketball scout; a restaurant owner in Greenwich Village; and a radio host on WBAI here in New York.

Grandpa Al's death was announced Saturday by WBAI program director Bernard White, during the same time-slot he used to host his weekly program. We're going to play an excerpt now from an interview Bernard White and I conducted with Grandpa Pal on Democracy Now!, on April 10, 1997. We pick up the interview where Grandpa Al about his early involvement in political activities. Here, he talks about the case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg - the married couple convicted and executed for spying for the Soviet Union at the height of the McCarthy era in the 1950s.

* "Grandpa" Al Lewis, interviewed April 10, 1997.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/06/1432209