‘Grandpa’ Al Lewis from ‘Munsters’ dies at 82

New York – Al Lewis, the cigar-chomping patriarch of “The Munsters” whose work as a basketball scout, restaurateur and political candidate never eclipsed his role as Grandpa from the television sitcom, died after years of failing health. He was 82.

Lewis, with his wife at his bedside, passed away Friday night, said Bernard White, program director at WBAI-FM, where the actor hosted a weekly radio program. White made the announcement on the air during the Saturday slot where Lewis usually appeared.

Lewis, sporting a somewhat cheesy Dracula outfit, became a pop culture icon playing the irascible father-in-law to Fred Gwynne’s ever-bumbling Herman Munster on the 1964-66 television show. He was also one of the stars of another classic TV comedy, playing Officer Leo Schnauzer on “Car 54, Where Are You?”

A former ballplayer at Thomas Jefferson High School, he achieved notoriety as a basketball talent scout familiar to coaching greats like Jerry Tarkanian and Red Auerbach.

He operated a successful Greenwich Village restaurant, Grandpa’s, where he was a regular presence.

In 1998, a ponytailed Lewis ran as the Green Party candidate against incumbent Gov. George Pataki.

He didn’t defeat Pataki, but managed to collect more than 52,000 votes.

Lewis was born Alexander Meister in upstate New York before his family moved to Brooklyn, where the 6-foot-1-inch teen began a lifelong love affair with basketball.

In 2003, Lewis was hospitalized for an angioplasty. Complications during surgery led to an emergency bypass and the amputation of his right leg below the knee and all the toes on his left foot. Lewis spent the next month in a coma.

He is survived by his wife, Karen Ingenthron-Lewis, three sons and four grandchildren.

Newcomers join cast as next ‘Potter’ movie begins filming

London – A veteran Academy Award nominee and a 14-year-old unknown will join the cast of J.K. Rowling’s epic Harry Potter series as filming begins next week on the latest movie, producers said.

Millions of fans are eagerly awaiting the adaptation of Rowling’s fifth book – “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix” – which sees the return of Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.

The plot centers on the arrival of Dolores Umbridge, an unpopular new professor at wizard academy Hogwarts. She will be played by actress Imelda Staunton.

Potter also wrestles with his attraction to new character Luna Lovegood, a role taken by 14-year-old newcomer Evanna Lynch.