Al Lewis (actor)
Al Lewis (born Abraham Meister; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006) was an American actor and activist, best known for his role as Count Dracula-lookalike Grandpa on the television series '' The Munsters'' from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co-starred with ''The Munsters''’s Fred Gwynne in the television show '' Car 54, Where Are You? '' from 1961–1963. Later in life, he was a restaurant owner, political candidate, and radio broadcaster. Early life Lewis was born Abraham Meister on April 30, 1923 in Manhattan; the son of Alexander Meister, house painter and immigrant from Minsk, Belarus, and Ida Neidel, garment worker and immigrant from the Russian Empire; his family was Jewish. Two brothers were Phillip and Henry.Record of "Al Lewis"; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006; SSN: 050-18-4924. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2006. He had originally given his birth year as 1910. His reputed ea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Munsters
''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Another Pretty Face," in which Grandpa explains how he came to possess Herman's original blueprint by reading the inscription on it: "To our favorite Count, Dracula - a souvenir from Dr. Frankenstein and all the guys and gals" and #61, "Cyrano de Munster," in which Lily, suspecting Herman of infidelity, tells Marilyn: "I'll take Herman apart so that even Dr. Frankenstein couldn't put him together" and head-of-the-household Herman Munster; Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife Lily; Al Lewis as Lily's father, Grandpa, the somewhat over-the-hill vampire Count DraculaEpisodes mentioning that Grandpa is Count Dracula include #55, "Just Another Pretty Face," in which he explains his possession of Herman's original blueprint by reading the inscription o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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They Might Be Giants (film)
''They Might Be Giants'' is a 1971 American comedy mystery film based on the 1961 play of the same name (both written by James Goldman) starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward. Sometimes mistakenly described as a Broadway play, it never in fact opened in the United States. It was directed in London by Joan Littlewood in 1961, but Goldman believed that he "never got the play right" and forbade further productions or publication of the script. To coincide with the film's release, he authorized an illustrated paperback tie-in edition of the screenplay, published by Lancer Books. The film's title was later adopted as the name of a popular music group. Plot summary Justin Playfair (Scott) is a judge who retreats into fantasy after his wife's death, imagining himself to be Sherlock Holmes, the legendary fictional detective. Complete with deerstalker hat, pipe and violin, he spends his days in a homemade criminal laboratory obsessing over plots hatched by his (Holmes's) arche ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (film)
''They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' is a 1969 American psychological drama film directed by Sydney Pollack, from a screenplay written by Robert E. Thompson and James Poe, based on Horace McCoy's 1935 novel of the same name, and starring Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Bonnie Bedelia and Red Buttons. It focuses on a disparate group of individuals desperate to win a Depression-era dance marathon and an opportunistic emcee who urges them on. The film was released theatrically in the United States on December 10, 1969, and also premiered at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing $12.6 million on a budget of $4.86 million, becoming the seventeenth highest-grossing film of 1969. Reviewers praised its direction, screenplay, depiction of the depression era, and performances (especially of Fonda, York and Young). It received nine nominations at the 42nd Academy Awards including; Best Director, Best ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The World Of Henry Orient
''The World of Henry Orient'' is a 1964 American comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, Phyllis Thaxter, Bibi Osterwald and Tom Bosley. It is based on the novel of the same name by Nora Johnson, who co-wrote the screenplay with her father, Nunnally Johnson. The original story was inspired in part by Nora Johnson's own experiences as a schoolgirl, as well as by a real-life incident involving singer Tony Bennett and two teenaged fans. Plot In early 1960s New York City, concert pianist Henry Orient (Peter Sellers) pursues an affair with a married woman, Stella Dunnworthy (Paula Prentiss), while two adolescent private-school girls, Valerie "Val" Boyd (Tippy Walker) and Marian "Gil" Gilbert (Merrie Spaeth), stalk him and write their fantasies about him in a diary. Orient's paranoia leads him to believe that the two girls, who seem to pop up everywhere he goes, are spies sent by his would-be mi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pretty Boy Floyd (film)
''Pretty Boy Floyd'' is a 1960 biographical film based on the career of the notorious 1930s outlaw Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. The film was an independent production, written and directed by Herbert J. Leder and produced by Monroe Sachson. The role of Pretty Boy Floyd was played by John Ericson and the rest of the cast included Barry Newman, Joan Harvey, Carl York, Roy Fant and a young Peter Falk in a minor role. Plot Cast *John Ericson as Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd *Barry Newman as Al Riccardo *Joan Harvey as Lil Courtney *Carl York as Curly Winwell *Roy Fant as Jed Watkins *Jason Evers as Sheriff Blackie Faulkner *Peter Falk as Shorty Walters * Al Lewis as Machine Gun Manny *Norman Burton Norman Burton (December 5, 1923 – November 29, 2003) was an American actor. He was occasionally credited as Normann Burton. Early life Born in New York City, Burton was a student of the Actors Studio. After early work on stage, he broke in ... as Bill Courtney *Phil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lost In Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel '' The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series follows the adventures of the Robinsons, a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in the depths of space. The show ran for 83 episodes over three seasons. The first season comprised 29 episodes that ran 1 hour apiece, filmed in black and white. In seasons 2 and 3 the episodes were 55 minutes long and shot in color. Series synopsis Overview On October 16, 1997, the United States is gearing up to colonize space. The ''Jupiter 2'', a futuristic saucer-shaped spacecraft, stands on its launch pad undergoing final preparations. Its mission is to take a single family on a five-and-a-half year journey to an Earth-like planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri. The Robinson family consists of Professor John Robinson ( Guy Wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Car 54, Where Are You?
''Car 54, Where Are You?'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1961 to April 1963. Filmed in black and white, the series starred Joe E. Ross as Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne as Francis Muldoon, two mismatched New York City police officers who patrol the fictional 53rd precinct in The Bronx. Car 54 was their patrol car. The series had a rotating group of directors, including Al De Caprio, Stanley Prager, and series creator Nat Hiken. Filming was done both on location and at Biograph Studios in the Bronx. Synopsis The series follows the adventures of New York City Police Department officers Gunther Toody (badge #1432) (Joe E. Ross) and Francis Muldoon (badge #723) ( Fred Gwynne), assigned to Patrol Car 54. Toody is short, stocky, nosy, and not very bright, and he lives with his loud, domineering wife Lucille (Beatrice Pons). College-educated Muldoon is very tall, quiet, and more intellectual. A shy bachelor, he lives with his mother and two younger siste ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Naked City (TV Series)
''Naked City'' is an American police procedural television series from Screen Gems that aired on ABC from 1958 to 1959 and from 1960 to 1963. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture '' The Naked City'' and mimics its dramatic "semi- documentary" format. As in the film, each episode concluded with a narrator intoning the iconic line: "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them." The ''Naked City'' episode "Four Sweet Corners" (1959) inspired the series '' Route 66'', created by Stirling Silliphant. ''Route 66'' was broadcast by CBS from 1960 to 1964, and, like ''Naked City'', followed the "semi-anthology" format of building the stories around the guest actors, rather than the regular cast. In 1997, the episode "Sweet Prince of Delancey Street" (1961) was ranked number 93 on ''TV Guide'' "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time" list. Synopsis Filmed on location in New York City, the series concerned the detectives of NYPD's 65th Precinct (changed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Phil Silvers Show
''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half-an-hour long except for a 1959 one-hour live special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army. The series was created by Nat Hiken and won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series. The show is sometimes titled ''Sergeant Bilko'' or simply ''Bilko'' in reruns, and it is very often referred to by these names, both on-screen and by viewers. The show's success transformed Silvers from a journeyman comedian into a star and writer-producer Hiken from a highly regarded behind-the-scenes comedy writer into a publicly recognized creator. Production By 1955, the American television business was already moving westward to Los Angeles, but Nat Hiken insisted on filming the series ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Decoy (TV Series)
''Decoy'' (also titled ''Policewoman Decoy'') is an American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957, to July 7, 1958, with 39 black-and-white 30-minute episodes. The series was groundbreaking, as the first American police series with a female protagonist. Many ''Decoy'' episodes are in the public domain. Synopsis The series starred Beverly Garland as Patricia "Casey" Jones, a female police officer in New York City. The undercover nature of Jones's work had her appearing as women in a variety of roles, including gun molls, hookers, nurses, and singers. Jones had no partner in her police work, and episodes revealed little about her personal life, with occasional exceptions of references to a love affair with a police officer who died on duty. Popularity ''Decoy'' was ranked among the top-10 syndicated programs, not only during its initial release, but also "long after production closed down". Production Stuart Rosen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Do Re Mi (musical)
''Do Re Mi'' is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go (somewhat) straight by moving into the legitimate business of juke boxes and music promotion. The musical was headlined by the comedy couple of Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, both of whom were Tony nominated. Popular songs introduced included "Cry Like the Wind" and "Make Someone Happy". Synopsis Hubie Cram is "a loser endlessly scheming to win big." His long-suffering and patient wife Kay urges him to "Take a Job," while he plots. He finds three pals, Fatso O'Rear, Brains Berman and Skin Demopoulos, and they scheme to enter the juke-box business ("It's Legitimate"). Soon they have 300 juke-boxes, which they plan on selling to John Henry Wheeler, a record producer. Hubie discovers a naive singer, Tilda Mullen, and they plan their future ("A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |