Kids-show host ‘Uncle Al’ Lewis dies at 84

March 4, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Al Lewis, who was known as “Uncle Al” on a long-running children’s television show that aired nationally in the 1950s, has died. He was 84.

Lewis produced and starred in “The Uncle Al Show,” which ran daily from 1950 to 1985 on WCPO-TV. The show aired nationally on ABC affiliates Saturday mornings over two years in the late 1950s.

He died Saturday of natural causes at an extended-care facility in Hillsboro, Ohio, said Craig Turner, of Turner and Son Funeral Home, which is handling arrangements.

Dressed in a straw hat, a bow tie and an ever-present accordion, Lewis was a local TV icon.

The show combined music, education, drawing and exercise activities for children, including boisterous rounds of “Hokey Pokey.”