Lewis broke into films in the 1920s, and his handsome presence led to leading roles in a Universal Pictures short-subject series, The Collegians.

The high point of Lewis's serial career was probably the 1945 Republic cliffhanger Federal Operator 99, in which he was the full-fledged villain of the piece, playing "Moonlight Sonata" on a piano while plotting crimes.

He was a villain ("Collins") who helped betray a group of Texas Rangers and led them all into a deadly ambush, with the series' star, of course, being the lone survivor.

Lewis was cast as General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in the 1956 episode, "The Bear Flag" of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.

General Vallejo seeks accommodation with the forces headed by Ezekiel "Stuttering Zeke" Merritt (Don C. Harvey) in establishing the short-term Bear Flag Republic.