His nickname was "Wagon Wheel Joe," a name he received early in his
career when he was shooting B Westerns for Universal. He had a penchant
for framing shots through the spokes of the nearest wagon wheel, to
break up the visual monotony of a scene. Several of the editors at
Universal complained to the studio brass that they had a hard time
cutting Lewis' films because "he keeps putting these damn wagon wheels
in front of everything." Director
Oliver Drake, a friend of Lewis' and also
his boss on those Westerns, jokingly referred to him as "Wagon Wheel
Joe," and the name stuck.
