Nick Stewart

Stewart was born on March 15, 1910, in Harlem, New York City, to Joseph (1888–1976) and Eva Stewart, who were recent immigrants from Barbados, British West Indies.{{cite web |url=http://www.ebonyshowcase.org/ |title=Home |website=ebonyshowcase.org}} He began his show business career as a dancer at the Cotton Club and Hoofers Club.{{cite book|title=Theatre World Volume 57 – 2000–2001: Special Tony Honor Edition Paperback|editor-last=Willis|editor-first=John|editor2-last=Hodges|editor2-first=Ben|editor3-last=Lynch|editor3-first=Tom|publisher=Applause Books|year=2004|page=364|isbn=1-55783-521-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0dj_6Sgk_cAC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA258|accessdate=October 12, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://nfo.net/usa/harlem.html|title=My Harlem Reverie|author=Pfeffer, Murray L.|publisher=nfo.net|accessdate=October 22, 2010}} Stewart also was a veteran of Broadway shows, having created a comedic character he called "Nicodemus" and playing that role in Swingin' the Dream and Louisiana Purchase, as well as in the film Go West, Young Man.{{cite book|title=Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life|editor-last=Staggs|editor-first=Sam|page=432|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-312-37336-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9QJ3gxzcTXYC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA36|accessdate=October 12, 2010}}{{cite book|title=A History of African American Theatre (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama)|editor-last=Hill|editor-first=Errol G.|editor2-last=Hatch|editor2-first=James V.|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=632|isbn=0-521-62443-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ePerohXDIUC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA371|accessdate=October 12, 2010}}{{cite book|title=Mae West: It Ain't No Sin|editor-last=Louvish|editor-first=Simon|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|

year=2007|page=512|isbn=978-0-312-37562-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wbsd31esW5kC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA458|accessdate=October 12, 2010}} Stewart also performed comedy as a cast member of the Rudy Vallée radio show in 1941.{{cite web|url=http://jfredmacdonald.com/stereotyping.htm|title=Don't Touch That Dial! radio programming in American life, 1920–1960|author=MacDonald, J. Fred|publisher=jfredmacdonald.com|accessdate=October 20, 2010}} Other acting credits include the 1936 movie Go West Young Man, the voice of Specks Crow in Disney Animation's 1941 film Dumbo, the voice of Br'er Bear in the 1946 Disney film Song of the South{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vv1PAAAAIBAJ&pg=2997,4844384&dq=nicodemus+stewart&hl=en|title=Theater Gossip|date=January 30, 1947|publisher=The Evening Independent|accessdate=November 11, 2010}} and Willy-Willy on the television series Ramar of the Jungle.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15460684/nick_stewart_crusade/|title=Nick Stewart's an Actor With a Special Crusade|author=Jones, Clement D.|date=December 10, 1953|page=34|publisher=The Ottawa Journal|accessdate=November 29, 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} Also in 1954, Stewart had an important role in The Reign of Amelika Joe presented by Fireside Theatre.{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of African-American Television (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts)|editor-last=Fearn-Burns|editor-first=Kathleen|page=584|publisher=The Scarecrow Press|year=2005|isbn=0-8108-5335-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zVFgqEAMcngC&dq=amos+n+andy&pg=PA20|accessdate=October 10, 2010}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb8DAAAAMBAJ&q=nick+stewart+intitle%3Ajet&pg=PA66|title=James Edwards Stars In All-Negro TV Drama|date=October 14, 1954|publisher=Jet|accessdate=October 10, 2010}} He also won a comedy role in White Christmas (1954).{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/jewishpeople03pess|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/jewishpeople03pess/page/31 31]|quote=nick stewart jet.|title=People|date=October 29, 1953|publisher=Jet|accessdate=October 10, 2010}}

He was originally offered the role of Calhoun the lawyer, which he turned down. (After his refusal, it went to Johnny Lee, who had the role on radio since 1949.){{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Radio 3-Volume Set|editor-last=Sterling|editor-first=Christopher H.|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|page=1696|isbn=1-57958-249-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4XJQD4O_TkC&q=ernestine+wade&pg=PA130|accessdate=October 12, 2010}} Soon Gosden and Correll were back on the telephone, this time offering Stewart the role of Lightnin' on the television show. Stewart accepted the role with one idea in mind: to make enough money to be able to open his own theater where African Americans would not be typecast as maids and porters.{{cite book|title=Shakespeare and the American Popular Stage|editor-last=Teague|editor-first=Frances|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|page=232|isbn=0-521-86187-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YuEqWLOduoC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA127|accessdate=October 12, 2010}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDkDAAAAMBAJ&q=amos+n+andy&pg=PA73|title=Los Angeles|publisher=Black World|date=April 1974|accessdate=March 8, 2011}} In the 1960s, he would have small roles on Mister Ed and in the classic comedy film, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as the Migrant Truck Driver who is forced off of the road.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast | title=It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World: Full Cast & Crew | publisher=Internet Movie Database | accessdate= November 15, 2015}} In 1987, Doris McMillon devoted an entire week of her nightly talk show, On the Line with, to a discussion of the documentary Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy, and the issues surrounding the shows. Stewart was one of the participants, discussing the show and his role in it.{{cite web|url=http://jfredmacdonald.com/bawtv/bawtv2.htm|title=Blacks and White TV, African Americans in Television Since 1948|author=MacDonald, J. Fred|publisher=jfredmacdonald.com|accessdate=October 20, 2010}} He also had a role in the 1954 film Carmen Jones.

Stewart's final acting role would be returning to Disney to reprise the voice role Br'er Bear for the Disneyland attraction Splash Mountain (1989–2023),{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1RTP8thtR0C&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA201|title=Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary|last=Hischak|first=Thomas S.|year=2011|publisher=McFarland|page=201|isbn=978-0-7864-8694-6}} based on the animated sequences of Song of the South.{{cite book|last=Shaffer|first=Joshua C|title=Discovering the Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide |edition=2nd|year =2017|publisher=Synergy Book Publishing|isbn=978-0-9991664-0-6|page=526}}

He and his wife, Edna Stewart, also founded Los Angeles's Ebony Showcase Theatre,{{cite report|editor1-last=Blaine|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Baker|editor2-first=Decia|title=Community Arts of Los Angeles|hdl=10139/2728|page=8|chapter=Single Arts Experience Orientation|publisher=Los Angeles Community Art Alliance|year=1973|oclc=912321031}} which provided a venue for numerous performers of all races, including Al Freeman Jr., Yuki Shimoda, William Schallert, Tom Ewell, John Amos, Nichelle Nichols, Isabel Sanford, B. B. King, Phil Collins, Eartha Kitt, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtUDAAAAMBAJ&q=all+about+amos+%27n%27+andy&pg=PA138|title=Whatever happened to The Amos 'n' Andy Cast?|publisher=Ebony|date=July 1973|accessdate=September 27, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ebonyshowcase.org/nickstewart.htm|title=Nick Stewart, Co-founder of the historic Ebony Showcase Theatre|publisher=Ebony Showcase|accessdate=September 28, 2010}}

Founded in 1950, and first located on Washington Boulevard and Western Avenue, then on Crenshaw Boulevard, afterward on Adams Boulevard and later on Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles, Stewart filled the seats with quality productions.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NlFWWKnjXwC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA38|title=Lost in the Fifties: Recovering Phantom Hollywood

|last=Dixon|first=Wheeler W.|year=2005|publisher=SIU Press|pages=38–40|isbn=978-0-8093-8844-8 }} The couple did all remodeling of the building themselves, with the help of salvaged lumber from the CBS Television City construction site.{{cite book|title=Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles|editor-last=Widener|editor-first=Daniel|year=2010|publisher=Duke University Press|page=384|isbn=978-0-8223-4679-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVV9h3Uz2vQC&q=nick+stewart&pg=PA76|accessdate=October 12, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.amosandy.com/Review%20Articles/Letter%20by%20Edna%20Stewart.htm|title=Memories of Nick Stewart's Incredible Life|author=Stewart, Edna|publisher=Amosandy.com|accessdate=October 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707134259/http://www.amosandy.com/Review%20Articles/Letter%20by%20Edna%20Stewart.htm|archivedate=July 7, 2011}} Stewart hosted a variety show called Ebony Showcase Presents on KTTV from the theatre in 1953.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15460937/nick_stewart_show_1953/|title=Ad for The Nick Stewart Show on KTTV|date=June 11, 1965|page=30|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=November 29, 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272966/|title=Ebony Showcase Presents|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=October 17, 2010}} Because CBS believed Nick Stewart's work with his theater was impairing his ability to perform on Amos 'n' Andy, he was notified that his contract would not be renewed; this was shortly before the decision to take the show off the air. By 1964, the Ebony Showcase had grown and moved again, this time to the Metro Theater near Washington and La Brea. Around this time, Nick Stewart wrote his own musical called Carnival Island. In 1973, Nick and Edna Stewart were honored by Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and the California Museum of Science and Industry's advisory board for their work with the Ebony Showcase theatre. During his years in vaudeville, Stewart and Milton Berle often worked together; Berle was a frequent visitor to the Ebony Showcase.

Although the Stewarts lost title to the theatre complex in 1992, they were allowed to stay there and operate the theater.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-02-ca-1983-story.html|title=Stage|author=MacMinn, Aleene|date=July 2, 1992|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=October 17, 2010}} and the buildings were later demolished.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-10-me-11490-story.html|title=Judge Backs CRA on Ebony Showcase Theater|date=July 10, 1997|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=October 17, 2010}} The couple used two homes they owned as collateral for a loan meant to save the theatre; both were lost.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-01-me-894-story.html|title=Ebony Theater Tries to Keep Final Curtain From Coming Down|author=Boyer, Edward J.|date=February 1, 1993|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=October 17, 2010}} One of the issues which led to the theatre's financial problems was a Los Angeles law requiring all older brick buildings to meet current earthquake standards.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4hIbAAAAIBAJ&pg=5160,488711&dq=ebony+showcase+theatre&hl=en|title=Theater nourishes independent shows|author=Lota, Louinn|date=December 3, 1992|work=Daily News|accessdate=October 13, 2010}} The entire complex that had housed the Ebony Showcase organization, including a house not shown in the picture, was taken in eminent domain by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15459946/ebony_showcase/|title=CRA's Plan to Buy Theater Opposed|author=Belgum, Deborah|page=22|date=September 26, 1996|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=November 29, 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} The theater edifice was demolished in 1998, the rest of the complex was demolished, building-by-building.

Stewart was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP. He also received the Living Legend award from the National Black Theatre Festival in 1995.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgDAAAAMBAJ&q=amos+n+andy&pg=PA56|title=Legendary Black Stars Forecast Bright Future Despite Detours In TV, Movies and Theatres|publisher=Jet|date=August 28, 1995|accessdate=March 8, 2011}}

Stewart died of natural causes at his son's home in Los Angeles, California, on December 18, 2000, at age 90, a week after attending the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Performing Arts Center named for Los Angeles politician Nate Holden which was built on the site where the Ebony Showcase stood.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/155487072/?terms=ebony+showcase+theater|title=Nick Stewart; Helped Found Ebony Theater To Help Black Actors|author=Oliver, Myrna|date=December 22, 2000|page=18|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=November 29, 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67MDAAAAMBAJ&q=all+about+amos+'n'+andy&pg=PA55|title='Amos 'n' Andy' TV Show Star Nick Stewart, Who Played Lightnin', Dies|date=January 8, 2001|publisher=Jet|accessdate=September 28, 2001}}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-12-me-64466-story.html|title=Groundbreaking for Theater Center Marred by Protest|author=Ramos, George|date=December 12, 2000|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=October 17, 2010}} The Ebony Showcase transformed, adapted, and did not close. Instead, the Ebony Showcase continues to provide entertainment, resources, and charitable services on the internet and in the community.{{cite web|url=http://www.ebonyshowcase.org/|title=Ebony Showcase Theater|publisher=Ebony Showcase Theater}}

{{Div col}}

• Prosperity (1932) – Train Porter (uncredited)
• Go West, Young Man (1936) – Nicodemus
• Mind Your Own Business (1936) – Butler
• Dark Manhattan (1937) – Pete (uncredited)
• International Crime (1938) – Shoeshine Boy (uncredited)
• Wall Street Cowboy (1939) – Train Porter (uncredited)
• Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941) – Mose Johnson (uncredited)
• West of Cimarron (1941) – Jason Brown (uncredited)
• Dumbo (1941) – Specks Crow (voice, uncredited)
• The Meanest Man in the World (1943) – Elevator Operator (uncredited)
• Hit Parade of 1943 (1943) – Willie (uncredited)
• Cabin in the Sky (1943) – Dude
• My Son, the Hero (1943) – Nicodemus
• False Faces (1943) – Mack
• Stormy Weather (1943) – Cousin Jake (uncredited)
• Hoosier Holiday (1943) – Aloysius Lincoln
• The Heavenly Body (1944) – Willie (uncredited)
• Follow the Boys (1944) – Lt. Reynolds (uncredited)
• Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944) – Dining-Car Waiter (uncredited)
• Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944) – Chauncey – Haley's Chauffeur
• Zombies on Broadway (1945) – Worthington (uncredited)
• I Love a Bandleader (1945) – Willie Winters (uncredited)
• Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945) – Houseboy (uncredited)
• She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945) – Porter (uncredited)
• Dakota (1945) – Nicodemus
• One Way to Love (1946) – Julius (uncredited)
• Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946) – Ninety Eight the Orderly (uncredited)
• Behind Green Lights (1946) – Black Man (uncredited)
• Night and Day (1946) – Train Club Car Waiter (uncredited)
• Centennial Summer (1946) – Redcap (uncredited)
• Night Train to Memphis (1946) – Train Porter
• Three Little Girls in Blue (1946) – Mo – Stable Boy (uncredited)
• Song of the South (1946) – Br'er Bear (voice)
• The Perfect Marriage (1947) – (uncredited)
• Down to Earth (1947) – Porter (uncredited)
• The Voice of the Turtle (1947) – First Elevator Operator (uncredited)
• East Side, West Side (1949) – Red Cap (uncredited)
• No Holds Barred (1952) – Stick-Up Man
• The Moonlighter (1953) – Bank Janitor (uncredited)
• Return from the Sea (1954) – Navigation Officer
• Carmen Jones (1954) – Dink Franklin
• Flame of the Islands (1956) – Nick
• St. Louis Blues (1958) – Drunk (uncredited)
• Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958) – Molo (uncredited)
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – migrant truck driver
• Silver Streak (1976) – Shoeshiner
• Hollywood Shuffle (1987) – Cookie's Father (final film role)

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-21-me-2834-story.html Los Angeles Times obituary December 21, 2000]
• [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/57528-Nick-Stewart-Actor-Who-Shed-Stereotypical-Roles-to-Found-LAs-Ebony-Showcase-Dead-at-90 Nick Stewart Playbill obituary December 22, 2000]
• {{IMDb name|0829695}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080112015404/http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/753/Nick_Stewart African American Registry]
• [http://www.ebonyshowcase.org/nickstewart.htm An Ebony Showcase Theatre Tribute Page]
• {{emmytvlegends name|nick-stewart}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150906142455/http://www.hulu.com/watch/48119 Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy Video by Hulu]

{{Amos 'n' Andy}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Nick}}

Category:1910 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male radio actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:American people of Barbadian descent

Category:Male actors from Manhattan

Category:American vaudeville performers

Category:20th-century African-American male actors

Category:People from Harlem