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Paul Stewart
Age: 77 (passed away Feb. 17th, 1986)
Height:
Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA
Born: Mar. 13th, 1908
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Paul Stewart's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Esteemed character actor had a pair of the coldest orbs in town and made his living for decades playing dark, callous, shiftless villains, including a vast number of mobsters. Not a well-known name per se, he was nevertheless a reliable and perfectly determined sort for film noir and gangland crime drama with his premature silvery hair, dark thick brows and probing, deep-set eyes, all accentuated by a tough and penetrating Brooklynesque accent. Born in New York City on March 13, 1908, Stewart developed an interest for acting in his teens, making his Broadway debut with "Two Seconds" in 1931, following graduation from Columbia University. He had played a few more stage roles in New York when he met and made an impression upon Orson Welles. As a result he became a founding member of the Mercury Theatre and a founding member of AFTRA when it was just a radio union, Stewart's tough, guttural voice became a familiar sound on the 1930s airwaves and was a participant in the infamous Welles' broadcast "The War of the Worlds." He married band singer/actress Peg La Centra (1910-1996) in 1939 and over the years they appeared together on many radio programs. She also provided singing voices for such stars as Susan Hayward (I) on celluloid. Welles next put Stewart in films with the classic Citizen Kane (1941) as Raymond, Kane's wily valet and found himself in demand as an untrustworthy character player. He essayed a number of stark, sinister types to perfection, including roles in Johnny Eager (1942), Mr. Lucky (1943), Champion (1949), Illegal Entry (1949), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), Carbine Williams (1952), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Kiss Me Deadly (1955). On TV, he became a regular on a couple of short-lived series -- "Top Secret" (1955) and "The Man Who Never Was" (1966). In the 1950s, Stewart turned to stage and TV directing as well, helming a number of popular crimers such as "Peter Gunn" (1958), "Michael Shayne" (1960), "Perry Mason" (1957), "It Takes a Thief" (1968), "Hawaii Five-O" (1968) and "Remington Steele" (1982). His voice also fit the bill for cartoons in the 1960s. In 1974, Stewart suffered a heart attack while on location in New Mexico for the movie Bite the Bullet (1975), but he returned sporadically to films, including the role of impresario Florenz Ziegfeld in W.C. Fields and Me (1976). He suffered a second and fatal heart attack in 1986 at age 77.
TRIVIA:
- Married since 1939 to singer and radio actress 'Peg La Centra' (qv). She was the lead singer for 'Artie Shaw' (qv)'s original orchestra and made her name in radio, singing for Johnny Greene's Orchestra and eventually on her own, "Peg LaCentra Show." She also dubbed singing voices for film actresses like 'Ida Lupino' (qv) and 'Susan Hayward (I)' (qv) and made many solo recordings. She died of a heart attack on June 1, 1996.
- He was an original member of 'Orson Welles' (qv)' "Mercury Theatre Of The Air", which also included such actors as 'Joseph Cotten (I)' (qv) and 'Agnes Moorehead' (qv). He appeared in several films directed by Welles.
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