Mel Stewart Biography
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Milton “Mel” Stewart was born in Cleveland Ohio on September 19th,1929. He was raised in New York and attended Central High School and Western Reserve College. After performing in several off Broadway plays, he landed a role in the Broadway production of “Simply Heavenly.” Since then, he appeared in such stage productions as “Me, My Mother, My Father and I” and “In the Counting House”. From there, Stewart moved to San Francisco to be in Chicago’s Second City ipmrov group “The Committee.”
Mr. Stewart made his film debut in the gritty crime drama “Odds Against Tomorrow” with Henry Belafonte and Ed Begley Sr. Outside of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, he is best known for his role as Henry Jefferson on All in the Family. He can also be seen in guest appearances on Sanford and Son, Benson, The Love Boat, Baywatch and In the Heat of the Night.
Besides being an accomplished actor, Mel Stewart was a jazz musician. His instruments of choice were the tenor saxophone, the flute and the piano. While in New York he played with the likes of John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. He also provided a famous voice over for the Charles Mingus piece “Scenes in the City” that was performed in Carnegie Hall. He often declared that music was his “first-love.”
Mel also taught and directed at the Black Repertory Group Theatre in Berkeley, at the Center for African and African American Art and Culture in San Francisco, and San Francisco State University. He also founded a theater group called Bantu, for Black Actors Now Through Unity. He retired from acting after making “Made in America” with Whoopi Goldberg in 1993, telling his wife that there were “too many black bald actors in Hollywood.”
In adition to being an artist, Mel was a martial arts expert and held a black belt in Aikido. With his skills in this area, he opened up a martial arts school in San Francisco for Inner City Youth. Some of his other hobbies included: woodworking, photography and writing screenplays.
Mel Stewart passed away on Feb. 24th, 2002 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by his wife Annie, daughter Alia and brother Morris.