Person Biography:
Paul Stewart was an esteemed character actor with a remarkable career spanning decades. Born on March 13, 1908, in New York City, he developed an interest in acting in his teens and made his Broadway debut in 1931 with the play "Two Seconds". He had a natural flair for the film noir and gangland crime drama genre, with his premature silvery hair, dark thick brows, and probing, deep-set eyes accentuated by a tough and penetrating Brooklyn accent.
Stewart's early life was marked by a strong foundation in the performing arts. He attended Columbia University and made a name for himself on the Broadway stage before meeting and impressing Orson Welles. As a result, he became a founding member of the Mercury Theatre and a founding member of AFTRA when it was still a radio union.
Stewart's tough, guttural voice became a familiar sound on the 1930s airwaves, and he was part of the cast in the infamous Welles broadcast "The War of the Worlds". He married bandsinger/actress Peg La Centra in 1939, and they appeared together on many radio programs. La Centra also provided singing voices for stars such as Susan Hayward.
Welles next put Stewart in his films, with the classic "Citizen Kane" (1941) as Raymond, Kane's wily valet. This led to Stewart becoming an in-demand character player, essaying a number of stark, sinister types to perfection in films such as "Johnny Eager" (1941),"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 television, Stewart became a regular on a couple of short-lived series, including "Top Secret" (1954) and "The Man Who Never Was" (1966). In the 1950s, he turned to stage and TV directing, helming a number of popular crime dramas such as "Peter Gunn" (1958),"Michael Shayne" (1960),"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 "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 the age of 77.
