Nick Stewart
Horace Winfred "Nick" Stewart (March 15, 1910 – December 18, 2000) also billed as Nick O'Demus was an American television and film actor. Stewart was known for his role as Lightnin' (Willie Jefferson) on TV's The Amos 'n' Andy Show.
Nick Stewart was born on March 15, 1910, in Harlem, New York City, to Joseph (March 15, 1888 – July 1976) and Eva Stewart, who were recent immigrants from Barbados, British West Indies. He began his show business career as a dancer at the Cotton Club and Hoofers Club. 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. Stewart also performed comedy as a cast member of the Rudy Vallée radio show in 1941. Other acting credits include the 1936 movie Go West Young Man, the voice of Br'er Bear in the 1946 Disney movie Song of the South, and Willy-Willy on the television series Ramar of the Jungle. Also in 1954, Stewart had an important role in The Reign of Amelika Joe presented by Fireside Theatre. He also won a comedy role in White Christmas (1954).
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.) 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 theater where African Americans would not be typecast as maids and porters. In the 1960s, he would have small roles in Mister Ed and 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. In 1987, Doris McMillon devoted an entire week of her nightly talk show, On the Line, 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. He also had a role in the movie Carmen Jones.
Stewart's final acting role would be returning to Disney to reprise the voice role of Br'er Bear for the theme park attraction Splash Mountain, which is based on the animated segments of Song of the South. He was the only actor to return and voice his character from the aforementioned movie. In an interview with author Jim Korkis, he was asked about whether or not his role of Br'er Bear was degrading. He replied, "Disney treated us like Kings." He went on to say that the money he earned from Song of the South was donated to a theatre for African-American actors to play roles other than maids and butlers, and was doing the same with the money from reprising his role for the Disneyland attraction.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 8.798 |
Birthday | 1910-03-15 |
Place of Birth | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Also Known As | Nicodemus, Nicodemus Stewart, Nick O'Demus, Horace Winfred "Nick" Stewart, Horace Winfred Stewart, |
1963
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
7/571
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is t...
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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1946
Behind Green Lights
5.6/22
An unscrupulous private investigator with a penchant for blackmail is found dead in a car and the leading suspect is Janet Bradley, the daughter of a...
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Behind Green Lights
1936
Go West Young Man
5.3/13
Mavis Arden is a sensational movie star. Her following spans the world and her personal appearance tours prove her popularity. On her way home from on...
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Go West Young Man
1955
Flame of the Islands
3.5/4
A café singer buys a gambling casino and several men fall in love with her.
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Flame of the Islands
1943
My Son, The Hero
0/0
Learning that his long-unseen son is soon to arrive for a visit, a small-time con-man enlists the help of his cronies to help him pretend to be a weal...
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My Son, The Hero
1938
International Crime
5.45/10
The second and final Grand National Pictures film to feature The Shadow, played again by Rod La Rocque. In this version, Lamont Cranston is an amateur...
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International Crime
1944
Gildersleeve's Ghost
5/5
Gildersleeve, running for office, is aided by two ghosts and hindered by a mad scientist and an invisible woman.
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Gildersleeve's Ghost
1946
Three Little Girls in Blue
6.5/2
Three sisters go to Atlantic City with hopes of finding rich husbands.
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Three Little Girls in Blue
1939
Wall Street Cowboy
6.5/2
When his ranch falls on hard times, Cowboy Roy Roger has trouble making his mortgage payment and he takes his song and dance to Wall Street to try to...
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Wall Street Cowboy
1946
Song of the South
6.403/267
Uncle Remus draws upon his tales of Br'er Rabbit to help little Johnny deal with his confusion over his parents' separation as well as his new life on...
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Song of the South
1943
Stormy Weather
6.9/39
Dancing great Bill Williamson sees his face on the cover of Theatre World magazine and reminisces: Just back from World War I, he meets lovely singer...
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Stormy Weather
1958
Tarzan's Fight for Life
4.6/9
Dr. Sturdy is trying to establish a modern hospital in the jungle. His efforts are strongly opposed by Futa, the witch doctor, and Ramo, a native warr...
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Tarzan's Fight for Life
1943
False Faces
7/2
A district attorney sets out to vindicate his son who's been accused of murdering a nightclub singer.
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False Faces
1945
Dakota
5.2/29
In 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon. Sand...
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Dakota
1976
Silver Streak
6.73/311
A somewhat daffy book editor on a rail trip from Los Angeles to Chicago thinks that he sees a murdered man thrown from the train. When he can find no...
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Silver Streak
1936
Mind Your Own Business
0/0
Nature reporter Orville Shanks retreats to the woods for material for his "Our Wild Friends" column and to volunteer for his favorite cause, the Boy S...
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Mind Your Own Business
1945
She Wouldn't Say Yes
5.9/5
Susan Lane is a gifted psychiatrist, grounded in self-control. Before returning by train to her practice in Chicago, she spends time back East with wa...
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She Wouldn't Say Yes
1946
Night Train to Memphis
0/0
A mountain community is thrown into turmoil as the townspeople debate the advantages and disadvantages of having a railroad.
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Night Train to Memphis
1943
Hoosier Holiday
0/0
During World War II three brothers go to enlist in the Air Force, but since they're farmers they're told they're needed at home more than in the servi...
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Hoosier Holiday
1941
Robin Hood of the Pecos
5/1
Robin Hood of the Pecos is a 1941 American film starring Roy Rogers and directed by Joseph Kane. Following the Civil War, the South still faced many d...
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Robin Hood of the Pecos
1954
Carmen Jones
5.916/77
The tale of the cigarette-maker Carmen and the Spanish cavalry soldier Don Jose is translated into a modern-day story of a parachute factory worker an...
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Carmen Jones
1943
Cabin in the Sky
6.3/37
When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for si...
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Cabin in the Sky
1945
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
5.7/23
When two bumbling barbers act as agents for a talented but unknown singer, they stage a phony murder in order to get him a plum role.
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
1935
Who Killed Cock Robin?
6.662/34
A robin is shot so the woodland community holds a trial to investigate.
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Who Killed Cock Robin?
1943
The Meanest Man in the World
6.4/4
Compassionate small-town lawyer Richard Clarke moves to New York City to seek his fortune, but is unsuccessful until he takes a friend's advice and tr...
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The Meanest Man in the World
1942
Shine
0/0
Louis Armstrong performs with Nicodemus on this Soundie from 1942.
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Shine
1945
Delightfully Dangerous
5.3/6
Young Sherry Williams dreams of having a singing career, and she idolizes her older sister Josephine, who has gone to New York to perform on the stage...
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