Hero of the Month: Larry Stewart
It is amazing what you can lern about someone when you start researching an article. When I first decided to write about Larry Stewart, I thought it would be a fairly light piece, with only his few serial credits to talk about. Boy was I wrong.
Stewart started out as an actor, mostly in small supporting roles, in films like In Old Oklahoma (1943), The Fighting Seabees (1944), A Yank in Korea (1951) and One Minute to Zero (1952).
His bigest acting roles were in two Columbia serials. Captain Video (1951) cast Stewart as The Video Ranger, sidekick to the title character, helping him stop an invasion of Earth being led by intergalactic dictator Vultura. He followed this up with Blackhawk (1952), playing Andre, the French (minus any accent) member of the interntional group of aviator spy smashers, helping to foil several schemes by a mysterious leader of fifth columnists.
Turning to behind the camera, Stewart became a prolific director of TV shows, helming episodes for Fantasy Island, The Waltons, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, The Amazing Spider-Man, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Hunter.
In 1976, Stewart lead a splinter group that broke off from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences due to disagreements over budget controls and the fact that most production had migrated to the West Coast. Stewart served as the first President of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, where he would also go on to win four Academy Emmys and the Academy’s Founder’s Award.
