Stewart began his acting career in 1959 with small roles on television and in films. In the early 1960s, he appeared in the
Broadway shows
Purlie Victorious,
The Hostage,
The Cool World and
Simply Heavenly. Stewart's early career also included notable work as a voice actor. He provided the narration for "Scenes in the City", a long jazz composition with text by Lonne Elder and Langston Hughes that appeared on Charles Mingus' 1957 album
A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry. In 1961, Stewart recorded an album of
Langston Hughes' poetry on
Folkways Records titled ''Langston Hughes' The Best of Simple
. He was also a member of the San Francisco-based improv group The Committee, with whom he performed on The Dick Cavett Show in 1969. That same year, Stewart was part of the cast of Turn-On'', which notoriously ended after one episode. Stewart played roles in various television series including
That Girl,
Marcus Welby, M.D.,
The Bob Newhart Show,
Good Times and
Harry O. One of his most memorable roles was as Henry Jefferson, George Jefferson's brother, in three seasons of the series
All in the Family. In 1973, he co-starred in the short-lived series
Roll Out. The following year, Stewart directed two episodes of the short-lived series
Get Christie Love! (which starred fellow Turn-On cast member Teresa Graves) and costarred in
On the Rocks. After that series was canceled in 1976, Stewart portrayed Marvin Decker in the
Bewitched spinoff series Tabitha from 1977 to 1978. Stewart starred on
Scarecrow and Mrs. King as section chief Billy Melrose during the show's four-year run from 1983 through 1987, and continued guest-starring in both television and films. His last on-screen appearance came in the 1993 film
Made in America. ==Side projects==