IN MEMORIAM - BILL STEWART

Today is Bill Stewart’s birthday. He, and coincidentally his brothers, was born on the 7^th December. Bill was born in 1942 and would have been 70 today. He was a great friend and wonderful actor. An obituary published at the time of his death is well worth a read.

BILL STEWART was an actor whose career spanned experimental productions at the Royal Court in the 1960s to several seasons at Shakespeare's Globe and Hollywood films. In a career of more than 40 years he played Sandy Longford, Inspector Frost's journalist friend in the television crime drama A Touch of Frost and Sir Toby Belch in the Globe's award-winning production of Twelfth Night. His last film role was with Ed Harris in Copying Beethoven

Stewart was in the original 1965 production of Edward Bond's Saved, which caused a furore. The play, which includes a scene of a baby being stoned to death, was refused a licence by the Lord Chamberlain, so the Royal Court became a club to enable the production to be staged.

Bill Stewart was born in Liverpool in 1942, one of four children of a headmistress and an engineer. He left technical college at 16, began training as a quantity surveyor, and within a year or two became involved in amateur dramatics. This and a visit to the Liverpool Everyman Theatre convinced him that acting would be a great deal more fun than surveying. His mother was not so happy about his planned career change, but his father was more philosophical, saying that since he was going to spend his life working it might as well be at something he would enjoy.

He applied to drama schools and was accepted by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1963. His mother died the summer he was due to set off for Bristol, and he greatly regretted that she never saw his successes in his chosen career. During his final year at the theatre school he wrote to Bill Gaskell, artistic director at the Royal Court, asking for an audition. He did not get a reply, but was bold enough to approach Gaskell at a party soon afterwards. He asked him why he had not replied, and told him it was very rude of him. The notoriously prickly Gaskell offered him his first job, in the controversial production of Saved.

Stewart returned to Liverpool and acted for three years at the Everyman Theatre, under its founder director Peter James. The theatre had a policy then of employing only young actors, and others who had their first break there included Jonathan Pryce and Julie Walters. Stewart married James's sister Margaret in 1970.

His work took him to theatres all over Britain, especially the Sheffield Crucible, again with Peter James, and the Nottingham Playhouse under Richard Eyre. His peripatetic lifestyle did not make for an easy marriage, and he and Margaret were divorced.

Stewart acted in many ground breaking productions over 30 years, playing the lead, Joseph K, in Steven Berkoff's adaptation of The Trial in 1973. He was also in the first production of Berkoff's harsh satire Sink the Belgrano at the Half Moon Theatre in 1986. He acted in several of Howard Barker's plays with The Wrestling School, the company set up to produce Barker's work. These included The Europeans (1986) about the aftermath of the struggle between Christianity and Islam in the 17th century, and Victory, (1991).

As well as appearing in many mainstream television dramas, from Frost to Lovejoy, Stewart was involved in innovative television productions including Made in Britain (1983), the third collaboration between Alan Clarke and the screenwriter David Leland. The play focused on a violent teenage skinhead, Trevor, who refuses to co-operate with attempts to rehabilitate him by the courts or his social worker, played by Stewart. He also appeared in the political thriller serial Edge of Darkness in 1985 and in Alan Bleasdale's GBH in 1991.

More recently he played several seasons at Shakespeare's Globe, including appearing in Henry V during Mark Rylance's first season as artistic director. He played Capulet in Romeo and Juliet in 2004, which gave him the opportunity to work closely with young actors, which he loved. He was Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night in 2002, in a production which toured the US the following year. Stewart's portrayal of Sir Toby, not as lively and rumbustious but as a sad figure weeping silently into his ale, won wide acclaim.

Motor neuron disease was diagnosed in June and he took this news calmly and with great bravery. He was supported and cared for by his partner of the past seven years, the actress Pamela Moiseiwitsch, and her children, Luke and Emily.

Bill Stewart, actor, was born on 7th, December 1942. He died on 29^th August 2006, aged 63.

Here is a short clip from a Lovejoy: