Christopher Hewett
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| Christopher Hewett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christopher Michael Hewett 5 April 1922 Worthing, Sussex, England |
| Died | 3 August 2001 (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
Christopher Michael Hewett (5 April 1922 – 3 August 2001) was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Belvedere on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Hewett was born in Worthing, Sussex, England, to an army officer father and a Irish mother who was a descendent of Daniel O'Connell.[1] He was educated at Beaumont College, and at age 7, he made his acting debut in Dublin stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. At 16, Hewett joined the Royal Air Force, leaving in 1940. Hewett then joined the Oxford Repertory Company and made his West End theatre debut in 1943.[2]
He later appeared on Broadway in the musicals My Fair Lady, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Music Is, and Kean and in the play Sleuth, among others, and directed the 1960 Broadway revue From A to Z and the 1967 off-Broadway revival of the Rodgers and Hart musical By Jupiter. Hewett also directed several stage productions including The Marriage-Go-Round and Beyond the Fringe and Camelot.[3]
Hewett made his film debut in the 1951 crime drama Pool of London, and later appeared in roles on Robert Montgomery Presents and DuPont Show of the Month. He appeared as the effeminate stage director Roger DeBris in Mel Brooks's 1968 film comedy The Producers. In 1976, Hewett played the generic bureaucrat Federov in the short-lived sitcom Ivan the Terrible. From 1983 to 1984, he portrayed Lawrence, Mr. Roarke's (Ricardo Montalbán) sidekick on the final season of the ABC series Fantasy Island. The following year, Hewett landed his best known role as Lynn Aloysius Belvedere, an English butler who works for a middle-class American family in the sitcom Mr. Belvedere. After the series ended its run in 1990, Hewett appeared in a guest spot on an episode of the NBC teen sitcom California Dreams. His last onscreen role was a cameo appearance on the FOX series Ned & Stacey in 1997.[3]
[edit] Personal life and death
A devout Catholic and lifelong bachelor, Hewitt served as a deacon at St. Victor's church in West Hollywood. During his later years, he suffered from arthritis and diabetes.[1] On August 3, 2001, Hewett died of complications from diabetes.[4]He was 79 years old. Hewett had no children.
[edit] Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | Pool of London | Mike | |
| The Lavender Hill Mob | Inspector Talbot | ||
| 1954 | The Million Pound Note | Irate Investor | Uncredited Alternative title: Man with a Million |
| 1968 | The Producers | Roger De Bris | |
| 1986 | Ratboy | Acting Coach | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1955 | Robert Montgomery Presents | 1 episode | |
| 1959 | DuPont Show of the Month | Policeman | 1 episode |
| 1976 | Ivan the Terrible | Federov | 5 episodes |
| 1979 | ABC Afterschool Special | Butler | 1 episode |
| 1982 | ABC Theatre of the Month: The Elephant Man | Ross | Television movie |
| Hart to Hart | Jeremy Lane | 1 episode | |
| Massarati and the Brain | Anatole | Television movie | |
| 1983-1984 | Fantasy Island | Lawrence | 8 episodes |
| 1984 | E/R | Englishman | 1 episode |
| 1985-1990 | Mr. Belvedere | Mr. Lynn Aloysius Belvedere | 115 episodes |
| 1987 | The New Mike Hammer | 1 episode | |
| Murder, She Wrote | Humphrey Defoe | 1 episode | |
| 1990 | A Very Retail Christmas | Ghost of Christmas Past | Television movie |
| 1994 | California Dreams | Mr. Green | 1 episode |
| 1997 | Ned & Stacey | Himself | 1 episode |
[edit] Award nomination
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | TV Land Award | Nominated | Best Broadcast Butler | Mr. Belvedere |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Gaughan, Gavin (2001-10-18). "Christopher Hewett Obituary". guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2001/oct/18/guardianobituaries. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ "Christopher Hewett". independent.co.uk. 2001-08-09. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/christopher-hewett-729308.html. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ a b "Christopher Hewett Biography". filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/84/Christopher-Hewett.html. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ White, Rusty (2003-06-21). "Immortalized in Film: August 2001 Film World Obituaries". http://www.einsiders.com/features/columns/aug01obituaries.php. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
