Valarie Stewart

Please help our charity. We want to continue my parent's legacy of giving free life-changing visual and performing arts classes and exposure to at-risk children & teens. It will make a profound difference in their lives. We are also members of a group called the Broadway Animal Rescue Team. We save the lives of stray cats and dogs.

No one in the history of show business accomplished what my pioneering parents did; yet only a few are aware of their accomplishments. My goal is to keep their legacy alive through helping young people. My father, Nick Stewart, was born in Harlem, New York. His parents were immigrants from Barbados; he spent his early childhood there. He often said that most of his peers in Harlem ended up either dead or in jail; but his life was changed because he learned to dance. He began a career as a performer in the 1930s at the Hoofers Club and the Cotton Club. News stories on our website tell of my parent's accomplishments and contributions to stage, radio, movies, and television. My dad played Lightnin' on the Amos 'n Andy TV show in the 1950s. He created the voice of Brer Bear in Disney's Song of the South, and the Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland. He and my mother, Edna Stewart, founded the historic Ebony Showcase Theatre in 1950. They presented plays, concerts, and community events, conducted training programs for kids and adults, and started the careers of many performers who later became famous; as well as hosting performances featuring those who were already famous. They received countless awards during the more than 50 years that the theater operated in 4 separate locations. In the 1990s awards included Living Legend Awards from the National Black Theatre Festival, a Lifetime Achievement from the Beverly Hills NAACP, the L.A. Weekly's Lifetime Achievement Theatre Award, and my father's inclusion in the Academy of Television Arts and Science's Archive of American Television, which is dedicated to preserving the history of early television pioneers. Our theater complex was demolished several years ago by the redevelopment agency. My parents received no compensation.

Please help me to find my father's fans & invite them to visit our website and consider a donation of time, goods, or money, to enable us to help young people & animals.