Byron Stewart (born May 1, 1956, in Baxter Springs, Kansas) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Warren Coolidge in the Bruce Paltrow-directed television series The White Shadow and the television medical drama St. Elsewhere.Stewart's first credited acting role came in 1977 at age 21 in the movie Fire Sale, a comedy about a Jewish basketball coach who adopts a tall African-American teenage boy (played by Stewart) to help him win games. Ken Howard stated in The White Shadow season 1 DVD commentary that, after seeing a re-run of Fire Sale, he immediately phoned Bruce Paltrow and said he wanted Stewart for a role as one of his basketball players. Howard wanted at least one "player" taller than himself for the "team."Stewart, who is 6'8" tall, later reprised the role of Warren Coolidge in another Paltrow-directed series, St. Elsewhere. The explanation was that Coolidge had to give up basketball because of injury and moved to Boston, where he got a job as a hospital orderly at St. Eligius Hospital.Today, Stewart works as an account manager for Worldwide Security. He still occasionally reads for acting roles. He is divorced with four children.
Works as an account manager for Worldwide security firm, but still reads for acting parts regularly. [July 2002]
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He was awarded the 1995 Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for Actor in a Principal Role in a Play for "Slow Dance on the Killing Ground" at the Touchstone Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
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Got the part of Warren Coolidge on The White Shadow (1978) after Ken Howard saw him in the movie Fire Sale (1977) on television. Howard, who is 6'6", wanted at least one cast member taller than himself for one the "players." When he saw Stewart in the movie, he immediately phoned Bruce Paltrow and told him to get Stewart for the show.
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