Background:

American actor French Stewart is most famous for playing the sappy alien Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom “3rd Rock from the Sun” (1996-2001), from which he shared three Screen Actors Guild. Commenting about his character on the show, he stated, “The thing that I really enjoyed about it was that there's not a lot of growth to be had. Basically, you're a dumbass--and that's it. And I was always arguing to keep him stupid, as opposed to having him learn too much, because I just felt it worked better for the show. And it seemed more endearing if he was without a clue.” He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for playing Icarus on the animated television series “Hercules” (1998-1999). Stewart has acted in a number of films, including “Stargate” (1994), “Glory Daze” (1995), “Love Stinks” (1999), “Naked Movie” (2002), “Inspector Gadget 2” (2003), “If I Had Known I Was a Genius” (2007), “Surveillance” (2008), “Give 'em Hell Malone” (2009), “Rain from Stars” (2010), “Convincing Clooney” (2011) and “Girls! Girls! Girls!” (2011).      

Mr. Stewart currently lives in West Hollywood, California. He has a substantial collection of silent movies. Stewart has been married twice. His first marriage to actress Katherine LaNasa lasted for  11 years (1998-2009). He is now married to Vanessa Claire Stewart.     


AADA Alum

Childhood and Family:

Milton French Stewart, who would later be popular as French Stewart, was born on February 20, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He lived with his mother, a homemaker, and stepfather, who worked as a microfilm technician. French was educated at Del Norte High School and spent two semesters during 1982-1983 at West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, Texas. He received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California, in 1985.  

On May 19, 1998, French married actress Katherine LaNasa (born December 1, 1966), whom he met while Katherine made a guest appearance on a 1996 episode of “3rd Rock from the Sun.” The couple owned and ran several zoos in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area until they divorced in December 2009. French married actress Vanessa Claire Smith (aka.Vanessa Perkins) on June 11, 2011.


Love Stinks

Career:

After completing his studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, French Stewart toured in regional theater for many years, and then played Yogi Bear in Hanna-Barbera's “Shakey Quakey Tour” to earn his Screen Actors Guild card. He, however, was fired after removing the head of his costume in front of children. Stewart entered television with the role of Razor Dee, an unconventional DJ  in the final season of the syndicated comedy series “The New WKRP in Cincinnati” between 1992 and 1993.

Stewart made his film debut when he was cast Lieutenant Ferretti on “Stargate” (1994), a commercially successful science fiction movie directed by Roland Emmerich. The cast also included Kurt Russell as Colonel Jack O'Neil, James Spader as Dr. Daniel Jackson, Jaye Davidson Ra and Viveca Lindfors as Dr. Catherine Langford. He got his first starring role in the following year in “The Poison Tasters,” a drama film directed by Ulrik Theer and written by Tom V. Bierce, who also starred in the film as Georg. 1995 also saw the actor appear in the Mike Figgis directed drama “Leaving Las Vegas,” starring Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue and Julian Sands, the Rich Wilkes comedy “Glory Daze,” where he portrayed one of the five friends, Dennis, opposite Ben Affleck as Jack, Sam Rockwell as Rob, Vinnie DeRamus as Mickey and Vien Hong as Slosh, as well as the direct to video “Magic Island,” helmed by Sam Irvin and starring Zachery Ty Bryan, Andrew Divoff and Edward Kerr. During 1994-1995, Stewart also appeared in episodes of television series “Seinfeld,”  “The Larry Sanders Show,” “The Boys Are Back” (2 episodes, as Donny) and “ Space: Above and Beyond.”

Stewart's big breakthrough arrived when he won the main role of Harry Solomon, one of the aliens in human form in the television sitcom “3rd Rock from the Sun,” opposite John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jane Curtin, Simbi Khali and Elmarie Wendel. Created by Bonnie  and Terry Turner, the show premiered on NBC on January 9, 1996 and ended on May 22, 2001 after six seasons. For his work, Stewart jointly netted Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

During the acme and popularity of “3rd Rock from the Sun,” Stewart appeared in a number of commercials and as a spokesperson for the beverage Clamato. He also assumed other side projects, such as small roles in the John Woo action/thriller movie “Broken Arrow” (1996), Andrew Fleming's comedy “Dick” (1999), a supporting role in the action/comedy film “McHale's Navy” (1997, as  Happy) and a leading role in  the comedy “Love Stinks” (1999), which was written and directed by Jeff Franklin. He also appeared in episodes of the television series “MADtv” (1996), “Caroline in the City” (1997), “NewsRadio” (1997), “Just Shoot Me!” (1998), “Charmed” (2000) as well as in such TV movies as “Cinderelmo” (1999), “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival” (2000) and “Blind Men” (2001).  Stewart provided the voice of Hercules' best friend, Icarus, in the Disney animated series “Hercules” (1998-1999), a role that brought him a 2000 Daytime Emmy nomination in the category of  Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. In addition, his voice could be heard as Bob Allman on the controversial and short lived NBC animated series “God, the Devil and Bob” (2000-2001).

After “3rd Rock from the Sun” came to an end, Stewart made guest appearances in television comedy shows like “That '70s Show” (2001), “Ally McBeal” (2002), “Becker” (2002), “The Drew Carey Show” (2004), “All About the Andersons” (2004) and “Pepper Dennis” (2006) as well as in the drama series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2004). He played the recurring role of Gene Schmidtline in the ABC comedy series “Less Than Perfect” between 2003 and 2005. Stewart starred with Jane Leeves in “Misconceptions,” a television sitcom for The WB network for the 2005-2006 season. Six episodes had been produced but the show was not included on The CW's schedule. The actor appeared in comedy films such as  Sam Henry Kass' “Naked Movie” (2002), “Home Alone 4” (2002, TV), where he played the role of Marv Merchants, “Phil at the Gate” (2003, TV), “The Nick at Nite Holiday Special “ (2003, TV), “Wedding Daze” (2004, TV), “The New Partridge Family” (2005, TV; as Reuben Kincaid) and the short “My Name Is...” (2005). Besides, he co-starred in the science fiction movie “Clockstoppers” (2002), with Jesse Bradford and Paula Garcés, had the title role in the direct to video “Inspector Gadget 2” (2003), from which he was nominated for a 2003 DVDX Award for Best Actor in a DVD Premiere Movie, portrayed Jeffery in “Duck” (2005), a film by Nic Bettauer,  

In 2007, Stewart had a recurring role as Gary Evans in the TNT crime/drama series “The Closer” and appeared in an episode of the Fox hit “Bones” called “The Girl in the Gator,” as Isaac Horn. The same year, he also appeared in three TV films: “Two Dreadful Children,” “Subs” and “Pandemic,” as well as in two feature films: “If I Had Known I Was a Genius” and “ The Flock,” where he played Public School Principal and Haynes Ownby, respectively. During 2008-2009, he appeared in episodes of “Phineas and Ferb”  (as the voice of Gaston), “Cavemen” (as Mr. Busby), “Pushing Daisies” (as Woolsey Nicholls) and “Imagination Movers” and in the TV film “ Happy Campers.” His film roles during this period were as Officer Jim Conrad in the independent thriller “Surveillance” (2008), directed by Jennifer Lynch, as Blackie in the comedy “Dog Gone” (2008), opposite Luke Benward, Brittany Curran and Kevin Farley, as Frankie the Crooner in the Russell Mulcahy directed action/crime “Give 'em Hell Malone” (2009), with Thomas Jane, Ving Rhames and Elsa Pataky, and as Godfrey in “Opposite Day” (2009),a  comedy starring Billy Unger, Ariel Winter and Pauly Shore.

In 2010, Stewart played the title role in the short lived television comedy series “The Horrible Terrible Misadventures of David Atkins.” The same year, he also made guest appearances in a number of television shows such as “Castle” (as Zach Robinson), “ Zeke and Luther” (as Garm Garoosh), “True Jackson, VP” (as Donald the Delightful), “ Private Practice” (as kevin), “Days of Our Lives” (2 episodes, as Keith), “Everyone Counts” (2 episodes, as Charles) and “The Penguins of Madagascar” (voiced of Cecil). He starred as Virgil in the Stephen Wallis thriller movie “Rain from Stars,” opposite Brian Krause and Claudia Black.        

Stewart provided the voice of the character Richard De Longpre on the animated TV series “Allen Gregory,” co-created by star Jonah Hill. The show ran of Fox for a season from October 30, 2011 until December 18, 2011. He also guest starred in episodes of “ SGU Stargate Universe” (as Dr. Andrew Covel) and “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” (as Stahl). Stewart had a supporting role in the comedy film “Convincing Clooney” (2011), which was directed by Alexander Cartio and written by Sulo Williams, who also starred in the film, worked with Annemette Andersen, Mary Chieffo and Cynthia Ettinger in the action/comedy film “Girls! Girls! Girls!” (2011), and appeared as Beverly Hills Dog Show Commentator in the direct to video “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2.” He also portrayed Mr. Price in the direct to video “The Assignment” (2011), directed and written by Timothy J. Nelson.

Meanwhile, on stage, Stewart played the dual role of Sigmund Freud and Queen Victoria in “Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes” at the Sacred Fools Theater Company, where he is a member. He also produced the show. Stewart will be serving as co-Artistic Director for their 2012-2013 season.     

Stewart will co-star in the upcoming action/drama film “Strike One” (2012), helmed by David Llauger-Meiselman. He is also set to appear at Sacred Fools as Buster Keaton in the world premiere of the original play “Stoneface: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton” in May to June 2012. The play was written by his wife, Vanessa Claire Smith.   


Awards:

--- Show Less