Christopher George Hewett (5 April 1922[1] – 3 August 2001) was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Aloysius Belvedere on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.
Career
Hewett was born in Worthing, Sussex[2] in 1922 to Christopher Fitzsimon Hewett (an army officer and a descendant of Daniel O'Connell), and his wife Eleanor Joyce Watts (an actress whose professional name was Rhoda Cleighton). He was educated at such Jesuit schools as Beaumont College and at Wimbledon College. At the age of seven, he made his acting debut in a Dublin stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. At the age of sixteen, Hewett joined the Royal Air Force, leaving in 1940. He joined the Oxford Repertory Company and made his West End theatre debut in 1943.[3][4]
He later appeared on Broadway in the musicals My Fair Lady, First Impressions, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Music Is and Kean and in the plays Sleuth and The Affair, 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.[5]
Hewett made his film debut in the crime drama Pool of London (1951), and later appeared in roles on Robert Montgomery Presents and DuPont Show of the Month. He appeared as the grandiose and camp theatre director Roger DeBris in Mel Brooks's comedy The Producers (1967). In 1976, Hewett played the generic bureaucrat Federov in the short-lived sitcom Ivan the Terrible. During the 1979-80 season he played Captain Hook to Sandy Duncan's Peter Pan on Broadway. 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.[6] After the series ended its run in 1990 Hewett appeared in a guest spot on an episode of the NBC teen sitcom California Dreams in 1994. His last on-screen role was a cameo appearance on the Fox series Ned and Stacey in 1997.[5]
Personal life and death
A devout Catholic and lifelong bachelor, Hewett served at St. Victor's Church in West Hollywood. During his later years, he suffered from arthritis and diabetes.[2]
Hewett died on 3 August 2001 in his Los Angeles home from complications of diabetes, aged 79.[7][8] His memorial service was held at St. Victor's Church in West Hollywood on 10 August 2001.[9]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Pool of London | Mike | |
| 1951 | The Lavender Hill Mob | Inspector Talbot | |
| 1954 | The Million Pound Note | Irate Investor | Uncredited Alternative title: Man with a Million |
| 1967 | The Producers | Roger De Bris | |
| 1986 | Ratboy | Acting Coach |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Major Sanders | Episode: "The Cage" |
| 1959 | DuPont Show of the Month | Policeman | Episode: "The Fallen Idol" |
| 1966 | The Jackie Gleason Show | Mumbling English Pedestrian | Episode: "The Honeymooners In England" |
| 1976 | Ivan the Terrible | Federov | 5 episodes |
| 1977 | On Our Own | Episode: "Julia's Big Bust" | |
| 1979 | ABC Afterschool Special | Butler | Episode: "Seven Wishes of a Rich Kid" |
| 1982 | The Elephant Man | Ross | Television film |
| 1982 | Hart to Hart | Jeremy Lane | Episode: "Vintage Harts" |
| 1982 | Massarati and the Brain | Anatole | Television film |
| 1983-1984 | Fantasy Island | Lawrence | Main role, 10 episodes |
| 1984 | E/R | Englishman | Episode: "Mr. Fix-It" |
| 1985-1990 | Mr. Belvedere | Mr. Lynn Aloysius Belvedere | Lead role, 117 episodes |
| 1987 | The New Mike Hammer | Hubert "The Umbrella" Wembley | Episode: "Green Blizzard" |
| 1987 | Murder, She Wrote | Humphrey Defoe | Episode: "It Runs in the Family" |
| 1989 | Mario Ice Capades | King Koopa | Special on ABC.[10][11] |
| 1990 | A Very Retail Christmas | Ghost of Christmas Past | Television film |
| 1993 | Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? | Himself | Episode: "The Glacier Erasure" |
| 1994 | California Dreams | Mr. Green | Episode: "Follow Your Dreams" |
| 1997 | Ned and Stacey | Himself | Episode: "Saved by the Belvedere", (final appearance) |
Award nomination
| Year | Award | Category | Title of work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | TV Land Award | Best Broadcast Butler | Mr. Belvedere |
References
- 1."Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
- 2.[2.2]Gaughan, Gavin (18 October 2001). "Christopher Hewett Obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- 3."Christopher Hewett". The Independent. London. 9 August 2001. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- 4."Notable Alumni". Old Wimbledonians Association. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- 5.[5.2]"Christopher Hewett Biography". filmreference.com. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- 6.Mohr, Jay (20 July 2005). Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. Hyperion. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-4013-0801-8.
- 7."Christopher Hewett; Stage Actor Best Known as TV's 'Mr. Belvedere'". Los Angeles Times. 5 August 2001. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- 8."Christopher Hewett, Captain Hook and 'Mr. Belvedere,' Dead at 80". Playbill. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- 9."Christopher Hewett". 6 August 2001.
- 10.Reeves, Ben (29 December 2011). "Fondly Remembering The Super Mario Bros. Ice Capades". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- 11.Orland, Kyle (14 September 2015). "30 years, 30 memorable facts about Super Mario Bros". Ars Technica. Retrieved 21 June 2017.