Mel Stewart to 1978. In the 1980s, Stewart starred on "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" as section chief Billy Melrose during the show's four-year run from 1983 through 1987, and continued guest starring in both television and films. His last on screen appearance came in the 1993 film "Made in America", starring Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson. In addition to acting and directing, Stewart was an accomplished jazz saxophonist. A longtime resident of San Francisco, he also taught acting at San Francisco State University. His students included actor Danny Glover. He established the theater group Black Actors Now Through Unity (BANTU) and directed
Whoopi Goldberg Hagen at the HB Studio in New York City. She first appeared onscreen in "" (1982), an avant-garde ensemble feature by San Francisco filmmaker William Farley. Goldberg created "The Spook Show", a one-woman show composed of different character monologues in 1983. Director Mike Nichols offered to take the show to Broadway. The show was retitled "Whoopi Goldberg" for its Broadway incarnation, ran from October 24, 1984, to March 10, 1985, for a total of 156 performances; the play was taped during this run and broadcast by HBO as "Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway" in 1985. Goldberg's Broadway performance caught the