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 featured Goldberg: "Burglar" (1987), "Fatal Beauty" (1987) and "The Telephone" (1988). Though these were not as successful as her prior motion pictures, Goldberg still garnered awards from the NAACP Image Awards. Goldberg and Claessen divorced after the poor box office performance of "The Telephone", which Goldberg was under contract to star in. She tried unsuccessfully to sue the producers of the film. "Clara's Heart" did poorly at the box office, though her own performance was critically acclaimed. As the 1980s concluded, she participated in the numerous HBO specials of "Comic Relief" with fellow comedians Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. In