Burt Lancaster double dies

Wednesday, April 29, 1998 | 10:17 a.m.

Val Stewart, who was a stand-in double for Burt Lancaster early in that star's film career and later worked as a costumer in the Hollywood motion picture industry, has died in Las Vegas. He was 75.

Stewart, a regular visitor to Las Vegas since the late 1940s and a local resident since 1990, died April 21 of cancer at the Harbor House hospice, his family said.

Services were Monday at Palm Mortuary Summerlin. Interment will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, Calif., next to the graves of his parents and amid the many film stars with whom he rubbed elbows.

"Val's acting career never took off because he looked too much like Burt Lancaster," Stewart's cousin, Dotti Stewart, said. "However, Burt became a good friend who tried to help Val with his career."

A double stands in for a star when the actor is shooting another scene or is otherwise busy. A stand-in generally is shot from the back or in silhouette.

Stewart stood in for Lancaster in the late 1940s, when Lancaster made such films as "Brute Force," "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "Criss Cross."

Born Valentine Stewart on Feb. 14, 1923 -- Valentine's Day -- in Cincinnati, Ohio, Stewart graduated from Cincinnati's Withrow High School and enlisted in the Navy as World War II broke out. Stewart served as a ship's cook in the South Pacific.

After his discharge in 1946, Stewart, a tall, ruggedly handsome man, moved to Hollywood, enrolled in acting classes at the Ben Bard School of Drama and tried to make it in the movies and on the stage.

That same year, Lancaster, who was 10 years older than Stewart, had become an overnight star in his first film, the noir classic "The Killers," where he played a young prizefighter involved in a criminal scheme.

Lancaster would make more than 80 films until his death in 1996.

Stewart's career consisted mostly of small plays, movie stunt work -- waterskiing on one ski, horseback riding, golf, tennis and swimming -- and making training films for the Army Signal Corps. He also did television commercials and modeling assignments.

Stewart appeared in the May 1949 Ben Bard Players production of the play "Command Decision" in Los Angeles. Stewart, then going under the name Val Stuart, portrayed Maj. Belding Davis. He also was the stage manager and sound engineer for the play.

When acting jobs were lean in the 1950s, Stewart supported himself by working as a waiter in Los Angeles restaurants.

From the 1960s through the '80s, Stewart worked for Western Costume Co., of North Hollywood, which supplies costumes for the studios.

Stewart's family says they have been amazed at the number of show business mementos Val collected over the years.

"We found boxes with many photographs of stars with autographs made out to him," said Robert Stewart, a second cousin who is in the Navy. "They included Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis and many others."

Davis, an Academy Award-winning actress not noted for her singing skills, gave Stewart an autographed Mercury Records release of her 45 rpm of "Single"/"Oh What it Seemed to Be."

Robert's wife, Kimi Stewart, said Val also owned many books on Hollywood and other materials which showed he kept up with what was happening there.

For four decades, Stewart was a regular visitor to Las Vegas, which his family said could be described as his second home. They said he frequently came here with show business friends.

In 1990, Stewart retired to Las Vegas and spent recent years growing roses in his garden and listening to his vast collection of big band recordings by day and enjoying the neon city's more exciting attractions at night.

"He celebrated New Year's Eve at the Rio (hotel-casino), but the next day felt that something was wrong with him and went to the doctor," Dotti Stewart's daughter Tracy Wassman said.

"That week he was diagnosed with cancer in his kidneys and it just spread quickly."

Stewart was a member of the Las Vegas Men's Club, Costumers Guild and the Screen Actor's Guild.

He also is survived by an aunt, Virginia Stewart, of Las Vegas.