Stewart J. Zully

About 

To Start…

Actor

Director

Meet Stewart J. Zully

For resume, pictures and demo reels, click: IMDB.

Stewart's acting resume (over 100 film, television and theatre credits) includes the films Wolf (w/ Jack Nicholson), For The Boys (w/ Bette Midler), Bonfire of the Vanities (w/ Morgan Freeman) and Malcolm X (w/ Denzel Washington).  Recent credits include the Oscar nominated Vice (w/ Christian Bale) as Mark in the post credits focus group scene, Speed Kills (w/ John Travolta), Fighting For Freedom (w/ Bruce Dern), New in Town (w/ Renee Zelwegger), The Year of Getting to Know Us (w/ Sharon Stone) and Push (w/ Chazz Palminteri). 

On television Stewart had a recurring role on The Sopranos and has appeared in over 20 episodes of Blue Bloods, The Rookie: Feds, Hostages, Unforgettable, Magic City, Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order CI, Burn Notice, Becker, Columbo and many others.

Theatre credits include leading roles Off-Broadway (Tabletop, by Rob Ackerman, at The American Place Theater), Los Angeles and Toronto.  In 2022 he played Scott Rudin in the award winning The Play You Want, by Bernardo Cubria, at The Road Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2004, his commercial for Citibank's Identity Theft campaign won an Emmy as Best Commercial of The Year.  (“The commercial is not about identity theft. It is about the guy on the Barcalounger. Advertising’s great comic characters-Wendy’s Clara Peller or Fedex’s John Mischitta-are some of the great grotesques of the century. And the guy in the Barcalounger is one of the great grotesques of advertising, a big belch of a comic character.” —New York Magazine). Other credits include a Microsoft spot with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld.

Stewart J Zully has been working for over thirty-five years as an actor, director, producer, writer and teacher.  He recently wrote, directed and produced the front lines, a short film shot on zoom that was inspired by the men and women fighting covid-19. It’s available on Youtube and has been in ten international film festivals, winning at The Austin International Art Festival in 2023. His follow-up film, Two Steps Back, examines how a cross section of citizens are coping with our present dilemma…while looking toward the future. Two Steps Back is also available on Youtube.

Stewart has directed theatre extensively in Los Angeles, New York, Florida and Canada, premiering pieces by David Lindsay-Abaire (Pulitzer Prize winner, 2007), Romulus Linney (Childe Byron, A Lesson Before Dying), Peter Tolan (Analyze This, The Larry Sanders Show), Rolin Jones (Weeds) and Marco Ramirez (Orange is The New Black, The Royale). In 2020 he directed Nowhere On The Border by Carlos Lacamara at The Road Theatre (nominated for three Ovation awards). In 2017 he directed White Guy On the Bus, by Bruce Graham, at The Road Theatre in Los Angeles and Martha by Ellen Melaver (a one-woman show about Martha Graham), all three of which were deemed Ovation recommended by LA's prestigious Ovation award members.  Recent credits include Two Sisters by Gail Louw and American Wee-Pie by Lisa Dillman.  In 2015 Stewart created t40too, a play reading program developing new work at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills, CA.

Past credits include Joan’s Show: An Evening with Joan Copeland, highlighting Ms. Copeland’s career as an original member of The Actor’s Studio and recollections of a life in show business (as well as being the sister of Arthur Miller).  Stewart also directed the east coast premiere of Kent R. Brown's In The Middle of Nowhere (recipient of the prestigious Julie Harris Award), in Deland, Florida and in 2008 he directed three new works at City Theatre’s Summer Shorts Series at The Arsht Center in Miami.  The festival is part of America’s Short Play Festival, in conjunction with The Actor’s Theater of Louisville.  Other credits include Abraham Tetenbaum's Heat of Re-Entry, which The LA Times called, "One of the best plays of the year."

Theatre

Productions

Director

Nowhere On The Border*
by Carlos Lacamara
The Road Theatre
N. Hollywood, CA

Martha*
by Ellen Melaver
Whitefire Theatre, Sherman Oaks, CA

LGBT Center, Hollywood, CA

White Guy on the Bus* 
by Bruce Graham
The Road Theatre
N. Hollywood, CA

Two Sisters* 
by Gail Louw
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

American Wee-Pie*
by Lisa Dillman
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

Joan's Show*
An Evening with Joan Copeland
Dicapo Opera Theater, NYC

Paul and Eddie*
Ken Brisbois
Turnip Festival
Winner, Best Play Award
American Globe Theater, NYC

In The Middle of Nowhere*
by Kent R. Brown
’08 Julie Harris Playwright Award Winner
Sands Theater, Deland, FL

Paul and Eddie*
by Ken Brisbois
The Mercury and The Magic*
Rolin Jones
The Big Brain on Bobby Martin*
by Marco Ramirez
City Theatre Summer Shorts, America’s Short Play Festival Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami, FL

Khalass (Enough)* 
by Thomas Coash
Sands Theater, Deland, FL

Famished* 
by Frank Basloe
The Australia Project
Kraine Theater, NYC

2*
by Romulus Linney
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

How We Talk in South Boston*
by David Lindsay-Abaire
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

Santa God*
by Tim Sims
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

A Shot In The Dark
by Harry Kurnitz
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

Stay Carl, Stay*
by Peter Tolan
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

Deuces*
by Steve Patterson
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

Life History of
The African Elephant*
by Clem Martini
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

A Piece of My Heart* 
by Matt Cooper
The Odyssey Theater, CA

Bad Brad*
by Brook Berry
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

Chateau Rene*
by Sam Ingraffia
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA
Double Image Theater, NYC
Published by Samuel French as Double Image Festival winner

Heat of Re-Entry*
by Abby Tetenbaum
Theatre 40, Beverly Hills, CA

God Bless America*
by Steve Felson
The American Theater of Actors
New York City, NY

Down The Drain*/Swordplay*
by Steve Felson
The Quaigh Theater Dramathon,
New York City, NY

* World, West Coast,
Eastern, Southeastern,
or New York Premieres

Readings

Director

Partial List

USC School of Dramatic Arts; Hapa Expressions: USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture

    What About the Children 
    by Velina Hasu Houston

USC MFA Program;
Pasadena Playhouse

   Papa Was A Rodeo
   by John E. Allis

_________________________

Pup | Pop Up Plays
The Skylight Theatre,
Hollywood, CA

Nowhere on the Border
 by Carlos Lacamara

t40too
Theatre 40, 
Beverly Hills, CA

   Two Sisters
   by Gail Louw
   Moral Imperative
   by Samuel Joseph
   A Spot of Bother
   by Velina Hasu Houston
   Pompeii
   by Christopher Franciosa

Lunchbox Theatre
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Workshop Production
by Peter Colley

The Road 
The Road Theatre, 
North Hollywood, CA

   The Timekeepers 
   by Dan Clancy
   A Quartet
   by Dan Clancy
   Starstruck
   by Lucille Lichtblau
   A Spot of Bother
   by Velina Hasu Houston
   Years of Sky 
   by Barbara Blatner
   Upon The Fragile Shore 
   by Caridad Svich
   Hum The Bee
   by Velina Hasu Houston
   Deathhouse
   by Jason Karasev  
   Stella  
   by Henry Ong
   The Border
   by Carlos Lacamara
   Straight Talk
   by Jerry Lambert
White Nights
by Jason Karasev
Setting The Table
by Velina Hasu Houston
Snowflake
by Velina Hasu Houston
Interview With a Cat
by Jim Geoghan

PlaywrightWorks
Columbia Greene Playwright Project, Hudson, NY

   American Wake
   by Bruce Robinson
   Years of Sky
   by Barbara Blatner
   In The Middle of Nowhere
   by Kent R. Brown
   The Way of Water
   by Caridad Svich

Producing credits include founding Theatre 40’s Annual One-Act Festival (Los Angeles) in 1990, where playwrights whose work premiered include Arthur Miller, Horton Foote, Robert Schenkhan, Craig Lucas and Jane Anderson.  Stewart produced the festival for six years, culminating with three plays published by Samuel French and two plays airing on PBS (starring Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Marian Seldes, Jean Stapleton and many others).

In 2017, Stewart co-produced The Road Theatre's Playwright Festival 8, the largest play festival for readings in the country.  Playwrights included Sharr White, Bruce Graham, Craig Pospisil, Julie Marie Myatt, Scooter Pietsch, Shem Bitterman and many others.

In 2012, Stewart inaugurated The Columbia Greene Playwright Project, presenting readings at Columbia Greene Community College in Hudson, NY.  Plays included Years of Sky by Barbara Blatner (which was commemorated in a 50th anniversary presentation at the JFK museum in Dallas, TX) and The Way of Water by Caridad Svitch
(Obie award winner-Lifetime Achievement).

Stewart co-wrote and co-produced the feature film Perfect Opposites, which stars Piper Perabo, Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Tilly, Martin Henderson and Artie Lange. The movie is based on the stage play A Piece of My Heart, by Matt Cooper, which Stewart directed at The Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles.  He also produced the zoom short films, the front lines and Two Steps Back.

Stewart co-wrote the feature film Perfect Opposites, with Matt Cooper, 
and Umpires, with Steve Felson, the story of two umpires and the play that changed their lives forever.  With Steve he co-wrote The Broadway Manor, a television pilot centering around a hotel in Times Square which spawned street performers and fledgling show business types.  In 2020 Stewart wrote and directed the front lines, inspired by doctors and nurses fighting Covid-19
and shot entirely on Zoom. In 2021, he subsequently wrote and directed the short film, Two Steps Back, examining the fortitude and spirit that persists
in everyday citizens.

His memoir, My Life in Yankee Stadium, 40 Years as a Vendor and Other Tales of Growing up Somewhat Sane in the Bronx, is available on Amazon and here on the book’s page.  Larry King has called it "Funny, heartwarming, and a great look at baseball from the perspective of the guy selling refreshments. You will love this book!”