Emmanuel Lewis (born March 9, 1971) is a retired American actor, best known for playing the title character in the sitcomWebster. He was one of American television's biggest stars in the mid-1980s.[1][2]
Early career
Lewis was born in Brooklyn to mother Margaret Lewis. He began his acting career at age 9 working in commercials, including for Campbell's Soup, Life cereal, and Burger King.[3] Lewis was unusually short, reaching only 4'3" in adulthood, which enabled him to play child roles younger than his actual age.[3]
ABC programming chief Lew Erlicht saw Lewis in a Burger King commercial and ordered a show developed for him.[4] At the time, rival network NBC was having ratings success with Diff'rent Strokes, a sitcom that featured a short African American boy living with white adoptive parents. Rather than create a new show, ABC added Lewis to a program already in development named Another Ballgame, starring Alex Karras and Susan Clark, and recentered it around Lewis' character, Webster Long, a five-year-old child orphaned when his parents died in a car accident. Another Ballgame was retitled Then Came You and, before its premiere, Webster.[5]
For his role, Lewis was nominated for four Young Artist Awards.[6] In 1984, he was nominated for Best Young Actor in a Comedy Series for Webster and lost to Rick Schroder of Silver Spoons. In 1985, he was nominated for the same award, but it went to Billy Jayne of It's Not Easy. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series, but was bested by Marc Price who won for his performance in Family Ties. In 1987, he was nominated for Exceptional Performance by a Young Actor Starring in a Television Comedy or Drama Series, which Kirk Cameron of Growing Pains won. Lewis won three People's Choice Awards and two Clio Award.[7]
Webster was a success for ABC, finishing in the Nielsen Top 30 for its first three seasons before dropping off in its fourth. ABC canceled the show in 1987, but it continued in first-run syndication for two more seasons, making six in total. Lewis was 12 years old at the series' start, despite playing a five-year-old, and was 18 when the series ended.
Later career
In Japan, he is known as a singer and has released two singles; his debut single, "City Connection," reached Number 2 on the Oricon chart.
On November 9, 2014, Lewis appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast. The episode was recorded live at the Somerville Theatre in Massachusetts as part of the 2014 Boston Comedy Festival. He appears in Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz's "I Don't Give A F" video, at the 30-second mark.[9]
Personal life
Lewis graduated from Clark Atlanta University in 1997 with a degree in theater arts and now lives in the Atlanta area.[1] He is president of the Radio, Music & Film Alliance of Georgia and chairman of the board of the Thomas W. Dortch Jr. Foundation.[1][10]
