As Stewart reveals in "The Rainbow Man/John 3:16," a 1997 documentary by filmmaker Sam Green, his views were not always so extreme, nor his actions threatening. When Stewart, a former marijuana farmer, initially conceived the Rainbow Man in the late 1970s, it was to draw attention to himself.
In Stewart's autobiography, Green's film reveals, the author writes, "Instead of going to Hollywood and waiting in casting lines for years, I would be world famous overnight . . . and have complete control over my life."
He carried a battery-powered TV to see where the cameras were pointed, sneaked into the best seats and positioned himself for maximum exposure.
Stewart, however, tells a prison visitor that he is a "very quiet, shy person," adding matter-of-factly, "The Rainbow Man was not me; he was a character."
In order to play him, he says, he needed to be stoned.
"Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," he says. "That was my thing."
In time, though, Stewart says he wearied of "chasing the Hollywood high," though he continued smoking pot. Nor did his unusual fame endear him to Hollywood. A beer commercial was about all he had to show for his efforts at self-promotion. In January 1980, after attending Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl, Stewart says he was mesmerized by a TV evangelist and found Jesus.
Making his way through an estimated 80 rainbow wigs -- "They got dirty, and I told people it was my real hair," he says -- Stewart continued crisscrossing the country into the late '80s, this time showing up at sporting and other news events wearing T-shirts and carrying sheets touting Bible passages, most frequently John 3:16. "Sports was only a vehicle," he says, "because to a lot of people, that's their God."
Nine times out of 10, Stewart says, he wrangled free tickets. But as Stewart's act grew stale and less fun-loving, TV tried to limit his exposure.
As veteran announcer Brent Musberger told ESPN several years ago, "I know directors who threatened to kill the guy in their anger in the truck because he would get in behind very dramatic shots and the eye, as you watched the screen, would be attracted immediately to this wacko."
The late '80s brought the end of the Rainbow Man. Stewart's car was totaled, his money ran out and his wife left him, saying he choked her because she held up a sign in the wrong location. "No one can meet my standards," says Stewart, who has been married four times, "but I don't recall ever hitting her."
Homeless and living in L.A.'s Skid Row, he hatched another, more sinister character. Targeting churches, religious broadcasters and newspaper offices, he set off a string of stink bombs to warn of the world's impending doom.
That led, finally, to his standoff with the LAPD.
In prison, Stewart says, "They say I'm a threat to society."
--
jerome.crowe@latimes.com
