[5] His acting career spanned more than four decades, beginning in 1972 on the comedy television show Love, American Style.

He then went on to appear in a string of successful movies including Private Benjamin (1980) starring Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan, The Woman in Red (1984) starring Gene Wilder, Magnolia (1999), and The Last Kiss (2006) where he played the Uncle of Michael Weston's character Izzy.

In 1975, he starred in the most notable role[7] of his career: "Charlie the Bartender", on the hit television show The Jeffersons.

Wells played Charlie as a recurring role[8] throughout the entire 11 season run until the show was cancelled in 1985.

From there he went on to voice numerous characters for film, television and video games, including Descent 3 and Wizardry 8.

[9][10] In an interview with "Slam" magazine, Wells recalled the popularity of the show: "We went on the air, three o'clock in the afternoon, with no publicity or P.R.

As composer, Wells wrote the music for the 1979 CBS TV movie Never Say Never starring George Kennedy and Anne Schedeen.

[citation needed] Charlie the Bartender quickly became a recurring[13] role and towards the end of the series, he even had a few central episodes written specifically for him.