Stuart was born in Deal, New Jersey as Maxine Shlivek, and raised in Manhattan and Lawrence, Nassau County, New York.

[3] Her Broadway credits include At War With the Army (1949), A Goose for the Gander (1945), Nine Girls (1943), Ring Two (1939), Sunup to Sundown (1938), and Western Waters (1937).

Clawson in Slattery's People,[5]: 980  Amanda Earp in The Rousters,[5]: 912  Ruth Burton in Room for One More,[5]: 908-909  Steve's grandmother in The Pursuit of Happiness,[5]: 865  Maureen in Norby,[5]: 771  Mrs. Jackson in Margie,[5]: 655  and Lenore in Hail to the Chief.

Maxine Stuart died June 6, 2013, at her Beverly Hills, California home of natural causes at the age of 94.

[8] For her role in The Wonder Years in 1989, Stuart was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.