James Stewart (actor)

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Image:Jimmy Stewart.jpg James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American film actor beloved for his persona as an average guy who faces adversity and tries to do the right thing, an image which was largely reflected in his own personality.

1 Life
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

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Life

Stewart was born near Pittsburgh in Indiana, Pennsylvania to devoutly Presbyterian parents, Alexander M. Stewart and Elizabeth Ruth Jackson. He was studying architecture at Princeton University when fellow classmate Joshua Logan convinced him to join the newly-formed University Players in Massachusetts, where he first met Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan, among others. Stewart was already a Broadway veteran when Hollywood beckoned. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1940 for his role in The Philadelphia Story, in which he co-starred with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. He was awarded the American Film Institute's lifetime achievement award in 1980, as well as an Honorary Academy Award for 50 years of memorable performances in 1985.

Stewart spoke in a hemming-and-hawing style which was sometimes hard on sound men but came through as sincerity to his audience. His career was therefore built around playing a clean-cut person with good values (although he did play the occasional baddie). His hesitating style gave his characters a natural feel not seen in many movies of his time. His early career is perhaps most notable for the films he made with director Frank Capra, including You Can't Take It With You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). His role in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is widely marked as a turning point in his career. He played a young, naive senator who dedicates himself to the lost causes. Like most great things, his performance in this film was not widely recognized until many years later. This led directly into his portrayal of George Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), his first film after returning from the war, which truly defined his career.

Already a pilot, Stewart signed up for the U.S. Army Air Force a year before Pearl Harbor was attacked. Initially rejected for being too skinny, he gained weight and successfully reapplied. His first posting was at Moffett Field, California. American celebrities who served in World War II were generally kept out of harm's way and used for publicity purposes; Stewart objected to this special treatment, requesting the same combat duty as other pilots. By the end of the war, he had flown 20 missions over Europe with the Eighth Air Force, piloting a B-24 Liberator. Among his decorations were the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Croix de Guerre and 7 battle stars. Stewart was reluctant, though, to speak about the missions he flew, possibly due to his dislike of violence.

Image:Jimmy Stewart getting medal.jpg

After WWII, he remained in the United States Air Force Reserves, achieving the rank of Brigadier General on July 23, 1959. His final mission was a bombing run over North Vietnam in a B-52 during the Vietnam War that he specifically requested as a close for his military career. He retired from the Air Force on May 31, 1968.

As an aviator, he was an appropriate choice to play Charles Lindbergh, in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), and appeared in other aviation films such as Strategic Air Command (1955) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965). He was one of several former airmen interviewed about his World War II career in an episode of The World at War (1974).

A ladies' man, Stewart finally settled down at age 41, marrying former model Gloria Hatrick McLean on August 9, 1949, and was devoted to her until her death. He adopted her two sons; one of them, Ronald, died on June 8, 1969 in Vietnam. On May 7, 1951, their twin daughters Judy and Kelly were born.

Image:Stewartmrsmith.jpg Later in his career, Stewart tried for a slight change of image; although still the hero, he began to play more challenging parts with a harder edge. He starred in four highly regarded Alfred Hitchcock films: Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958). He also starred in many classic westerns, and in Harvey (1950), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and the title role in The Glenn Miller Story (1953). It is possible that some of this change of image came from the fact that a critic stated that the role of Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey (1950) was too easy a role for him, so he began taking roles some would think unusual for him.

Despite a reputation as a political conservative, Stewart remained a close friend of Henry Fonda, a staunch Democrat.

In his later years Stewart became a familiar figure on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, reading poems he had written. For his contribution to the entertainment industry, Jimmy Stewart has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street. In 1972, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In 1980 Stewart starred in a lesser-knows film entitled Mr. Krueger's Christmas directed by Academy Award winning director Keith Merrill. As part of the script, Stewarts character (Mr. Krueger) imagines himself directing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He later said that directing the choir was the fulfillment of a life-long dream.

A museum dedicated to his life, The Jimmy Stewart Museum, is located in his hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania. There is also a statue of Indiana's favorite son on the lawn in front of the Indiana County Courthouse which was dedicated May 20, 1983 in celebration of Stewart's 75th birthday.

Stewart died on July 2, 1997 from a pulmonary embolism following respiratory problems at the age of 89. His The Big Sleep co-star Robert Mitchum had died the day before. He is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

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