James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive
drawl
A drawl is a perceived feature of some varieties of spoken English and generally indicates slower, longer vowel sounds and diphthongs. The drawl is often perceived as a method of speaking more slowly and may be erroneously attributed to laziness ...
and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality he portrayed both on and off the screen, he epitomized the "American ideal" in the mid-twentieth century. In 1999, the
American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of the
greatest American male actors.
Born and raised in
Indiana, Pennsylvania
Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The population was 13,564 at the 2020 census, and since 2013 has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. After being a long time par ...
, Stewart started acting while at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. After graduating in 1932, he began a career as a stage actor, appearing on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
and in
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...
productions. In 1935, he landed his first supporting role in a movie and in 1938 he had his breakthrough in
Frank Capra's ensemble comedy ''
You Can't Take It with You''. The following year, Stewart garnered his first of five
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations for his portrayal of an idealized and virtuous man who becomes a senator in Capra's ''
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939). He won the
Academy Award for Best Actor, the only competitive Oscar of his career, for his work in the comedy ''
The Philadelphia Story'' (1940), which also starred
Katharine Hepburn and
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
.
Stewart's first postwar role was as
George Bailey in Capra's ''
It's a Wonderful Life
''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...
'' (1946). Although the film was not a major success upon release, he earned an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
nomination and the film has become a Christmas classic, as well as one of his most well known roles. In the 1950s, Stewart played darker, more morally ambiguous characters in movies directed by
Anthony Mann, including ''
Winchester '73
''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a pr ...
'' (1950), ''
The Glenn Miller Story
''The Glenn Miller Story'' is a 1954 American biographical film about the eponymous American band-leader, directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second non-western collaboration.
Plot
The film follows big band leader Glenn ...
'' (1954) and ''
The Naked Spur'' (1953), and by
Alfred Hitchcock in ''
Rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...
'' (1948), ''
Rear Window
''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
'' (1954), ''
The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), and ''
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
'' (1958). His other films in the 1950s included the Broadway adaptation ''
Harvey
Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit
* Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
'' (1950) and the courtroom drama ''
Anatomy of a Murder
''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American courtroom drama and crime film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Vo ...
'' (1959), both of which landed him Oscar nominations. For the latter he won the
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
The Volpi Cup for Best Actor ( it, Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile) is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film ...
from the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
. He was one of the most popular film stars of the '50s, with most of his films becoming box office successes. Stewart's later Westerns included ''
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' () is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by ...
'' (1962) with
John Wayne and ''
Cheyenne Autumn'' (1964), both directed by
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
. He appeared in many popular family comedies during the 1960s. After brief ventures into television acting, Stewart semi-retired by the 1980s. He received many honorary awards, including an
Academy Honorary Award and the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
, both in 1985.
Stewart remained unmarried until his 40s and was dubbed "The Great American Bachelor" by the press. In 1949, he married former model
Gloria Hatrick McLean
Gloria Hatrick McLean (March 10, 1918 – February 16, 1994) was an American actress and model.
Early life
Gloria was born on March 10, 1918, to Edgar B. Hatrick of Larchmont, New York. Her family spent the summers at The Broadmoor hotel and res ...
. They had twin daughters, and he adopted her two sons from her previous marriage. The marriage lasted until McLean's death in 1994; Stewart died of a
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
three years later.
Early life
![Stewart Logan Dana Triangle Club 1930](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Stewart_Logan_Dana_Triangle_Club_1930.jpg)
James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20, 1908, in
Indiana, Pennsylvania
Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The population was 13,564 at the 2020 census, and since 2013 has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. After being a long time par ...
, the eldest child and only son born to Elizabeth Ruth (''née'' Jackson; 1875–1953) and Alexander Maitland Stewart (1872–1962). Stewart had two younger sisters, Mary (1912–1977) and Virginia (1914–1972). He was of Scottish and
Scotch-Irish ancestry.
[; ] The Stewart family had lived in Pennsylvania for many generations.
Stewart's father ran the family business, the J.M. Stewart and Company Hardware Store, which he hoped Stewart would take over as an adult after attending
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, as was the family tradition. Raised a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
by his deeply religious father, Stewart was a devout churchgoer for much of his life.
[; ; ; ]
Stewart's mother was a pianist, and music was an important part of family life. When a customer at the store was unable to pay his bill, Stewart's father accepted an old accordion as payment. Stewart learned to play the instrument with the help of a local barber. His accordion became a fixture offstage during his acting career. A shy child, Stewart spent much of his time after school in the basement working on model airplanes, mechanical drawings and chemistry—all with a dream of going into aviation. He attended the Wilson Model School for primary school and junior high school. He was not a gifted student and received average to low grades. According to his teachers, this was not from a lack of intelligence, but due to being creative and having a tendency to daydream.
Stewart began attending
Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...
prep school in fall 1923, because his father did not believe he would be accepted into Princeton (his father was a member of the Class of 1898) if he attended public high school. At Mercersburg, Stewart participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. He was a member of the track team (competing as a high jumper under coach
Jimmy Curran), the art editor of the school yearbook, a member of the
glee club
A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...
, and a member of the John Marshall Literary Society. To his disappointment, he was relegated to the third-tier football team due to his slender physique. Stewart also made his first onstage appearance at Mercersburg, as Buquet in the play ''The Wolves'' in 1928. During summer breaks, he returned to Indiana, working first as a brick loader and then as a magician's assistant. Due to
scarlet fever that turned into a kidney infection, he had to take time out from school in 1927, which delayed his graduation until 1928. He remained passionate about aviation, with his interest enhanced by
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
's first solo transatlantic flight, but abandoned visions of becoming a pilot when his father steered him towards Princeton.
Stewart enrolled at Princeton in 1928 as a member of the class of 1932, majoring in architecture and becoming a member of the
Princeton Charter Club
The Princeton Charter Club is one of Princeton University's eleven active undergraduate eating clubs located on or near Prospect Avenue in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.
Club history
The Princeton Charter Club was organized in the fall of ...
. He excelled academically, but also became attracted to the school's drama and music clubs, including the
Princeton Triangle Club. Upon his graduation in 1932, he was awarded a scholarship for graduate studies in architecture for his thesis on an airport terminal design, but chose instead to join
University Players The University Players was primarily a summer stock theater company located in West Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from 1928 to 1932.
It was formed in 1928 by eighteen college undergraduates. Notable among them were Eleanor Phelps of Vassa ...
, an intercollegiate summer stock company performing in
West Falmouth, Massachusetts
West Falmouth is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,738 at the 2010 census.
West Falmouth Village Historic District is at the heart of West Falmouth ...
, on
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
.
Career
1932–1937: Theater and early film roles
![Yellow Jack Play 1934](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Yellow_Jack_Play_1934.jpg)
Stewart performed in bit parts in the University Players' productions in Cape Cod during the summer of 1932. The company's directors included
Joshua Logan,
Bretaigne Windust
Ernest Bretaigne Windust (January 20, 1906 – March 19, 1960) was a United States-based French-born theater, film, and television director.
Early life
He was born in Paris, the son of English violin virtuoso Ernest Joseph Windust and singer ...
and Charles Leatherbee, and amongst its other actors were married couple
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
and
Margaret Sullavan, who became Stewart's close friends. At the end of the season, Stewart moved to New York with his Players friends Logan,
Myron McCormick
Myron McCormick (February 8, 1908 – July 30, 1962) was an American actor of stage, radio and film.
Early life and education
Born in Albany, Indiana, in 1908, Walter Myron McCormick was the middle child of Walter P. and Bessie M. McCormick ...
, and newly single Henry Fonda. Along with McCormick, Stewart debuted on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in the brief run of ''
Carry Nation'' and a few weeks later – again with McCormick – appeared as a chauffeur in the comedy ''Goodbye Again'', in which he had a walk-on line. ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' commented, "Mr. James Stewart's chauffeur... comes on for three minutes and walks off to a round of spontaneous applause." Following the seven-month run of ''Goodbye Again'', Stewart took a stage manager position in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, but was fired after frequently missing his cues. Returning to New York, he then landed a small part in ''Spring in Autumn'' and a role in ''All Good Americans'', where he was required to throw a banjo out of the window.
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for '' The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of hi ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote, "Throwing a $250 banjo out of the window at the concierge is constructive abuse and should be virtuously applauded." Both plays folded after only short runs, and Stewart began to think about going back to his studies.
Stewart was convinced to continue acting when he was cast in the lead role of ''
Yellow Jack
The yellow jack (''Carangoides bartholomaei''), also known as coolihoo, is a species of marine fish in the jack family, Carangidae. It is one of only two representatives of its genus present in the Atlantic Ocean, inhabiting waters off the east ...
'', playing a soldier who becomes the subject of a
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
experiment. It premiered at the
Martin Beck Theater
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish and ...
in March 1934. Stewart received unanimous praise from the critics, but the play proved unpopular with audiences and folded by June. During the summer, Stewart made his film debut with an unbilled appearance in the
Shemp Howard
Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Litvak accent.
He is best known as the ...
comedy
short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
''
Art Trouble
''Art Trouble'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy short directed by Ralph Staub and starring Harry Gribbon and Shemp Howard. The film is notable for featuring an uncredited James Stewart in his first screen role.
Gribbon was one of several c ...
'' (1934), filmed in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and acted in
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...
productions of ''We Die Exquisitely'' and ''All Paris Knows'' at the Red Barn Theater on
Long Island. In the fall, he again received excellent reviews for his role in ''Divided by Three'' at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...
, which he followed with the modestly successful ''Page Miss Glory'' and the critical failure ''A Journey By Night'' in spring 1935.
![James Stewart in After the Thin Man trailer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/James_Stewart_in_After_the_Thin_Man_trailer.jpg)
Soon after ''A Journey By Night'' ended, Stewart signed a seven-year contract with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
(MGM), orchestrated by talent scout Bill Grady, who had been tracking Stewart's career since seeing him perform in Princeton. His first Hollywood role was a minor appearance in the
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
vehicle ''
The Murder Man
''The Murder Man'' is a 1935 American crime-drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Virginia Bruce, and Lionel Atwill, and directed by Tim Whelan. The picture was Tracy's first film in what would be a twenty-year career with MGM. Tracy plays an inves ...
'' (1935). His performance was largely ignored by critics, although the ''
New York Herald Tribune'', remembering him in ''Yellow Jack'', called him "wasted in a bit that he handles with characteristically engaging skill." As MGM did not see leading-man material in Stewart, described by biographer Michael D. Rinella as a "lanky young bumpkin with a hesitant manner of speech" during this time, his agent
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward (September 13, 1902 – March 18, 1971) was a Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. He produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's '' South Pacific'' and ''The Sound of Music''.
...
decided that the best path for him would be through loan-outs to other studios.
Stewart had only a small role in his second MGM film, the hit musical ''
Rose Marie
Rose Marie (born Rose Marie Mazzetta; August 15, 1923 – December 28, 2017) was an American actress, singer, comedian, and vaudeville performer with a career ultimately spanning nine decades, which included film, radio, records, theater, night ...
'' (1936), but it led to his casting in seven other films within one year, from ''
Next Time We Love
''Next Time We Love'' is a 1936 American melodrama film directed by Edward H. Griffith and starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Ray Milland. The adapted screenplay was by Melville Baker, with an uncredited Preston Sturges and Doris A ...
'' to ''
After the Thin Man
''After the Thin Man'' is a 1936 American murder mystery comedy film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart. A sequel to the 1934 feature ''The Thin Man'', the film presents Powell and Loy as Dashiel ...
''. He also received crucial help from his University Players friend
Margaret Sullavan, who campaigned for him to be her leading man in the
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
romantic comedy ''Next Time We Love'' (1936), filmed right after ''Rose Marie''. Sullavan rehearsed extensively with him, boosting his confidence and helping him incorporate his mannerisms and boyishness into his screen persona. ''Next Time We Love'' was a box-office success and received mostly positive reviews, leading Stewart to be noticed by critics and MGM executives. ''
TIME
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' stated that "the chief significance of
he film
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
nbsp;in the progress of the cinema industry is likely to reside in the presence in its cast of James Stewart" and ''The New York Times'' called him "a welcome addition to the roster of Hollywood's leading men."
![Robert Young, Tom Brown, James Stewart Navy Blue and Gold 1937](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Robert_Young%2C_Tom_Brown%2C_James_Stewart_Navy_Blue_and_Gold_1937.jpg)
Stewart followed ''Next Time We Love'' with supporting roles in two commercially successful romantic comedies, ''
Wife vs. Secretary'' (1936) with
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
and
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
and ''
Small Town Girl'' (1936). In both, he played the betrayed boyfriend of the leading lady, portrayed by
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...
and
Janet Gaynor, respectively. Both films garnered him some good reviews. After an appearance in the short subject ''Important News'' (1936), Stewart had his first top-billed role in the low-budget
"B" movie ''
Speed
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (ma ...
'' (1936), in which he played a mechanic and speed driver competing in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. The film was a critical and commercial failure, although
Frank Nugent
Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...
of ''The New York Times'' stated that "Mr. Stewart
nd the rest of the castperform as pleasantly as possible."
Stewart's last three film releases of 1936 were all box-office successes. He had only a bit part in ''
The Gorgeous Hussy
''The Gorgeous Hussy'' is a 1936 American period film directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. The screenplay was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery and Ainsworth Morgan, which was based on a 1934 novel by Samuel ...
'', but a starring role in the musical ''
Born to Dance'' with
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars du ...
. His performance in the latter was not well-received: ''The New York Times'' stated that his "singing and dancing will (fortunately) never win him a song-and-dance-man classification," and ''Variety'' called "his singing and dancing
..rather painful on their own," although it otherwise found Stewart aptly cast in an "assignment
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
calls for a shy youth." Stewart's last film to be released in 1936, ''
After the Thin Man
''After the Thin Man'' is a 1936 American murder mystery comedy film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart. A sequel to the 1934 feature ''The Thin Man'', the film presents Powell and Loy as Dashiel ...
'', features a shattering emotional climax rendered by Stewart. Kate Cameron of the ''
New York Daily News'' wrote that he "has one grand scene in which he demonstrates most effectively that he is something more than a musical comedy juvenile."
For his next film, the romantic drama ''
Seventh Heaven'' (1937), Stewart was loaned to
20th Century-Fox to play a Parisian sewer worker in a
remake of
Frank Borzage's
silent classic released a decade earlier. He and co-star
Simone Simon
Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 or 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931.
Early life
Born in Marseille, France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Clair Simon, a French J ...
were miscast, and the film was a critical and commercial failure. William Boehnel of the ''
New York World-Telegram
The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.
History
Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'' called Stewart's performance emotionless and Eileen Creelman of ''
The New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New Yor ...
'' wrote that he made little attempt to look or sound French. Stewart's next film, ''
The Last Gangster
''The Last Gangster'' (also called ''Another Public Enemy'') is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Edward G. Robinson and James Stewart. The supporting cast features Rose Stradner, Lionel Stander and John C ...
'' (1937) starring
Edward G. Robinson, was also a failure, but it was followed by a critically acclaimed performance in ''
Navy Blue and Gold
"Navy Blue and Gold" is the alma mater of the United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during ...
'' (1937) as a football player at the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
. The film was a box-office success and earned Stewart the best reviews of his career up to that point. ''The New York Times'' wrote "the ending leaves us with the conviction that James Stewart is a sincere and likable triple-threat man in the
GMbackfield" and ''Variety'' called his performance "fine."
1938–1941: Leading man
Despite good reviews, Stewart was still a minor star, and MGM remained hesitant to cast him in leading roles, preferring to loan him out to other studios. After a well-received supporting part in ''
Of Human Hearts
''Of Human Hearts'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Walter Huston, James Stewart and Beulah Bondi. Stewart plays a proud and ungrateful son who rebels against his preacher father and (after his father's de ...
'' (1938), he was loaned to
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
to act opposite
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
in the romantic comedy ''
Vivacious Lady
''Vivacious Lady'' is a 1938 American black-and-white romantic comedy film directed by George Stevens and starring Ginger Rogers and James Stewart. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The screenplay was written by P.J. Wolfson and Ernest Paga ...
'' (1938). The production was shut down for months in 1937 as Stewart recovered from an undisclosed illness, during which he was hospitalized. RKO initially wanted to replace Stewart, but eventually the project was canceled. However, Rogers's success in a stage musical caused the film to be picked up again. Stewart was recast in ''Vivacious Lady'' at Rogers's insistence and due to his performance in ''Of Human Hearts''. It was a critical and commercial success, and showed Stewart's talent for performing in romantic comedies; ''
The New York Herald
The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''.
His ...
'' called him "one of the most knowing and engaging young actors appearing on the screen at present."
Stewart's third film release of 1938, the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
drama ''
The Shopworn Angel
''The Shopworn Angel'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by H. C. Potter and starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and Walter Pidgeon. The MGM release featured the second screen pairing of Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart followi ...
'', saw him collaborate again with Margaret Sullavan. In his performance, Stewart drew upon his own feelings of unrequited love towards Sullavan, who was married to his agent,
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward (September 13, 1902 – March 18, 1971) was a Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. He produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's '' South Pacific'' and ''The Sound of Music''.
...
. Although the film was otherwise well-received, critics were mixed about Stewart. Bland Johaneson of the ''
New York Daily Mirror
The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and ''N ...
'' compared him to
Stan Laurel in this melodramatic film and ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called his performance unfocused. Irene Thier of ''The New York Post'' wrote that his role was "just another proof that this young man is one of the finest actors of the screen's young roster."
![You Can't Take It with You trailer 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/You_Can%27t_Take_It_with_You_trailer_1.jpg)
Stewart became a major star when he was loaned out to
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
to play the lead role in
Frank Capra's ''
You Can't Take It With You'' (1938) opposite
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.
Arthur had feature roles in three F ...
. Stewart played the son of a banker who falls in love with a woman from a poor and eccentric family. Capra had recently completed several well-received films and was looking for a new type of leading man. He had been impressed by Stewart's role in ''Navy Blue and Gold'' (1937). According to Capra, Stewart was one of the best actors ever to hit the screen, understood character archetypes intuitively and required little directing. ''You Can't Take It With You'' became
the fifth highest-grossing film of the year and won the
Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was also critically successful, but while ''Variety'' wrote that the performances of Stewart and Arthur garnered "much of the laughs," most of the critical acclaim went to
Lionel Barrymore and
Edward Arnold.
In contrast to the success of ''You Can't Take It With You'', Stewart's first three film releases of 1939 were all commercial disappointments. In the melodrama ''
Made for Each Other'' (1939), he shared the screen with
Carole Lombard. Stewart blamed its directing and screenwriting for its poor box-office performance. Regardless, the film received favorable reviews, with ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' writing that Stewart and Lombard were "perfectly cast in the leading roles." The other two films, ''
The Ice Follies of 1939
''The Ice Follies of 1939'' is a 1939 American musical film, musical drama (film and television), drama film directed by Reinhold Schünzel, and starring Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Lew Ayres and Lewis Stone.
Using a show business backdrop, and ...
'' and ''
It's a Wonderful World'', were critical failures.
![James Stewart in Mr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/James_Stewart_in_Mr._Smith_Goes_to_Washington_%281939%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In Stewart's fourth 1939 film, he worked with Capra and Arthur again in the political comedy-drama ''
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington''. Stewart played an idealist thrown into the political arena. It garnered critical praise and became the third-highest-grossing film of the year.
''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' stated "
tewarttakes first place among Hollywood actors...Now he is mature and gives a difficult part, with many nuances, moments of tragic-comic impact." Later, critic
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism.
Early life
Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
qualified Stewart's performance as "lean, gangling, idealistic to the point of being neurotic, thoughtful to the point of being tongue-tied," describing him as "particularly gifted in expressing the emotional ambivalence of the action hero." Stewart won the
New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magaz ...
award and received his first nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Actor.
Stewart's last screen appearance of 1939 came in the
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
''
Destry Rides Again
''Destry Rides Again'' is a 1939 American Western comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey ...
'', in which he portrayed a pacifist lawman and
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
a saloon girl who falls in love with him. It was critically and commercially successful. ''TIME'' magazine wrote, "James Stewart, who had just turned in the top performance of his cinematurity as Jefferson Smith in ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'', turns in as good a performance or better as Thomas Jefferson Destry." Between films, Stewart had begun a radio career, and had become a distinctive voice on the ''
Lux Radio Theater
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...
'', ''
The Screen Guild Theater
''The Screen Guild Theater'' is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio. Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several dif ...
'' and other shows. So well-known had his slow drawl become that comedians began impersonating him.
![Shop-Around-the-Corner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Shop-Around-the-Corner.jpg)
Stewart and Sullavan reunited for two films in 1940. The
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
romantic comedy ''
The Shop Around the Corner
''The Shop Around the Corner'' is a 1940 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan. The supporting cast included Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Fe ...
'' starred them as co-workers who cannot stand each other but unknowingly become romantic pen-pals. It received good reviews and was a box-office success in Europe, but failed to find an audience in the US, where less-gentle
screwball comedies
Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characterist ...
were more popular. Director Lubitsch assessed it to be the best film of his career, and it has been regarded highly by later critics, such as
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...
and
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also w ...
.
The drama ''
The Mortal Storm
''The Mortal Storm'' is a 1940 American drama film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.''Harrison's Reports'' film review; June 22, 1940, page 98. It was directed by Frank Borzage and stars Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart. The film shows the ...
'', directed by
Frank Borzage, featured Sullavan and Stewart as lovers caught in turmoil upon
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's rise to power. It was one of the first blatantly anti-
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
films to be produced in Hollywood, but according to film scholar
Ben Urwand, "ultimately made very little impact" as it did not show the persecution experienced by Jews or name that ethnic group. Despite being well received by critics, it failed at the box office. Ten days after filming ''The Mortal Storm'', Stewart began filming ''No Time for Comedy'' (1940) with Rosalind Russell. Critics complimented Stewart's performance; Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'' called Stewart "the best thing in the show," yet the film was again not a box-office success.
![Philadelphia Story 13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Philadelphia_Story_13.jpg)
Stewart's final film to be released in 1940 was George Cukor's romantic comedy ''
The Philadelphia Story'', in which he played an intrusive, fast-talking reporter sent to cover the wedding of a socialite (
Katharine Hepburn) with the help of her ex-husband (
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
). The film became one of the largest box-office successes of the year, and received widespread critical acclaim. ''The New York Herald Tribune'' stated that "Stewart...contributes most of the comedy to the show...In addition, he contributes some of the most irresistible romantic moments." His performance earned him his only Academy Award in a competitive category for Best Actor, beating out
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
, for whom he had voted and with whom he had once roomed, both almost broke, in the early 1930s in New York. Stewart himself assessed his performance in ''Mr. Smith'' to be superior, and believed the Academy was recompensing for not giving him the award the year prior. Moreover, Stewart's character was a supporting role, not the male lead. He gave the Oscar to his father, who displayed it at his hardware store alongside other family awards and military medals.
Stewart next appeared in two comedies—''Come Live with Me (film), Come Live with Me'' (1941), which paired him with Hedy Lamarr, and ''Pot o' Gold (film), Pot o' Gold'' (1941), featuring Paulette Goddard—that were both box-office failures. Stewart considered the latter to be the worst film of his career. His last film before military service was the musical ''Ziegfeld Girl (film), Ziegfeld Girl'' (1941), which co-starred Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner. It was a critical failure but also one of the best box-office performers of the year.
1941–1947: Military service
Stewart became the first major American movie star to enlist in the United States Army to fight in World War II. His family had deep military roots: both of his grandfathers had fought in the American Civil War, Civil War, and his father had served during both the Spanish–American War and World War I. After first being rejected for low weight in November, 1940, he enlisted in February, 1941. As an experienced pilot, he reported for induction as a private in the United States Army Air Corps, Air Corps on March 22, 1941. Soon to be 33 years old, he was over the age limit for Aviation Cadet Training Program (USAAF), Aviation Cadet training—the normal path of commissioning for pilots, navigators and bombardiers—and therefore applied for an Air Corps commission as both a college graduate and a licensed commercial pilot. Stewart received his commission as a second lieutenant on January 1, 1942.
After enlisting, Stewart made no new commercial films, although he remained under contract to MGM. His public appearances were limited to engagements for the United States Army Air Forces, Army Air Forces. The Air Corps scheduled him on network radio with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and on the radio program ''We Hold These Truths'', a celebration of the United States Bill of Rights, which was broadcast a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Stewart also appeared in a First Motion Picture Unit short film, ''Winning Your Wings'', to help recruit airmen. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1942, it appeared in movie theaters nationwide beginning in late May, 1942 and resulted in 150,000 new recruits.
Stewart was concerned that his celebrity status would relegate him to duties behind the lines. After spending over a year training pilots at Kirtland Air Force Base, Kirtland Army Airfield in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he appealed to his commander and was sent to England as part of the 445th Bombardment Group to pilot a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, B-24 Liberator, in November 1943, and was based initially at RAF Tibenham before moving to RAF Old Buckenham.
![Jimmy Stewart getting medal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Jimmy_Stewart_getting_medal.jpg)
Stewart was promoted to Major following a mission to Ludwigshafen, Germany, on January 7, 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States), Distinguished Flying Cross for actions as deputy commander of the 2nd Bombardment Wing (World War II), 2nd Bombardment Wing, and the French Croix de guerre 1939–1945, Croix de Guerre with palm and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Stewart was promoted to full colonel on March 29, 1945, becoming one of the few Americans to ever rise from private to colonel in only four years. At the beginning of June 1945, Stewart was the presiding officer of the Bombings of Switzerland in World War II#Court-martial proceedings, court martial of a pilot and navigator who accidentally bombed Zürich, Switzerland.
Stewart returned to the United States in early fall 1945. He continued to play a role in reserve of the Army Air Forces after the war, and was also one of the 12 founders of the Air Force Association in October, 1945. Stewart would eventually transfer to the Air Force Reserve Command, reserves of the United States Air Force after the Army Air Forces split from the Army, in 1947. During active-duty periods he served with the Strategic Air Command and completed transition training as a pilot on the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, B-47 and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, B-52.
Stewart was first nominated for promotion to Brigadier general (United States), brigadier general in February, 1957; however, his promotion was initially opposed by Senator Margaret Chase Smith.
At the time of the nomination, the ''Washington Daily News'' noted: "He trains actively with the Reserve every year. He's had 18 hours as first pilot of a B-52." On July 23, 1959, Stewart was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the highest-ranking actor in American military history. During the Vietnam War, he flew as a non-duty observer in a B-52 on an Operation Arc Light, Arc Light bombing mission in February, 1966. He served for 27 years, officially retiring from the Air Force on May 31, 1968, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60. Upon his retirement, he was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal. Stewart rarely spoke about his wartime service, but did appear in an episode of the British television documentary series ''The World at War'' (1974), commenting on the Second Raid on Schweinfurt, disastrous 1943 mission against Schweinfurt, Germany.
1946–1949: Postwar films
![Guardian angel clarence](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Guardian_angel_clarence.jpg)
After his experiences in the war, Stewart considered returning to Pennsylvania to run the family store. His former agent Leland Hayward had also left the talent business in 1944, after selling his roster of stars, including Stewart, to Music Corporation of America (MCA). Stewart decided to not renew his MGM contract and instead signed a deal with MCA. He later stated that he was given a new beginning by Frank Capra, who asked him to star in ''
It's a Wonderful Life
''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...
'' (1946), the first postwar film for both of them. Stewart played George Bailey (fictional character), George Bailey, an upstanding small-town man who becomes increasingly frustrated by his ordinary existence and financial troubles. Driven to suicide on Christmas Eve, he is led to reassess his life by Clarence Odbody, an "angel, second class" played by Henry Travers. During filming, Stewart experienced doubts about his abilities and continued to consider retiring from acting.
Although ''It's a Wonderful Life'' was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Stewart's third Best Actor nomination, it received mixed reviews and was only a moderate success at the box office, failing to cover its production costs. Several critics found the movie too sentimental, although Bosley Crowther wrote that Stewart did a "warmly appealing job, indicating that he has grown in spiritual stature as well as in talent during the years he was in the war," and President Harry S. Truman concluded that "If [my wife] and I had a son we'd want him to be just like Jimmy Stewart [in this film]."
In the decades since its release, ''It's a Wonderful Life'' has grown to define Stewart's film persona and is widely considered a Christmas classic, and according to the
American Film Institute is one of the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, 100 best American movies ever made. Andrew Sarris stated that Stewart's performance was underappreciated by critics of the time who could not see "the force and fury" of it, and considered his proposal scene with Donna Reed, "one of the most sublimely histrionic expressions of passion." Stewart later named the film his personal favorite out of his filmography.
In the aftermath of ''It's A Wonderful Life'', Capra's production company went into bankruptcy, while Stewart continued to have doubts about his acting abilities. His generation of actors was fading and a new wave of actors, including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean, would soon remake Hollywood. Stewart returned to making radio dramas in 1946; he continued this work between films until the mid-1950s. He also made a comeback on Broadway to star in Mary Coyle Chase's ''Harvey (play), Harvey'' in July, 1947, replacing the original star Frank Fay (American actor), Frank Fay for the duration of his vacation. The play had opened to nearly universal praise in 1944, and told the story of Elwood P. Dowd, a wealthy eccentric, whose best friend is an invisible man-sized rabbit, and whose relatives are trying to get him committed to a mental asylum. Stewart gained a following in the unconventional play, and although Fay returned to the role in August, they decided that Stewart would take his place again the next summer. Stewart's only film to be released in 1947 was the William A. Wellman comedy ''Magic Town'', one of the first films about the new science of public opinion polling. It was poorly received both commercially and critically.
![James Stewart in Rope trailer 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/James_Stewart_in_Rope_trailer_2.png)
Stewart appeared in four new film releases in 1948. ''Call Northside 777'' was a critically acclaimed film noir, while the musical comedy ''On Our Merry Way'', in which Stewart and Henry Fonda played jazz musicians in an ensemble cast, was a critical and commercial failure. The comedy ''You Gotta Stay Happy'', which paired Stewart with Joan Fontaine, was the most successful of his post-war films up to that point. ''
Rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...
'', in which Stewart played the idolized teacher of two young men who commit murder to show their supposed superiority, began his collaboration with
Alfred Hitchcock. Shot in long "real-time" takes, Stewart felt pressure to be flawless in his performance; the added stress led to him sleeping very little and drinking more heavily. ''Rope'' received mixed reviews, and
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism.
Early life
Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
and Scott Eyman have later called him miscast in the role of a Nietzsche-loving philosophy professor. The film's screenwriter Arthur Laurents also stated that "the casting of
tewartwas absolutely destructive. He's not sexual as an actor."
Stewart found success again with ''The Stratton Story'' (1949), playing baseball champion Monty Stratton opposite June Allyson. It became the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1949
and was well received by the critics. ''The New York Times'' noted, "''The Stratton Story'' was the best thing that has yet happened to Mr. Stewart in his post-war film career...he gives such a winning performance that it is almost impossible to imagine any one else playing the role." Stewart's other 1949 release saw him reunited with Spencer Tracy in the World War II film ''Malaya (film), Malaya'' (1949). It was a commercial failure and received mixed reviews.
1950–1959: Collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann
![Winchester73 trailer Stewart Winters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Winchester73_trailer_Stewart_Winters.png)
In the 1950s, Stewart experienced a career renewal as the star of Westerns and collaborated on several films with director
Anthony Mann. The first of these was the Universal production ''
Winchester '73
''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a pr ...
'' (1950), which Stewart agreed to do in exchange for being cast in a screen adaptation of ''Harvey''. It also marked a turning point in Hollywood, as Stewart's agent, Lew Wasserman, brokered an innovative deal with Universal, in which Stewart would receive no fee in exchange for a percentage of the profits. Stewart was also granted authority to collaborate with the studio on casting and hiring decisions. Stewart ended up earning about $600,000 for ''Winchester '73'', significantly more than his usual fee, and other stars quickly capitalized on this new way of doing business, which further undermined the decaying studio system.
Stewart chose Mann to direct, and the film gave him the idea of redefining his screen persona through the Western genre. In the film, Stewart is a tough, vengeful sharpshooter, the winner of a prized rifle which is stolen and passes through many hands, until the showdown between him and his brother. ''Winchester '73'' became a box-office success upon its summer release and earned Stewart rave reviews. He also starred in another successful Western that summer, ''Broken Arrow (1950 film), Broken Arrow'' (1950), which featured him as an ex-soldier and Native American agent making peace with the Apache.
![James Stewart Harvey 1950 Promo Still](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/James_Stewart_Harvey_1950_Promo_Still.jpg)
Stewart's third film release of 1950 was the comedy ''The Jackpot''; it received critical acclaim and was commercially successful, but was a minor film in his repertoire and has largely been forgotten by contemporary critics and fans. In December, 1950, the screen adaptation of ''
Harvey
Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit
* Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
'' was released, directed by Henry Koster and with Stewart reprising his stage role. With critics again comparing his performance with Fay's, Stewart's performance as well as the film itself received mixed reviews. Bosley Crowther of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote that "so darling is the acting of James Stewart
..and all the rest that a virtually brand-new experience is still in store for even those who saw the play," while ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called him "perfect" in the role. John McCarten of the ''New Yorker'' stated that although he "doesn't bring his part to the battered authority of Frank Fay...he nevertheless succeeds in making plausible the notion that Harvey, the rabbit, would accept him as a pal." Stewart later stated that he was dissatisfied with his performance, stating, "I played him a little too dreamily, a little too cute-cute." Despite its poor box office, Stewart received his fourth Academy Award nomination as well as his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Golden Globe nomination. Similar to ''It's a Wonderful Life'', ''Harvey'' achieved popularity later, after frequent television showings.
Stewart appeared in only one film released in 1951, playing a scientist in Koster's British production ''No Highway in the Sky'', which was one of the first airplane disaster films ever made. Filmed in England, it became a box office success in the United Kingdom, but failed to attract audiences in the United States. Stewart took a small supporting role as a troubled clown in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Greatest Show on Earth (film), The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1952), which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Critics were curious why Stewart had taken such a small, out-of-character role; he responded that he was inspired by Lon Chaney's ability to disguise himself while letting his character emerge. In the same year, Stewart starred in a critically and commercially failed biopic ''Carbine Williams'' (1952), and continued his collaboration with Mann in ''Bend of the River'' (1952), which was again a commercial and critical success.
![Far Country Cropped lobby card](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Far_Country_Cropped_lobby_card.jpg)
Stewart followed ''Bend of the River'' with four more collaborations with Mann in the next two years. ''
The Naked Spur'' (1953) and ''The Far Country'' (1954) were successful with audiences and developed Stewart's screen persona into a more mature, ambiguous, and edgier presence. The films featured him as troubled cowboys seeking redemption while facing corrupt cattlemen, ranchers and outlaws; a man who knows violence first-hand and struggles to control it. The Stewart–Mann collaborations laid the foundation for many of the Westerns of the 1950s and remain popular today for their grittier, more realistic depiction of the classic movie genre. In addition, Stewart starred in the Western radio show ''The Six Shooter'' for its one-season run from 1953 to 1954. He and Mann also collaborated on films outside the Western genre on ''Thunder Bay (film), Thunder Bay'' (1953) and ''
The Glenn Miller Story
''The Glenn Miller Story'' is a 1954 American biographical film about the eponymous American band-leader, directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second non-western collaboration.
Plot
The film follows big band leader Glenn ...
'' (1954), the latter a critically acclaimed biopic in which he starred opposite June Allyson. It garnered Stewart a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, BAFTA nomination, and continued his portrayals of 'American heroes'.
![Kelly Stewart Publicity](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Kelly_Stewart_Publicity.jpg)
Stewart's second collaboration with Hitchcock, the thriller ''
Rear Window
''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
'', became the 1954 in film, eighth highest-grossing film of 1954. Hitchcock and Stewart had also formed a corporation, Patron Inc., to produce the film. Stewart portrayed a photographer, loosely based on Robert Capa, who projects his fantasies and fears onto the people he observes out his apartment window while on hiatus due to a broken leg, and comes to believe that he has witnessed a murder. Limited by his wheelchair, Stewart had to react to what his character sees with mostly facial responses. Like Mann, Hitchcock uncovered new depths to Stewart's acting, showing a protagonist confronting his fears and his repressed desires. Although most of the initial acclaim for ''Rear Window'' was directed towards Hitchcock, critic Vincent Canby later described Stewart's performance in it as "grand" and stated that "[his] longtime star status in Hollywood has always obscured recognition of his talent." 1954 was a landmark year in Stewart's career in terms of audience success, and he topped ''Look (American magazine), Look'' magazine's list of the most-popular movie stars, displacing rival Western star
John Wayne.
Stewart continued his successful box-office run with two collaborations with Mann in 1955. ''Strategic Air Command (film), Strategic Air Command'' paired him again with June Allyson in a Cold War propaganda film geared to show audiences that extensive military spending was necessary. Stewart took a central role in its development, using his experiences from the air force. Despite criticism for the dry, mechanistic storyline, it became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1955. Stewart's final collaboration with Mann in the Western genre, ''The Man from Laramie'', one of the first Westerns to be shot in CinemaScope, was well received by the critics and audiences alike. Following his work with Mann, Stewart starred opposite Doris Day in Hitchcock's remake of his The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film), earlier film ''
The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956). The film was yet another success. Even though critics preferred the first version, Hitchcock himself considered his remake superior.
Stewart's next film, Billy Wilder's ''The Spirit of St. Louis (film), The Spirit of St. Louis'' (1957), saw him star as his childhood hero,
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
. It was a big-budget production with elaborate special effects for the flying sequences, but received only mixed reviews and did not earn back its production costs. Stewart ended the year with a starring role in the Western ''Night Passage (film), Night Passage'' (1957), which had originally been slated as his ninth collaboration with Mann. During the pre-production, a rift developed between Mann and writer Borden Chase over the script, which Mann considered weak. Mann decided to leave the film, and never collaborated with Stewart again. James Neilson (director), James Neilson replaced Mann, and the film opened in 1957 to become a box-office flop. Soured by this failure, Stewart avoided the genre and would not make another Western for four years.
![Vertigo 1958 trailer embrace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Vertigo_1958_trailer_embrace.jpg)
Stewart's collaboration with Hitchcock ended the following year with ''
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
'' (1958), in which he starred as an acrophobia, acrophobic former policeman who becomes obsessed with a woman (Kim Novak) he is shadowing. Although ''Vertigo'' has later become considered one of Hitchcock's key works and was ranked the greatest film ever made by the ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll in 2012,
it met with unenthusiastic reviews and poor box-office receipts upon its release. Regardless, several critics complimented Stewart for his performance, with Bosley Crowther noting, "Mr. Stewart, as usual, manages to act awfully tense in a casual way."
![James Stewart - 1959](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/James_Stewart_-_1959.jpg)
Hitchcock blamed the film's failure on Stewart being too old to convincingly be Novak's love interest: he was fifty years old at the time and had begun wearing a silver hairpiece in his movies. Consequently, Hitchcock cast Cary Grant in his next film, ''North by Northwest'' (1959), a role Stewart wanted; Grant was four years older than Stewart but photographed much younger. Stewart's second 1958 film release, the romantic comedy ''Bell, Book and Candle'' (1958), also paired him with Kim Novak, with Stewart later echoing Hitchcock in saying that he was miscast as 25-year-old Novak's romantic partner. The film and Stewart's performance received poor reviews and resulted in a box office failure. However, according to film scholar David Bingham, by the early 1950s, "Stewart's personality was so credible and well-established," that his choice of role no longer affected his popularity.
Stewart ended the decade with Otto Preminger's realistic courtroom drama ''
Anatomy of a Murder
''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American courtroom drama and crime film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Vo ...
'' (1959) and the crime film ''The FBI Story'' (1959). The former was a box office success despite its explicit dealing with subjects such as rape, and garnered good reviews. Stewart received critical acclaim for his role as a small-town lawyer involved in a difficult murder case; Bosley Crowther called it "one of the finest performances of his career." Stewart won his first BAFTA, a Volpi Cup, a New York Film Critics Circle Award and a Producers Guild of America Award, as well as gained his fifth and final Academy Award nomination for his performance. The latter film, in which Stewart portrayed a Depression-era FBI agent, was less well received by critics and was commercially unsuccessful. Despite the commercial failure of ''The FBI Story'', the film marked the close of the most commercially successful decade of Stewart's career. According to Quigley's annual poll, Stewart was one of the top money-making stars for ten years, appearing in the top ten in 1950, 1952–1959, and 1965. He topped the list in 1955.
1960–1970: Westerns and later career
Stewart opened the new decade by starring in the war film ''The Mountain Road'' (1960). To his surprise, it was a box office failure, despite his claims that it was one of the best scripts he'd ever read. He began a new director-collaboration with
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
, making his debut in his films in the Western ''Two Rode Together'' (1961), which had thematic echoes of Ford's ''The Searchers (film), The Searchers''. The same year, he also narrated the film ''X-15 (film), X-15'' for the USAF. Stewart was considered for the role of Atticus Finch in the 1962 To Kill a Mockingbird (film), film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', but he turned it down, concerned that the story was too controversial.
Stewart and Ford's next collaboration was ''
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' () is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by ...
'' (1962). A classic psychological Western, the picture was shot in black-and-white film noir style at Ford's insistence, with Stewart as an East Coast of the United States, East Coast attorney who goes against his non-violent principles when he is forced to confront a psychopathic outlaw (Lee Marvin) in a small frontier town. The complex film initially garnered mixed reviews, but became a critical favorite over the ensuing decades. Stewart was Billing (performing arts), billed above
John Wayne in posters and the trailers, but Wayne received top billing in the film itself. Stewart, Wayne and Ford also collaborated for a television play that same year, ''Flashing Spikes'' (1962), for American Broadcasting Company, ABC's anthology series ''Alcoa Premiere'', albeit featuring Wayne billed with a television pseudonym ("Michael Morris", also used for Wayne's brief appearance in the John Ford-directed episode of the television series ''Wagon Train'' titled "The Colter Craven Story") for his lengthy cameo. Next, Stewart appeared as part of an all-star cast—including Henry Fonda and John Wayne—in How the West Was Won (film), ''How the West Was Won'', a Western epic released in the United States in early 1963. The film went on to win three Academy Awards and reap massive box-office figures.
![James Stewart Billy Mumy Dear Brigitte 1965](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/James_Stewart_Billy_Mumy_Dear_Brigitte_1965.jpg)
In 1962, Stewart signed a multi-movie deal with 20th Century Fox. The first two of these films reunited him with director Henry Koster in the family-friendly comedies ''Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation'' (1962) with Maureen O'Hara and ''Take Her, She's Mine'' (1963), which were both box-office successes. The former received moderately positive reviews and won Stewart the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival; the latter was panned by the critics. Stewart then appeared in John Ford's final Western, ''
Cheyenne Autumn'' (1964), playing a white-suited Wyatt Earp in a long semi-comedic sequence in the middle of the movie. The film failed domestically and was quickly forgotten.
In 1965, Stewart was given his first honorary award for his career, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, Cecil B. DeMille Award. He appeared in three films that year. The Fox family-comedy ''Dear Brigitte'' (1965), which featured French actress Brigitte Bardot as the object of Stewart's son's infatuation, was a box-office failure. The Civil War film ''Shenandoah (film), Shenandoah'' (1965) was a commercial success with strong anti-war and humanitarian themes. ''The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film), The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965) continued Stewart's series of aviation-themed films; it was well-received critically, but a box-office failure.
For the next few years, Stewart acted in a series of Westerns: ''The Rare Breed'' (1966) with Maureen O'Hara, ''Firecreek'' (1968) with Henry Fonda, ''Bandolero!'' (1968) with Dean Martin, and ''The Cheyenne Social Club'' (1970) with Henry Fonda again. In 1968, he received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Stewart returned on Broadway to reprise his role as Elwood P. Dowd in ''Harvey'' at the August Wilson Theatre, ANTA Theatre in February 1970; the revival ran until May. He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance for it.
1971–1997: Television and semi-retirement
In 1971, Stewart starred in the NBC sitcom ''The Jimmy Stewart Show''. He played a small-town college professor whose adult son moves back home with his family. Stewart disliked the amount of work needed to film the show each week and was relieved when it was canceled after only one season due to bad reviews and lack of audiences. His only film release for 1971, the comedy-drama ''Fools' Parade'', was more-positively received. Robert Greenspun of ''The New York Times'' stated that "the movie belongs to Stewart, who has never been more wonderful." For his contributions to Western films, Stewart was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City in 1972.
![James stewart hawkins 1973](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/James_stewart_hawkins_1973.JPG)
Stewart returned to television in ''Harvey'' for NBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame series in 1972, and then starred in the Columbia Broadcasting Company, CBS mystery series ''Hawkins (TV series), Hawkins'' in 1973. Playing a small-town lawyer investigating mysterious cases – similar to his character in ''Anatomy of a Murder'' – Stewart won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, Golden Globe for his performance. Nevertheless, ''Hawkins'' failed to gain a wide audience, possibly because it rotated with ''Shaft (TV series), Shaft'', which had a starkly conflicting demographic, and was canceled after one season. Stewart also periodically appeared on Johnny Carson's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show'', sharing poems he had written at different times in his life. His poems were later compiled into a short collection, ''Jimmy Stewart and His Poems'' (1989).
After performing again in ''Harvey'' at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London in 1975, Stewart returned to films with a major supporting role in John Wayne's final film, ''The Shootist'' (1976), playing a doctor giving Wayne's gunfighter a terminal cancer diagnosis. By this time, Stewart had a hearing impairment, which affected his ability to hear his cues and led to him repeatedly flubbing his lines; his vanity would not allow him to admit this or to wear a hearing aid. Stewart was offered the role of Howard Beale in ''Network (1976 film), Network'' (1976), but refused it due to its explicit language. Instead, he appeared in supporting roles in the disaster film ''Airport '77'' (1977) with Jack Lemmon, the remake of ''The Big Sleep (1978 film), The Big Sleep'' (1978) with Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, and the family film ''The Magic of Lassie'' (1978). Despite mixed reviews, ''Airport '77'' was a box-office success, but the two other films were commercial and critical failures. Harry Haun of ''New York Daily News'' wrote in his review of ''The Big Sleep'' that it was "really sad to see James Stewart struggle so earnestly with material that just isn't there." Stewart made a memorable cameo appearance on the final episode of ''The Carol Burnett Show'' in March 1978, surprising Burnett, a lifelong Stewart fan.
Stewart's final live-action feature film was the critically panned Japanese film ''The Green Horizon'' (1980), directed by Susumu Hani. Stewart took the role because the film promoted wildlife conservation and allowed his family to travel with him to Kenya. In the 1980s, Stewart semi-retired from acting. He was offered the role of Norman Thayer in ''On Golden Pond (1981 film), On Golden Pond'' (1981), but turned it down because he disliked the film's father-daughter relationship; the role went instead to his friend, Henry Fonda. Stewart filmed two television movies in the 1980s: ''Mr. Krueger's Christmas'' (1980), produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which allowed him to fulfill a lifelong dream to conduct the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and ''Right of Way (film), Right of Way'' (1983), an HBO drama that co-starred Bette Davis. He also made an appearance in the historical miniseries ''North and South (miniseries), North and South'' in 1986, and did voiceover work for commercials for Campbell Soup Company, Campbell's Soups in the 1980s and 1990s. Stewart's last film performance was voicing the character of Sheriff Wylie Burp in the animated movie ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991).
Stewart remained in the public eye due to his frequent visits to the White House during the Reagan administration. The re-release of Hitchcock films gained him renewed recognition, with ''Rear Window'' and ''Vertigo'' in particular praised by film critics. Stewart also received several honorary film industry awards at the end of his career: an AFI Life Achievement Award, American Film Institute Award in 1980, a Silver Bear in 1982, Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, an
Academy Honorary Award in 1985, and National Board of Review and Film Society of Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award in 1990. The honorary Oscar was presented by former co-star Cary Grant "for his 50 years of memorable performances, for his high ideals both on and off the screen, with respect and affection of his colleagues."
In addition, Stewart received the highest civilian award in the US, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
, "for his contributions in the fields of the arts, entertainment and public service," in 1985.
Personal life
Romantic relationships
![The Shopworn Angel trailer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/The_Shopworn_Angel_trailer.JPG)
As a friend, mentor, and focus of his early romantic feelings,
Margaret Sullavan had a unique influence on Stewart's life. They had met while they were both performing for the University Players; he was smitten with her and invited her on a date. She regarded him as just a close friend and co-worker, and they never began a romantic relationship, but Stewart regardless felt unrequited romantic love toward her for many years. Though Sullavan was always aware of his feelings, he never directly revealed them to her. Sullavan loved Stewart but was never interested in him romantically; rather, she felt protective and maternal. However, the director of ''The Shopworn Angel'', H.C. Potter suggested they might have married had Stewart been more forthcoming with his feelings. She became his acting mentor in Hollywood and according to director Edward H. Griffith, "made [him] a star"; they went on to co-star in four films: ''Next Time You Love'' (1936), ''The Shopworn Angel'' (1938), ''The Shop Around the Corner'' (1940) and ''The Mortal Storm'' (1940).
Stewart did not marry until his forties, which attracted a significant amount of contemporary media attention; gossip columnist Hedda Hopper called him the "Great American Bachelor". Regardless, he had several romantic relationships prior to marriage. After being introduced by
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
, Stewart and
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
had a relationship in 1935. (Fonda was dating Rogers' good friend Lucille Ball.)
During production of ''The Shopworn Angel'' (1938), Stewart dated actress Norma Shearer for six weeks. Afterward, he dated Loretta Young; she wanted to settle down but Stewart did not. While filming ''Destry Rides Again'' (1939), Stewart had an affair with his co-star
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
, who was married at the time. Dietrich allegedly became pregnant, but it was quickly terminated. Stewart ended their relationship after the filming was completed. Hurt by Stewart's rejection, she barely mentioned him in her memoir and waved him off as a one-time affair.
He dated Olivia de Havilland in the late 1930s and early 1940s and even proposed marriage to her, but she rejected the proposal as she believed he was not ready to settle down. She ended the relationship shortly before he began his military service, as she had fallen in love with director John Huston.
War career as pilot (1941–1946)
A licensed civilian pilot, Stewart enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces, Army Air Forces early in 1941. After seeing action in Europe during World War II , WWII, he attained the rank of colonel and received several awards for his service. He was made Brigadier general (United States), brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve Command, Air Force Reserve in 1959. He retired from the service in 1968, at which time he was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal. President Reagan recounted at a White House briefing that he was corrected by Stewart himself after Reagan incorrectly announced he was a major general at a campaign event.
Marriage and family
In 1942, while serving in the military, Stewart met singer Dinah Shore at the Hollywood Canteen, a club mainly for servicemen. They began a romantic relationship and were nearly married in Las Vegas in 1943, but Stewart called off the marriage before they arrived, citing cold feet. After the war, Stewart began a relationship with Myrna Dell while he was filming ''The Stratton Story'' (1949). Although gossip columnists made claims that they were planning to marry, Dell said this was not true.
![Gloria Hatrick McLean and her family, August 1954](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Gloria_Hatrick_McLean_and_her_family%2C_August_1954.jpg)
Stewart's first interaction with his future wife,
Gloria Hatrick McLean
Gloria Hatrick McLean (March 10, 1918 – February 16, 1994) was an American actress and model.
Early life
Gloria was born on March 10, 1918, to Edgar B. Hatrick of Larchmont, New York. Her family spent the summers at The Broadmoor hotel and res ...
, was at Keenan Wynn's Christmas party in 1947. He had crashed the party and became inebriated, leaving a poor impression of himself with Hatrick. A year later, Gary Cooper and his wife Veronica invited Hatrick and Stewart to a dinner party, and the two began dating. A former model, Hatrick was divorced with two children. Stewart and Hatrick were married at Brentwood Presbyterian Church on August 9, 1949, and remained married until her death from lung cancer in 1994.
The couple purchased a home in Beverly Hills in 1951, where they resided for the rest of their lives. They also owned the Winecup Gamble Ranch in Nevada from 1953 to 1957. Stewart adopted Gloria's two sons, Ronald (1944–1969) and Michael (born 1946), and with Gloria he had twin daughters, Judy and Kelly, on May 7, 1951. Ronald was killed in action in Vietnam on June 8, 1969, at the age of 24, while serving as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps.
Friendships, interests, and character
![James Stewart Publicity](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/James_Stewart_Publicity.jpg)
Stewart was guarded about his personal life and, according to biographer Scott Eyman, tended in interviews to avoid the emotional connection he was known for in his films, preferring to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. He was known as a loner who did not have intimate relationships with many people. Director John Ford said of Stewart, "You don't get to know Jimmy Stewart; Jimmy Stewart gets to know you."
Stewart's 50-year friendship with
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
began in Manhattan when Fonda invited Stewart to be his third roommate (in addition to Joshua Logan and Myron McCormick) in order to make the rent. When Stewart moved to Hollywood in 1935, he again shared an apartment with Fonda, and the two gained reputations as playboys. Over their careers, they starred in four films together: ''On Our Merry Way'' (1948), ''How the West Was Won'' (1962), ''Firecreek'' (1968), and ''The Cheyenne Social Club'' (1970). Both Stewart's and Fonda's children later noted that their favorite activity when not working seemed to be quietly sharing time together while building and painting model airplanes, a hobby they had taken up in New York years earlier. Besides building model airplanes, Stewart and Fonda liked to build and fly kites, play golf and reminisce about the "old days". After Fonda's death in 1982, Stewart's only public comment was "I've just lost my best friend." Their friendship was chronicled in Scott Eyman's biography, ''Hank and Jim'' (2017).
Aside from Fonda, Stewart's close friends included his former agent, Leland Hayward; director John Ford; photographer John Swope (photographer), John Swope, Stewart's former roommate; and Billy Grady, the talent scout who discovered Stewart and also served as the best man at his wedding. Gary Cooper was another close friend of Stewart's; on April 17, 1961, Cooper was too ill (with cancer) to attend the 33rd Academy Awards ceremony, so Stewart accepted the honorary Oscar on his behalf.
![Brig](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Brig._Gen._James_M._Stewart.jpg)
In addition to his film career, Stewart had diversified investments including real estate, oil wells, the charter-plane company Southwest Airways and membership on major corporate boards, and he became a multimillionaire.
Already prior to his enlistment in the Air Corps, he had been an avid pilot, with a Private Pilot License, private pilot certificate and a Commercial Pilot Licence, commercial pilot license as well as over 400 hours of flying time. A highly-proficient pilot, he entered a cross-country race with Leland Hayward in 1937, and was one of the early investors in Thunderbird Field, a pilot-training school built and operated by Southwest Airways in Glendale, Arizona.
Stewart was also active in philanthropy over the years. He served as the national vice-chairman of entertainment for the American Red Cross's fund-raising campaign for wounded soldiers in Vietnam, as well as contributed donations for improvements and restorations to Indiana, his hometown in Pennsylvania. His signature charity event, "The Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon Race", held annually since 1982, has raised millions of dollars for the Child and Family Development Center at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
Stewart was a lifelong supporter of scouting, having been a Second Class (Boy Scouts of America), Second Class Scout and earning the Silver Buffalo Award when he was a youth.
He was also an adult Scout leader and in the 1970s and 1980s he made advertisements for the Boy Scouts of America, which led to his being sometimes incorrectly identified as an Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America), Eagle Scout.
[Lawson, Terry C. ''Erroneous Eagle Scouts Letter.'' Eagle Scout Service, National Eagle Scout Association, Boy Scouts of America (2005). Retrieved June 9, 2005.] An award for Boy Scouts, "The James M. Stewart Good Citizenship Award" has been presented since 2003. Stewart was also a Life Member of the Sons of the Revolution in California.
Political views
![JamesStewart1981](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/JamesStewart1981.jpg)
Stewart was a staunch Republican Party (United States), Republican throughout his life. A political argument in 1947 reportedly led to a fistfight with friend
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
, according to some accounts, but the two maintained their friendship by never discussing politics again. The fistfight may be apocryphal, as Jhan Robbins quotes Stewart as saying, "Our views never interfered with our feelings for each other. We just didn't talk about certain things. I can't remember ever having an argument with him—ever!"
In 1964, Stewart campaigned for the conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and, according to biographer Marc Eliot, erred on the obsessive prior to the election. Stewart was a war hawk, hawk on the Vietnam War, and maintained that his son, Ronald, did not die in vain. Following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Stewart, Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas and Gregory Peck issued a statement calling for support of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Gun Control Act of 1968.
Stewart actively supported Ronald Reagan's bid for the 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Republican presidential nomination in 1976. He attended Reagan's campaign rallies, in one speech assuring that he was more conservative than ever, regardless of the death of his son in the Vietnam War. In 1988, Stewart made a plea in Congressional hearings, along with Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, film director Martin Scorsese and many others, against Ted Turner's decision to 'Film colorization, colorize' classic black and white films, including ''It's a Wonderful Life''. Stewart stated, "the coloring of black-and-white films is wrong. It's morally and artistically wrong and these profiteers should leave our film industry alone." In 1989, Stewart founded the American Spirit Foundation to apply entertainment-industry resources to developing innovative approaches to public education and to assist the emerging democracy movements in the former Iron Curtain countries. In the last years of his life, he donated to the campaign of Bob Dole for the 1996 United States presidential election, 1996 presidential election.
Final years and death
Stewart's wife Gloria died of lung cancer on February 16, 1994, aged 75. According to biographer Donald Dewey, her death left Stewart depressed and "lost at sea". Stewart became even more reclusive, spending most of his time in his bedroom, exiting only to eat and visit with his children. He shut out most people from his life, not only media and fans but also his co-stars and friends. His friends Leonard Gershe and Gregory Peck said Stewart was not depressed or unhappy, but finally allowed to rest and be alone.
Stewart was hospitalized after falling in December 1995. In December 1996, he was due to have the battery in his pacemaker changed but opted not to have that done. In February 1997, he was hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat. On June 25, a thrombosis formed in his right leg, leading to a
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
one week later. Stewart died of a heart attack caused by the embolism at the age of 89, surrounded by his children at his home in Beverly Hills, on July 2, 1997. President Bill Clinton commented that America had lost a "national treasure ... a great actor, a gentleman and a patriot."
He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. More than 3,000 mourners attended his memorial service, including June Allyson, Carol Burnett, Bob Hope, Lew Wasserman, Nancy Reagan, Esther Williams, and Robert Stack. The service included full military honors and Three-volley salute, three volleys of musketry.
Acting style and screen persona
According to biographer Scott Eyman, Stewart was an instinctive actor. He was natural and at ease in front of the camera, despite his shy off-screen personality. In line with his natural and conversational acting style, Stewart's co-stars found him easy to work with, as he was willing to improvise around any situation that arose while filming. Later in his career, Stewart began to resent his reputation of having a "natural" acting technique. He asserted that there wasn't anything natural about standing on a sound stage in front of lights and cameras while acting out a scene.
Stewart had established early in his career that he was proficient at communicating personality and character nuances through his performances alone. He used an "inside-out" acting technique, preferring to represent the character without accents, makeup, and props. Additionally, he tended to act with his body, not only with his voice and face; for example, in ''Harvey'', Stewart portrays the main character's age and loneliness by slightly hunching down. He was also known for his pauses that had the ability to hold the audience's attention. Film critic Geoffrey O'Brien related that Stewart's "stammering pauses" created anxious space for the audience, leaving them in anticipation for the scene which Stewart took his time leading up to.
Stewart himself claimed to dislike his earlier film performances, saying he was "all hands and feet", adding that he "didn't seem to know what to do with either". He mentioned that even though he did not always like his performances, he would not get discouraged. He said, "But I always tried, and if the script wasn't too good, well, then, I just tried a little bit harder. I hope, though, not so hard that it shows." Former co-star Kim Novak stated of his acting style that for emotional scenes, he would access emotions deep inside of him and would take time to wind down after the scene ended. He could not turn it off immediately after the director yelled cut.
Stewart was particularly adept at performing vulnerable scenes with women. Jack Lemmon suggested that Stewart's talent for performing with women was that he was able to allow the audience to see the respect and gentility he felt toward the women through his eyes. He showed that his characters needed them as much as their characters needed him. In connection to Stewart's screen persona with women, Peter Bradshaw said ''The Philadelphia Story'' is "a film every school pupil should see" due to Stewart's character's clear explanation of sexual consent after being accused of taking advantage of the main female character.
Stewart's screen persona was that of an "everyman", an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances. Audiences could identify with him, in contrast to other Hollywood leading men of the time, such as Cary Grant, who represented what the audience wanted to become. Stewart's screen persona has been compared to those of Gary Cooper and Tom Hanks. Eyman suggested that Stewart could portray several different characters: "the brother, the sweetheart, [and] the nice guy next door with a bias toward doing the right thing: always decent but never a pushover". In Stewart's early career, Louella Parsons described his "boyish appeal" and "ability to win audience sympathy" as the reasons for his success as an actor; Stewart's performances appealed to both young and old audiences. According to film scholar Dennis Bingham, Stewart's essential persona was, "a small-town friendly neighbor, with a gentle face and voice and a slim body that is at once graceful and awkward." Unlike many actors who developed their on-screen persona over time, Stewart's on-screen persona was recognizable as early as ''Art Trouble'' (1934), his uncredited debut film role, where Stewart was relaxed and comfortable on-screen. He portrayed this persona most strongly in the 1940s, but maintained a classic everyman persona throughout his career.
Film scholar Dennis Bingham wrote that Stewart was "both a 'personality' star and a chameleon" who evoked both masculine and feminine qualities. Consequently, it was difficult for filmmakers to sell Stewart as the stereotypical leading man, and thus he "became a star in films that capitalized on his sexual ambivalence." Stewart's asexual persona as a leading man was unusual for the time period for an actor who was not mainly a comedian. However, during his career "Stewart [encompassed] the furthest extremes of American masculinity, from Reaganite militarist patriotism to Hitchcockian perversity."
![James Stewart Rear Windows Poster Still](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/James_Stewart_Rear_Windows_Poster_Still.jpg)
According to Roger Ebert, Stewart's pre-World War II characters were usually likable, but in postwar years directors chose to cast Stewart in darker roles, such as Jeffries in ''Rear Window''. Ebert put this into contemporary perspective by asking, "What would it feel like to see [Tom Hanks] in a bizarre and twisted light?", explaining that it is jarring to see a beloved everyman persona such as Stewart in dark roles. Furthermore, Jonathan Rosenbaum explained that since audiences were primarily interested in Stewart's "star persona" and "aura" than his characters, "this makes it more striking when Anthony Mann and Alfred Hitchcock periodically explore the neurotic and obsessive aspects of Stewart's persona to play against his all-American innocence and earnestness."
Film scholar John Belton (academic), John Belton argued that rather than playing characters in his films, Stewart often played his own screen persona. He had difficulty playing famous historical personages because his persona could not accommodate the historical character. Belton explained that "James Stewart is more James Stewart than Glenn Miller in ''The Glenn Miller Story'' (1954) or Charles Lindbergh in ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' (1957)." Moreover, Jonathan Rosenbaum continued that Stewart's "pre-existing life-size persona" in ''Winchester '73'' "helped to shape and determine the impact of [his character] in [this film]."
On the other hand, Stewart has been described as a character actor who went through several distinct career phases. According to film scholar Amy Lawrence, the main elements of Stewart's persona, "a propensity for physical and spiritual suffering, lingering fears of inadequacy," were established by Frank Capra in the 1930s and were enhanced through his later work with Hitchcock and Mann. John Belton explained that "James Stewart evolves from the naive, small-town, populist hero of Frank Capra's 1930s comedies to the bitter, anxiety-ridden, vengeance-obsessed cowboy in Anthony Mann's 1950s Westerns and the disturbed voyeur and sexual fetishist in Alfred Hitchcock's 1950s suspense thrillers." During his postwar career, Stewart usually avoided appearing in comedies, ''Harvey'' and ''Take Her, She's Mine'' being exceptions. He played many different types of characters, including manipulative, cynical, obsessive, or crazy characters. Stewart found that acting allowed him to express the fear and anxiety that he could not express during the war; his post-war performances were received well by audiences because audiences could still see the innocent, pre-war Stewart underneath his dark roles. According to Andrew Sarris, Stewart was "the most complete actor-personality in the American cinema."
Work
Filmography
Selected credits:
Theatre
Radio
Legacy
Stewart is remembered for portraying idealist "everyman" characters in his films. His heroism on-screen and devotion to his family made him relatable and representative of the American ideal, leading Stewart to be considered one of the best-loved figures in twentieth-century American popular culture. According to film scholar Dennis Bingham, "his ability to 'play'—even symbolize—honesty and 'American ideals' made him an icon into whose mold later male stars tried to pour themselves." Similarly, film scholar James Naremore has called Stewart "the most successful actor of the 'common man' in the history of movies" and "the most intensely-emotional leading man to emerge from the studio system," who could cry on screen without losing his masculinity. David Thomson (film critic), David Thomson has explained Stewart's appeal by stating that "we wanted to be him, and we wanted to be liked by him,"
while Roger Ebert has stated that "whether he played everyman, or everyman's hidden psyche, Stewart was an innately likable man whose face, loping gait and distinctive drawl became famous all over the world." Among Stewart's most recognizable qualities was his manner of speaking with a hesitant drawl.
According to film scholar Tim Palmer, "Stewart's legacy rests on his roles as the nervous idealist standing trial for, and gaining stature from, the sincerity of his beliefs, while his emotive convictions are put to the test." Film critic David Ansen wrote about Stewart's appeal as a person in addition to his appeal as an actor. Ansen retold a story in which Jack Warner, upon being told about Ronald Reagan's presidential ambitions, said, "No. Jimmy Stewart for president, Ronald Reagan for best friend."
Ansen further explained that Stewart was the ultimate trustworthy movie star.
![James Stewart in The Mortal Storm trailer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/James_Stewart_in_The_Mortal_Storm_trailer.jpg)
In contrast to his popularly remembered "all-American" screen persona, film critics and scholars have tended to emphasize that his performances also often showed a "dark side". According to film scholar Murray Pomerance, "the other Jimmy Stewart ... was a different type altogether, a repressed and neurotic man buried beneath an apparently calm facade, but ready at any moment to explode with vengeful anxiety and anger, or else with deeply twisted and constrained passions that could never match up with cheery personality of the alter ego." Bingham has described him as having "two coequal personas; the earnest idealist, the nostalgic figure of the homespun boy next door; and the risk-taking actor who probably performed in films for more canonical auteurs than any other American star." According to him, it is this complexity and his ambiguous masculinity and sexuality with which he approached his roles that characterized his persona. Naremore has stated that there was a "troubled, cranky, slightly-repressed feeling in [Stewart's] behavior", and Thomson has written that it was his dark side that produced "great cinema".
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Stewart was one of the most sought-after actors in 1950s Hollywood, proving that independent actors could be successful in the film industry, which led more actors in Hollywood to forego studio contracts. According to Bingham, Stewart marked "the transition between the studio period...and the era of free-lance actors, independent production, and powerful talent agents that made possible the "new kind of star" of the late 1960s." Although Stewart was not the first big-name freelance actor, his "mythic sweetness and idealism [which] were combined with eccentric physical equipment and capacity as an actor to enact emotion, anxiety, and pain" enabled him to succeed in both the studio system, which emphasized the star as a real person, and the skeptical post-studio era.
A number of Stewart's films have become classics of American cinema, with twelve of his films having been inducted into the National Film Registry, United States National Film Registry as of 2019, and five —''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939), ''The Philadelphia Story'' (1940), ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946), ''Rear Window'' (1954), and ''Vertigo'' (1958)— being featured on the American Film Institute's list of the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies, 100 greatest American films of all time. Stewart and Robert DeNiro share the title for the most films represented on the AFI list. Stewart is also the most represented leading actor on the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time" list presented by ''Entertainment Weekly''. Two of his characters —Jefferson Smith in ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939) and George Bailey in ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946)— made AFI's list of the AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains, one hundred greatest heroes and villains, and ''Harvey'' (1950) and ''The Philadelphia Story'' (1940) were included in their list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs, Greatest American Comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Stewart third on its list of the greatest American male actors.]
Memorials
Stewart has several memorials in his childhood hometown, Indiana, Pennsylvania. On May 20, 1995, his 87th birthday, The Jimmy Stewart Museum was established there. The museum is located near his birthplace, his childhood home and the former location of his father's hardware store. According to biographer Gary Fishgall, some residents of Indiana were angered by the creation of the museum; they believed he had contributed nothing to the town aside from growing up there. The museum committee insisted that Stewart had contributed significant donations to the town, but it was done quietly so it was unknown to most residents. A large statue of Stewart stands on the lawn of the Indiana County Courthouse and a plaque marks his birthplace. In 2011, the United States Post Office located at 47 South 7th Street in Indiana, Pennsylvania, was designated the "James M. 'Jimmy' Stewart Post Office Building." Additionally, the Indiana County–Jimmy Stewart Airport was named in his honor.
Honors
In 1960, Stewart was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1700 Vine Street for his contributions to the film industry. In 1974, he received the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement. His Golden Plate was presented by Awards Council member Helen Hayes. In 1997, Princeton University, Stewart's alma mater, honored him with the dedication of the James M. Stewart Theater along with a retrospective of his films. Stewart has also been honored with his own postal stamp as part of the "Legends of Hollywood" stamp series. In 1999, a bust of Stewart was unveiled at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library at Brigham Young University houses his personal papers and movie memorabilia including letters, scrapbooks, recordings of early radio programs and two of his accordions. Stewart donated his papers and memorabilia to the library after becoming friends with the curator of its arts and communications collections, James D'Arc.
Documentary
* 2017 : ''James Stewart/Robert Mitchum: The Two Faces of America'' directed by Gregory Monro
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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* Jim Beaver, Beaver, Jim. "James Stewart." ''Films in Review'', October 1980.
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* Collins, Thomas W. J
"Stewart, James"
. ''American National Biography Online''. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
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* Norris Houghton, Houghton, Norris. ''But Not Forgotten: The Adventure of the University Players''. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1951.
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* Jackson, Kenneth T., Karen Markoe and Arnie Markoe. ''The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives'' (5). New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998. .
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* Prendergast, Tom and Sara, eds. "Stewart, James." ''International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 4th edition''. London: St. James Press, 2000. .
* Prendergast, Tom and Sara, eds. "Stewart, James." ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 5th edition''. London: St. James Press, 2000. .
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* Wright, Stuart J. ''An Emotional Gauntlet: From Life in Peacetime America to the War in European Skies—A History of 453rd Bomb Group Crews''. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. .
External links
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Jimmy Stewart Museum
James Stewart
interview on BBC Radio 4 ''Desert Island Discs'', December 23, 1983
Collections related to James Stewart
at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
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