Short answers, pulled from the story.
James Stewart was an American actor and military aviator who lived from the 20th of May 1908 to the 2nd of July 1997. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, he appeared in 80 films from 1935 to 1991. In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors.
James Stewart starred in It's a Wonderful Life in 1946, The Philadelphia Story in 1940, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939. He made four films with Alfred Hitchcock: Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. He also starred in Anatomy of a Murder and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
James Stewart won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story in 1940. He gave the Oscar to his father, who displayed it at the family hardware store. Stewart believed his work in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was superior and thought the academy was making up for not giving him the award the year before.
James Stewart was the first major American movie star to enlist in the United States Army to fight in World War II. He rose from private to full colonel in only four years and flew B-24 Liberators with the 703d Bomb Squadron in England. He was promoted to brigadier general on the 23rd of July 1959, becoming the highest-ranking actor in American military history.
It's a Wonderful Life received mixed reviews on its 1946 release and was only a moderate box-office success, failing to cover its production costs. Several critics found it too sentimental. The film became a beloved Christmas classic after its copyright expired in the early 1970s and it began receiving frequent television showings.
James Stewart married Gloria Hatrick McLean at Brentwood Presbyterian Church on the 9th of August 1949, and they remained married until her death from lung cancer on the 16th of February 1994. He adopted her two sons, Ronald and Michael, and the couple had twin daughters, Judy and Kelly, on the 7th of May 1951.