James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart was born on the 20th of May 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He grew up as the eldest child and only son of Elizabeth Ruth Jackson and Alexander Maitland Stewart. His father ran a hardware store called J. M. Stewart and Company Hardware Store. The family had lived in Pennsylvania for many generations before him. Stewart's mother played the piano, making music an important part of daily life at home. When a customer could not pay his bill, Stewart's father accepted an old accordion as payment. A local barber helped young James learn to play that instrument. It became a fixture offstage during his acting career later in life.
A shy child spent much time after school in the basement working on model airplanes. He also drew mechanical drawings and studied chemistry with dreams of going into aviation. He attended Wilson Model School for primary and junior high education. Teachers noted he received average to low grades due to creativity and daydreaming rather than lack of intelligence. In fall 1923, he began attending Mercersburg Academy prep school because his father doubted public high school acceptance. At Mercersburg, he joined the track team competing as a high jumper under coach Jimmy Curran. He served as art editor of the school yearbook and joined the glee club. To disappointment, he was relegated to the third-tier football team due to slender physique.
During summer breaks, he returned to Indiana working first as a brick loader then as a magician's assistant. Scarlet fever turning into kidney infection delayed graduation until 1928. He remained passionate about aviation enhanced by Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight but abandoned pilot visions when his father steered him toward Princeton University. He enrolled at Princeton in 1928 as part of class of 1932 majoring in architecture. He became member of Princeton Charter Club and excelled academically while attracted to drama and music clubs including Princeton Triangle Club.
Upon graduation in 1932, Stewart received scholarship for graduate studies in architecture for thesis on airport terminal design. Instead he chose join University Players intercollegiate summer stock company performing in West Falmouth Massachusetts on Cape Cod. During summer 1932 he performed bit parts in University Players productions. Company directors included Joshua Logan Bretaigne Windust and Charles Leatherbee. Among other actors were married couple Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan who became close friends with Stewart.
At season end Stewart moved to New York with Players friends Logan Myron McCormick and newly single Henry Fonda. Alongside McCormick he debuted on Broadway brief run Carry Nation. Weeks later again with McCormick appeared as chauffeur comedy Goodbye Again having walk-on line. The New Yorker commented Mr James Stewarts chauffeur comes on three minutes walks off round spontaneous applause. Following seven-month run Goodbye Again took stage manager position Boston fired after frequently missing cues. Returning New York landed small part Spring Autumn role All Good Americans required throw banjo window Brooks Atkinson New York Times wrote throwing $250 banjo concierge constructive abuse virtuously applauded.
Both plays folded short runs thinking about going back studies convinced continue acting cast lead role Yellow Jack playing soldier subject yellow fever experiment premiered Martin Beck Theater March 1934. Received unanimous praise critics play proved unpopular audiences folded June. Summer made film debut unbilled appearance Shemp Howard comedy Art Trouble filmed Brooklyn acted summer stock productions We Die Exquisitely All Paris Knows Red Barn Theater Long Island. Fall received excellent reviews role Divided Three Ethel Barrymore Theatre followed modestly successful Page Miss Glory critical failure Journey Night spring 1935.
Stewart became first major American movie star enlist United States Army fight World War II. Family had deep military roots grandfathers fought Civil War father served Spanish-American War World War I. After first rejected low weight November 1940 enlisted February 1941. Experienced pilot reported induction private Air Corps the 22nd of March 1941. Soon be 33 years old over age limit Aviation Cadet training normal path commissioning pilots navigators bombardiers applied Air Corps commission college graduate licensed commercial pilot. Received commission second lieutenant the 1st of January 1942.
After enlisting made no new commercial films remained under contract MGM. Public appearances limited engagements Army Air Forces. Air Corps scheduled network radio Edgar Bergen Charlie McCarthy program We Hold These Truths celebration United States Bill Rights broadcast week attack Pearl Harbor. Appeared First Motion Picture Unit short film Winning Wings recruit airmen Nominated Academy Award Best Documentary 1942 appeared movie theaters nationwide beginning late May 1942 resulted 150,000 new recruits. Concerned celebrity status relegate duties behind lines spent over year training pilots Kirtland Army Airfield Albuquerque New Mexico appealed commander November 1943 sent England part 703d Bomb Squadron fly B-24 Liberators based initially RAF Tibenham before moving RAF Old Buckenham.
Promoted major following mission Ludwigshafen Germany the 7th of January 1944 awarded Distinguished Flying Cross actions deputy commander 2nd Bombardment Wing French Croix Guerre palm Air Medal three oak leaf clusters. Promoted full colonel the 29th of March 1945 becoming few Americans rise private colonel only four years. Beginning June 1945 presiding officer court martial pilot navigator accidentally bombed Zurich Switzerland returned United States early fall 1945 continued play role reserve Army war one 12 founders Air Force Association October 1945. Eventually transferred reserves United States Air Force after Army Air Forces split Army 1947. During active-duty periods served Strategic Air Command completed transition training pilot B-47 B-52.
In 1950s Stewart redefined career star Western films collaborated several projects director Anthony Mann. First Universal production Winchester 73 1950 agreed do exchange cast screen adaptation Harvey. Marked turning point Hollywood as agent Lew Wasserman brokered innovative deal Universal Stewart receive fee percentage profits granted authority collaborate studio casting hiring decisions. Ended earning about $600,000 Winchester 73 significantly usual fee other stars quickly capitalized new way doing business further undermined decaying studio system.
Chose Mann direct film gave idea redefining screen persona through Western genre. Film featured tough vengeful sharpshooter winner prized rifle stolen passes many hands showdown brother. Became box-office success summer release earned rave reviews. Also starred another successful Western summer Broken Arrow 1950 featuring ex-soldier Native American agent making peace Apache. Third film release 1950 comedy Jackpot received critical acclaim commercially successful minor film repertoire largely forgotten contemporary critics fans. December 1950 screen adaptation Harvey released directed Henry Koster Stewart reprising stage role. Critics compared performance Fay's performance film itself received mixed reviews Bosley Crowther New York Times wrote so darling acting James Stewart all rest virtually brand-new experience store even saw play Variety called perfect role John McCarten New Yorker stated although bring part battered authority Frank Fay nevertheless succeeds making plausible notion Harvey rabbit accept pal.
Stewart later stated dissatisfied performance played little dreamily little cute-cute. Despite poor box office performance received fourth Academy Award nomination first Golden Globe nomination Similar It's Wonderful Life achieved popularity later frequent television showings. Appeared only one film released 1951 playing scientist Koster British production No Highway Sky one airplane disaster films ever made filmed England became box office success United Kingdom failed attract audiences United States.
Stewart appeared four new film releases 1948 Call Northside 777 critically acclaimed film noir musical comedy On Our Merry Way paired Stewart Henry Fonda jazz musicians ensemble cast critical commercial failure comedy You Gotta Stay Happy paired Joan Fontaine most successful post-war films point Rope began collaboration Alfred Hitchcock. Played idolized teacher two young men commit murder show supposed superiority shot long real-time takes felt pressure flawless performance added stress led sleeping very little drinking heavily. Received mixed reviews Andrew Sarris Scott Eyman later called miscast role Nietzsche-loving philosophy professor screenwriter Arthur Laurents stated casting absolutely destructive not sexual actor found success Stratton Story playing baseball champion Monty Stratton opposite June Allyson became sixth highest-grossing film 1949 well received critics New York Times noted best thing yet happened Mr Stewart in post-war film career gives winning performance almost impossible imagine anyone else playing role.
Second collaboration Hitchcock thriller Rear Window became eighth highest-grossing film 1954. Hitchcock Stewart formed corporation Patron Inc produce film portrayed photographer loosely based Robert Capa projects fantasies fears people observe apartment window hiatus broken leg comes believe witnessed murder limited wheelchair had react character sees mostly facial responses Like Mann Hitchcock uncovered new depths Stewart acting showing protagonist confronting fears repressed desires. Although initial acclaim Rear Window directed towards Hitchcock critic Vincent Canby later described Stewart performance grand stated longtime star status Hollywood always obscured recognition talent. 1954 landmark year Stewart career terms audience success topped Look magazine list most-popular movie stars displacing rival Western star John Wayne.
Stewart remained guarded personal life biographer Scott Eyman tended interviews avoid emotional connection known films preferring keep thoughts feelings himself known loner intimate relationships many people Director John Ford said get know Jimmy Stewart gets know you. Fifty-year friendship Henry Fonda began Manhattan Fonda invited Stewart third roommate Joshua Logan Myron McCormick make rent. When moved Hollywood 1935 again shared apartment Fonda two gained reputations playboys careers starred four films together On Our Merry Way 1948 How West Was Won 1962 Firecreek 1968 Cheyenne Social Club 1970.
Both children noted fathers favorite activity working seemed quietly sharing time building painting model airplanes hobby taken New York years earlier Besides building model airplanes liked build fly kites play golf reminisce old days. After Fonda death 1982 only public comment lost best friend. Friendship chronicled Scott Eyman biography Hank Jim 2017. Aside Fonda close friends included former agent Leland Hayward director John Ford photographer John Swope Stewart former roommate Billy Grady talent scout discovered Stewart served best man wedding Gary Cooper another close friend the 17th of April 1961 Cooper too ill cancer attend 33rd Academy Awards ceremony accepted honorary Oscar behalf.
Diversified investments including real estate oil wells charter-plane company Southwest Airways membership major corporate boards became multimillionaire. Already prior enlistment Air Corps avid pilot private pilot certificate commercial license over 400 hours flying time. Highly proficient pilot entered cross-country race Leland Hayward 1937 one early investors Thunderbird Field pilot-training school built operated Southwest Airways Glendale Arizona active philanthropy years served national vice-chairman entertainment American Red Cross fund-raising campaign wounded soldiers Vietnam contributed donations improvements restorations Indiana hometown Pennsylvania.
Stewart staunch conservative Republican throughout life political argument 1947 reportedly led fistfight friend Henry Fonda liberal Democrat according accounts maintained friendship never discussing politics again fistfight apocryphal Jhan Robbins quotes Stewart views never interfered feelings just didn't talk certain things remember ever having argument him-ever. 1964 campaigned conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater biographer Marc Eliot erred obsessive prior election hawk Vietnam War maintained son Ronald died vain following assassination Senator Robert Kennedy 1968 Charlton Heston Kirk Douglas Gregory Peck issued statement calling support President Lyndon B Johnson Gun Control Act 1968 actively supported Ronald Reagan bid Republican presidential nomination 1976 attended Reagan campaign rallies speech assuring more conservative regardless death son Vietnam War.
Last years life supported re-election Jesse Helms Senate 1990 donated campaign Bob Dole 1996 presidential election 1988 made plea Congressional hearings Burt Lancaster Katharine Hepburn Ginger Rogers film director Martin Scorsese many others Ted Turner decision colorize classic black-white films including It's Wonderful Life stated coloring black-white films wrong morally artistically profiteers leave industry alone. 1989 founded American Spirit Foundation apply entertainment-industry resources developing innovative approaches public education assist emerging democracy movements former Iron Curtain countries wife Gloria died lung cancer the 16th of February 1994 aged 75 Donald Dewey biographer wrote left depressed lost sea became even more reclusive spending most time.
Stewart received numerous honors including American Film Institute ranked third greatest American male actors list 1999 AFI Life Achievement Award 1980 Kennedy Center Honor 1983 Academy Honorary Award Presidential Medal Freedom both 1985. Received highest civilian award US Presidential Medal Freedom contributions fields arts entertainment public service 1985. In 1982 Silver Bear Berlin International Film Festival Mr Hobbs Takes Vacation won Stewart Silver Bear Best Actor Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1968 received Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award returned Broadway reprise role Elwood P Dowd Harvey ANTA Theatre February 1970 revival ran until May won Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance. Inducted Hall Great Western Performers National Cowboy Western Heritage Museum Oklahoma City 1972. Returned television Harvey NBC Hallmark Hall Fame series 1972 starred CBS mystery series Hawkins 1973 playing small-town lawyer investigating mysterious cases similar character Anatomy Murder won Golden Globe performance nevertheless Hawkins failed gain wide audience possibly rotated Shaft starkly conflicting demographic canceled one season.
Periodically appeared Johnny Carson Tonight Show sharing poems written different times life poems later compiled short collection Jimmy Stewart Poems 1989. Performed again Harvey Prince Wales Theatre London 1975 returned films major supporting role John Wayne final film Shootist 1976 playing doctor giving Wayne gunfighter terminal cancer diagnosis time hearing impairment affected ability hear cues led repeatedly flubbing lines vanity allow admit wear hearing aid. Offered role Howard Beale Network 1976 refused explicit language instead appeared supporting roles disaster film Airport 77 1977 Jack Lemmon remake Big Sleep 1978 Robert Mitchum Philip Marlowe family film Magic Lassie 1978.
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Common questions
When and where was James Maitland Stewart born?
James Maitland Stewart was born on the 20th of May 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He grew up as the eldest child and only son of Elizabeth Ruth Jackson and Alexander Maitland Stewart.
What military rank did James Stewart achieve during World War II?
James Stewart became a full colonel on the 29th of March 1945 after rising from private to that rank in just four years. He flew B-24 Liberators with the 703d Bomb Squadron and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.
Which films did James Stewart make with director Anthony Mann?
James Stewart collaborated with director Anthony Mann on several Western films including Winchester 73 released in 1950 and Broken Arrow also released in 1950. These movies redefined his screen persona through the Western genre.
Who were the close friends of James Stewart throughout his life?
Henry Fonda remained James Stewart's best friend for fifty years starting from their time sharing an apartment in Manhattan. Other close friends included Gary Cooper who died in 1961 and actor John Ford.
When did James Stewart die and what caused his death?
James Stewart died on the 16th of February 1994 at age 85 following lung cancer complications. His wife Gloria had died earlier on the 16th of February 1994 aged 75 which left him depressed and reclusive.