James Stewart1908 – 1997…”unusually usual”*
* Director W. S. Van Dyke II
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He had a lot to say but took a very long time to say it in a drawl that definitely said “ Western Pennsylvania”. He was tall (6’3 1/2”) and so thin he took to wearing tweed jackets so he would look heavier. Gentle, soft-spoken and unassuming, he looked like the typical American “boy next door” except this boy was smart, prep-school educated and a graduate of very Ivy League Princeton. But Jimmy Stewart was so skilled in his craft that audiences firmly believed that he was George Bailey, Mr. Smith and Thomas Jefferson Destry all rolled up into one.
James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20 th, 1908 in the family home on Philadelphia Street, Indiana , Pennsylvania . the first of three children born to Alex and Bessie Stewart. Today a marker stands on the corner of that street in front of the Indiana Free Library that houses the James Stewart Museum . And they even named the local airport after him.
Jimmy’s father Alex (also a Princeton graduate) owned and operated
the J. M. Stewart Hardware store named after the grandfather that founded
it. Alex sometimes took barter in lieu of cash when a customer couldn’t
pay…including an accordion 
that Jimmy learned to play. His
mother Bessie was also a college graduate (she majored in music and
art at Wilson College ) a rarity for those times. She had a way of
speaking slowly and deliberately (to make up for a slight hearing
loss) and she passed the habit on to her son.
While young Jimmy enjoyed putting on shows in the basement for family and friends, he never considered doing it as a career. He wanted to fly planes! When the time for college came around, his first choice was Annapolis and flying for the Navy but he followed his father’s advice and settled for Princeton where he studied architecture. Then, as an undergraduate, he became involved with the campus Triangle Productions where dramas and musicals were developed and then taken across the country on tour. Jimmy’s forte were the musicals because he had a good singing voice and he even recorded a song “Love Comes But Once” written by architecture classmate and future actor Jose Ferrer.
Another classmate who saw Jimmy’s potential was future director-producer
Josh Logan ( a lot of 
good stuff came out of Princeton back then). He
invited Jimmy to join his newly formed University Players after graduation
along with some other stars-in-waiting…including Henry Fonda,
Margaret Sullavan and Myron McCormack. Jimmy’s first outing “Good-bye
Again” moved to Broadway and Jimmy moved with it. In New York he
roomed with Fonda who would become a lifelong friend. But it was Jimmy
who was rarely out of work. In 1935 he was on his way to Hollywood for
a small part in “The Murder Man” with Spencer Tracy. Hank
Fonda followed and they rented a house in Brentwood where they were joined
by Josh Logan and John Swope. It was a bachelor pad split four ways!
After a supporting role in the Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy musical “Rose Marie” in 1936, Jimmy was loaned to Universal and got his first co-starring role in “Next Time We Love” with Margaret Sullavan, the first of 4 films they would do together. It was only his third feature film but Margaret asked for him and the studio obliged. Jimmy dated Margaret after that (she had divorced his best friend Henry Fonda after one year and had just divorced director William Wyler after 18 months) and they say the torch he carried for her kept him a bachelor well into his forties. But within the year Margaret had moved on to Leland Hayward.
 Margaret and Jimmy |
Jimmy made 8 films in 1936. “Born to Dance” with Eleanor Powell was the 7th and gave Jimmy a chance to sing on film. The 8 th was his edgy portrayal of a killer in “After the Thin Man” but his growing band of fans hated it. They wanted their nice Jimmy back. He would make 10 more films before garnering his first Academy Award nod for 1939’s “ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. He lost that one but won it the next year for “The Philadelphia Story”. However critics agreed his Ernst Lubitsch film “The Shop Around the Corner” was his best role to date.
But Jimmy was planning to embark on another career, the fulfillment of a dream. During 1935 he had been taking flying lessons and by 1939 he had his private and commercial pilot’s licenses. So in March, 1941 when he realized we may soon be at war, he enlisted in the Air Corps. Before he returned to Hollywood in 1945 he had flown 20 combat missions as a command pilot and later as the squadron commander. He would later retire in 1968 as Brigadier General James Stewart!
Back at work in 1945, his first project was tailor-made for him. It was Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” and it won him another Academy nomination. But the Jimmy Stewart image was about to change, thanks to two directors….Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann. (see Arabella’s Notes).
And there was another big change in the offing. At one of Gary Cooper’s house parties, Jimmy met Gloria Hatrick McLean. Gloria was 10 years his junior and the divorced mother of two little boys, Ronny and Michael. Love hit like a lightning bolt. Jim and Gloria were married on August 9 th, 1949 in the Brentwood Presbyterian Church that Jimmy had helped fund. The marriage lasted 45 years until Gloria’s death in 1994. Two years after they wed, Jimmy and Gloria were blessed with twin daughters, Kelly and Judy. One sad note; in 1969 , one year after Jimmy proudly pinned Marine Lieutenant’s wings on his stepson, Ron was killed in Vietnam.
One Sad Note:
Jimmy made over 88 films , numerous radio shows and television specials before he passed away on July 2 nd, 1997 of a pulmonary blood clot at the age of 89. He was considered one of the best loved actors of his time. And back home in Indiana, they erected a statue!
 The General! |
 The statue! |
Filmography
The Murder Man 1935 Rose Marie 1936 Next Time We Love 1936 Wife Vs. Secretary 1936 Small Town Girl 1936 Speed 1936 The Gorgeous Hussy 1936 Born to Dance 1936 After the Thin Man 1936 Seventh Heaven 1937 The Last Gangster 1937 Navy Blue and Gold 1937 Of Human Hearts 1938 Vivacious Lady 1938 The Shopworn Angel 1938 You Can’t Take It With You 1938 Made For Each Other 1939 The Ice Follies of 1939 1939 It’s a Wonderful World 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Destry Rides Again 1939 The Shop Around the Corner 1940 The Mortal Storm 1940 No Time For Comedy 1940 The Philadelphia Story 1940 Come Live With Me 1941 Pot O’Gold 1941 Ziegfeld Girl 1941 It’s a Wonderful Life 1946 Magic Town 1947 Call Northside 777 1948 Rope 1948 You Gotta Stay Happy 1948 The Stratton Story 1949 Malaya 1949 Winchester ’73 1950 Broken Arrow 1950 The Jackpot 1950 Harvey 1950 |
No Highway in the Sky 1951 The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 Bend of the River 1952 Carbine Williams 1952 The Naked Spur 1953 Thunder Bay 1953 The Glenn Miller Story 1953 Rear Window 1954 The Far Country 1955 Strategic Air Command 1955 The Man From Laramie 1955 The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956 The Spirit of St. Louis 1957 Night Passage 1957 Vertigo 1958 Bell , Book and Candle 1958 The FBI Story 1959 Anatomy of a Murder 1959 The Mountain Road 1960 Two Rode Together 1961 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962 How the West Was Won 1962 Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation 1962 Take Her, She’s Mine 1963 Cheyenne Autumn 1964 Dear Brigitte 1965 Shenandoah 1965 The Flight of the Phoenix 1965 The Rare Breed 1966 Firecreek 1968 Bandolero! 1968 The Cheyenne Social Club 1970 Fool’s Parade 1971 The Shootist 1976 Airport ’77 1977 The Big Sleep 1978 The Magic of Lassie 1978 The Green Horizon 1981 An American tail – Fievel Goes West 1991 |