James Stewart

American actor
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/biography/James-Stewart
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: James Maitland Stewart, Jimmy Stewart
Quick Facts
In full:
James Maitland Stewart
Byname:
Jimmy Stewart
Born:
May 20, 1908, Indiana, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died:
July 2, 1997, Beverly Hills, California (aged 89)
Awards And Honors:
Croix de Guerre
Academy Award (1985)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985)
Kennedy Center Honors (1983)
Academy Award (1941)
Academy Award (1941): Actor in a Leading Role
Honorary Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1985)
Cecil B. DeMille Award (1965)
Golden Globe Award (1974): Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Married To:
Gloria Stewart (1949–1994 [her death])
Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):
"An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" (1991)
"After the Thin Man" (1936)
"North and South, Book II" (1986)
"Afurika monogatari" (1980)
"The Magic of Lassie" (1978)
"The Big Sleep" (1978)
"Laugh-In" (1978)
"Airport '77" (1977)
"The Shootist" (1976)
"Hawkins" (1973–1974)
"The Jimmy Stewart Show" (1971–1972)
"Fools' Parade" (1971)
"The Cheyenne Social Club" (1970)
"Bandolero!" (1968)
"Firecreek" (1968)
"The Rare Breed" (1966)
"The Flight of the Phoenix" (1965)
"Shenandoah" (1965)
"Dear Brigitte" (1965)
"The Jack Benny Program" (1959–1964)
"Cheyenne Autumn" (1964)
"Take Her, She's Mine" (1963)
"How the West Was Won" (1962)
"Alcoa Premiere" (1962)
"Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation" (1962)
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962)
"Two Rode Together" (1961)
"The Mountain Road" (1960)
"Startime" (1959)
"The FBI Story" (1959)
"Lux Playhouse" (1959)
"Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1959)
"Anatomy of a Murder" (1959)
"Bell Book and Candle" (1958)
"Vertigo" (1958)
"General Electric Theater" (1955–1957)
"Night Passage" (1957)
"The Spirit of St. Louis" (1957)
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956)
"Strategic Air Command" (1955)
"The Man from Laramie" (1955)
"Rear Window" (1954)
"The Far Country" (1954)
"The Glenn Miller Story" (1954)
"Thunder Bay" (1953)
"The Naked Spur" (1953)
"Carbine Williams" (1952)
"Bend of the River" (1952)
"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)
"No Highway" (1951)
"Harvey" (1950)
"The Jackpot" (1950)
"Broken Arrow" (1950)
"Winchester '73" (1950)
"Malaya" (1949)
"The Stratton Story" (1949)
"10,000 Kids and a Cop" (1948)
"You Gotta Stay Happy" (1948)
"Rope" (1948)
"Call Northside 777" (1948)
"On Our Merry Way" (1948)
"Magic Town" (1947)
"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946)
"Ziegfeld Girl" (1941)
"Pot o' Gold" (1941)
"Come Live with Me" (1941)
"The Philadelphia Story" (1940)
"No Time for Comedy" (1940)
"The Mortal Storm" (1940)
"The Shop Around the Corner" (1940)
"Destry Rides Again" (1939)
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939)
"It's a Wonderful World" (1939)
"The Ice Follies of 1939" (1939)
"Made for Each Other" (1939)
"You Can't Take It with You" (1938)
"The Shopworn Angel" (1938)
"Vivacious Lady" (1938)
"Of Human Hearts" (1938)
"Navy Blue and Gold" (1937)
"The Last Gangster" (1937)
"Seventh Heaven" (1937)
"Born to Dance" (1936)
"The Gorgeous Hussy" (1936)
"Speed" (1936)
"Small Town Girl" (1936)
"Wife vs. Secretary" (1936)
"Next Time We Love" (1936)
"Rose-Marie" (1936)
"The Murder Man" (1935)
Movies/Tv Shows (Directed):
"Lux Playhouse" (1959)
"Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1959)
"General Electric Theater" (1957)

James Stewart (born May 20, 1908, Indiana, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died July 2, 1997, Beverly Hills, California) was a major American motion-picture star who was known for his portrayals of diffident but morally resolute characters.

Stewart graduated from Princeton University in 1932 with a degree in architecture. He then became part of the University Players, a summer stock company in Falmouth, Massachusetts. There he met Henry Fonda, and the two became lifelong friends. During the years 1932–33, Stewart appeared in several unsuccessful Broadway plays—starting with Carrie Nation—though he was usually singled out for praise by New York critics. These positive reviews led to a motion-picture contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934; after a couple of uncredited bit parts, he made his film debut in The Murder Man (1935) with Spencer Tracy.

At first, Stewart’s slow, halting line delivery (perhaps his most readily identifiable trademark) and angular features made him difficult to typecast. His unpretentious engaging manner, however, led to quick acceptance by the moviegoing public. Stewart was loaned to Columbia for two Frank Capra films that proved pivotal in his career: You Can’t Take It with You (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), the latter of which brought him his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a shy idealistic young senator fighting corruption in Congress. He won an Oscar the following year for another film classic, The Philadelphia Story (1940).

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).
Britannica Quiz
Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia

Sensing America’s eventual involvement in the war in Europe, Stewart enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1941. An avid pilot in civilian life, he was assigned to the Air Corps and logged more than 1,800 hours of flight time in some 20 bomber missions. Before he returned to civilian life in 1945, he had risen to the rank of colonel and had received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, and the Croix de Guerre. He remained in the reserves until 1968 and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959.

His first film after the war was Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and his performance as George Bailey, an honest banker beset by personal and financial woes, earned Stewart his third Oscar nomination. Though the film generated mediocre box office at the time of its release, it has since become one of the most beloved films of all time, largely because of its numerous television showings since the 1970s. In 1999 it ranked 11th on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest movies of all time.

As he approached age 40, it was clear that Stewart could no longer maintain the “naive young innocent” persona he had established in his prewar films. His collaborations with directors Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann helped toughen his image and broaden his appeal. Of Stewart’s Hitchcock films, the experimental Rope (1948) and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) are well regarded, and Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958) rank as masterpieces. For Hitchcock, Stewart embodied an American Everyman, albeit one whose private quirks and obsessions threatened a tragic outcome. The films Stewart made for Mann proved the actor capable of rugged western roles, especially in the classics Winchester ’73 (1950) and The Man from Laramie (1955). Stewart and Mann collaborated on eight films, including six westerns and the sentimental biopic The Glenn Miller Story (1954), which was one of Stewart’s most popular movies.

(Read Alfred Hitchcock’s 1965 Britannica essay on film production.)

Are you a student?
Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

During the late 1940s Stewart was among several actors who enjoyed success on Broadway as the ingratiating inebriate Elwood P. Dowd—whose best friend is an invisible six-foot rabbit—in Mary Chase’s Harvey. It became one of the actor’s signature roles when the play was adapted for the screen in 1950, garnering another Oscar nomination for Stewart. He repeated the role in the show’s 1970 Broadway revival and in a 1972 television movie. Stewart’s other well-regarded films included The Stratton Story (1949), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), Anatomy of a Murder (1959; Academy Award nomination), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965).

Stewart found good roles difficult to come by as he aged, but he remained one of America’s favourite actors thanks to his many appearances on talk shows, in commercials, and in two short-lived television series, The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971–72) and Hawkins (1973–74). He was also memorable in a supporting role in the John Wayne western The Shootist (1976). His final acting assignment was to provide the voice of the character Wylie Burp in the animated feature An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). In 1985 Stewart was awarded both an honorary Academy Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.