James Stewart

Lore & Background

James Stewart was born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the eldest child of Elizabeth Ruth and Alexander Maitland Stewart. He was of Scottish and Ulster-Scots ancestry. His father ran a hardware store and hoped Stewart would take it over after attending Princeton University. Stewart was raised Presbyterian and was a devout churchgoer. His mother was a pianist, and he learned to play the accordion, which became a fixture offstage during his acting career. As a shy child, he spent time on model airplanes and chemistry, dreaming of aviation. He attended Mercersburg Academy prep school, where he participated in track, glee club, and made his first onstage appearance in the play The Wolves in 1928. He enrolled at Princeton in 1928, majoring in architecture, and became attracted to drama and music clubs. After graduating in 1932, he chose to join the University Players instead of pursuing graduate studies in architecture.

Stewart began his career on stage, making his Broadway debut in 1932 in Carry Nation. He landed his first supporting film role in The Murder Man (1935) and had his breakthrough in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938). He starred in Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner (1940). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story (1940). After World War II, he starred in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), which was initially a critical and commercial disappointment but became a beloved classic after its copyright expired in 1974. He later starred in four Alfred Hitchcock films: Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958), as well as Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

With his private pilot's skills, Stewart enlisted in the US Army Air Forces during the war, seeking combat duty. He rose to be deputy commanding officer of the 2nd Bombardment Wing and commanded the 703d Bombardment Squadron from 1941 to 1947. He later transferred to the Air Force Reserve, holding various command positions until his retirement in 1968 as a brigadier general.

Reader's Guide

James Stewart's significance lies in his enduring film legacy and his military service. His films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, are considered among the greatest. The American Film Institute ranked him third on its list of greatest American male actors in 1999. He received numerous honors: the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980, the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, and both the Academy Honorary Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985. His everyman persona and distinctive drawl made him a beloved figure in American cinema. Stewart's military career was equally notable; he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces, served in combat, and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve. His life reflects a blend of artistic achievement and patriotic service, with his work continuing to be celebrated long after his death.

Did You Know?

• Stewart learned to play the accordion after his father accepted one as payment from a customer.
• He was a member of the Princeton Triangle Club while at Princeton University.
• Stewart's film It's a Wonderful Life became a beloved classic only after its copyright expired in 1974.
• He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1968 as a brigadier general.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"When I got back from the war in 1946 people didn't want the Mr. Smith kind of movie any more, and I refused to make war pictures." — James Stewart "If you can do a part and not have the acting show." — James Stewart "A definition of good acting, given in an interview on WNET TV (13 March 1987); sometimes quoted as "It’s well done if you can do a part and not have the acting show." — James Stewart "I've sort of gotten into the habit of looking for the vulnerable guy, the guy who makes mistakes, the guy who can't figure things out all the time but keeps at it." — James Stewart