He attended the Wilson Model School for primary school and junior high school. A shy child, Stewart spent much of his time after school in the basement working on model airplanes, mechanical drawings, and chemistry-all with a dream of going into aviation. His accordion became a fixture offstage during his acting career. Stewart learned to play the instrument with the help of a local barber. When a customer at the store was unable to pay his bill, Stewart's father accepted an old accordion as payment. Stewart's mother was a pianist, and music was an important part of family life. Raised a Presbyterian by his deeply religious father, Stewart was a devout churchgoer for much of his life. Stewart and Company Hardware Store, which he hoped Stewart would take over as an adult after attending Princeton University, as was the family tradition.

Stewart's father ran the family business, the J. The Stewart family had lived in Pennsylvania for many generations. He was of Scottish and Scotch-Irish ancestry. James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the eldest child and only son born to Elizabeth Ruth ( née Jackson 1875–1953) and Alexander Maitland Stewart (1872–1962). The marriage lasted until McLean's death in 1994 Stewart died of a pulmonary embolism three years later.Įarly life The Stewart family in 1918 Stewart (right) outside his family's hardware store, 1930 With Joshua Logan (c.), 1930 They had twin daughters, and he adopted her two sons from her previous marriage. In 1949, he married former model Gloria Hatrick McLean. Stewart remained unmarried until his 40s and was dubbed 'The Great American Bachelor' by the press. He appeared in many popular family comedies during the 1960s. Louis (1957), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) as well as the Western films How the West Was Won (1962), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Stewart also starred in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), The Spirit of St. During this time he received Academy Award nominations for his roles in the comedy Harvey (1950) and the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (1959).

As one of the most popular film stars of the '50s, Stewart played darker, more morally ambiguous characters in movies directed by Anthony Mann, including Winchester '73 (1950), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), and The Naked Spur (1953), and by Alfred Hitchcock in Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958). Although the film was not a major success upon release, he earned an Oscar nomination, and the film has become a Christmas classic, as well as one of his best-known roles. Stewart's first postwar role was as George Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He later transferred to the Air Force Reserves, and held various command positions until his retirement in 1968 as a brigadier general. Army Air Forces during World War II, deputy commanding the 2nd Bombardment Wing and commanding the 703d Bombardment Squadron. His acting career was paused after he enlisted in the U.S. The following year he received the Academy Award for Best Actor, the only competitive Oscar of his career, for his performance in the George Cukor romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story (1940). The following year, Stewart garnered his first of five Academy Award nominations for his portrayal of an idealized senator in Capra's Mr.

He landed his first supporting role in The Murder Man (1935) and had his breakthrough in Frank Capra's ensemble comedy You Can't Take It with You (1938). After graduating in 1932, he began a career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway and in summer stock productions. He received numerous honors including the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1968, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980, the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, as well as the Academy Honorary Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1985.īorn and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Stewart started acting while at Princeton University. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors. With the strong morality he portrayed both on and off the screen, he epitomized the 'American ideal' in the mid-twentieth century. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. James Maitland 'Jimmy' Stewart (– July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military officer.

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