Jimmy Stewart

Robert Osborne started off his tribute to Jimmy Stewart by telling us roles he didn’t portray. He donned full makeup for the part of an Asian in The Good Earth when he was but 27 but thankfully as he points out that role went to a much shorter Keye Luke who actually was Chinese. Then there was over a 100 others including North By Northwest that actually Alfred Hitchcock had him in mind for but, as fate would have it Cary Grant landed that iconic role instead. But let’s turn to this actor’s fabled career as we leave behind movies he didn’t star in shall we?  

Alfred Hitchcock and he would team up for four films Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much (which was a remake of one of Hitch’s earlier films) Vertigo and probably his most famous of all Rear Window where he costarred with Grace Kelly before she would become Princess Grace of Monaco. The latter film remains in the top 10 films of all time no small feat in view of all the magic of CGI of late mainly because the story is singular in nature and it’s premise of Stewart being held hostage with a broken leg (they had plaster casts back then) inside his hot apartment overlooking the courtyard of his residential complex and everyone’s rear window had never been done. 

James Maitland Stewart born May 20, 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania to English-Scottish parents who owned a hardware store. Jim was educated at a prep school and excelled in football and track he also sang played the accordion and acted on occasion. At Princeton where he studied architecture Jim got more exposure to acting with the University Players, which took him around the country and a small stint on Broadway. Here he would meet his lifelong friend Henry Fonda. 

In 1934 his first screen appearance in a short titled Art Trouble actually starred Shemp Howard of Three Stooges fame but it was his collaborations with the legendary Frank Capra in roles like You Can’t Take It With You costarring Jean Arthur in 1938, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939 and after WWII in the holiday classic It’s A Wonderful Life that launched Stewart into superstardom and his iconic “everyman” persona with that Pennsylvania “aw shucks” demeanor so many Americans loved him for.  It was George Cukor however that directed him in his only competitive Oscar win in 1940 The Philadelphia Story opposite the luminaries Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.  After that film Uncle Sam played a hand.  

 Jimmy Stewart drafted into the Army in 1940 would begin another starring role this time for his Country. He began army life as a private but during the course of the war rose to the rank of colonel and he because he had learned to fly in 1935; he flew combat missions in Europe. Jim remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserve until 1959 where he rose to the rank of brigadier general. And as one of my favorite database notes it was after the war that his career really took off.  

The lighter fare continued in 1950 in one of his favorite roles Harvey where his companion is an imaginary rabbit that has his relatives and friends completely bollixed with except of course Jim. But Stewart wanted grittier roles and they started to follow. Winchester ’73 and Broken Arrow both in 1950 then as we alluded to earlier Alfred Hitchcock came calling with his 4 productions. Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder in 1958 also found rave reviews for Jimmy’s resume. 

Stewart in the ‘70s tried his hand at television The Jimmy Stewart Show a sitcom which had a short run a drama called Hawkins and then opposite Lauren Bacall and John Wayne The Shootist in 1976. Jimmy Stewart married to his wife Gloria since 1949 had largely disappeared from the public eye showing up for various awards and with the loss of his wife in 1994 he was deeply affected. They had twin daughters and he had become father to her two sons by her previous marriage. Jimmy Stewart left this earth at age 89 and he was as most will recall a good man.