Biography
James "Jimmy" Stewart is one of the most beloved actors of Hollywood's golden era, Academy Award winner, and devout family man. However, many may be surprised to learn he was also a World War II hero.
Born 20 May 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, James Stewart was the oldest child of Alexander Maitland Stewart and Elizabeth Ruth Jackson. HIs father was a business man and ran the local hardware store. The family was close-knit.[1] All the children were musicians, inheriting their mother, Elizabeth's skill.[1] Jimmy performed plays with his sisters and was an active boy scout.[1] He continued acting and playing music into early adulthood, on his way to his future in Hollywood.[1]
The patriotism of James “Jimmy” Maitland Stewart (1908-1997), was grounded in his smalltown upbringing and family military service history reaching back to the Civil War. Both grandfathers fought in the Civil War, and his father was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I. He wanted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and become a naval aviator. However, his father convinced his son to attend Princeton where he studied Architecture.
"Jimmy" Stewart graduated from Princeton University in 1932, and became an actor. Rejected as underweight by his draft board, he went on a crash-eating program to bulk up. On March 22, 1941, one month after winning his best actor Oscar for his role as a tabloid journalist in “The Philadelphia Story,” Stewart was accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps – the first major movie star to enter the military. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings on December 31, 1941. He served as an instructor pilot during most of 1942 and 1943, and was assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group in Sioux City, Iowa in August 1943. Stewart flew with the group to England in December 1943 and soon began flying combat missions over Europe. He served a short tour in Southeast Asia in 1966 and retired in 1968 as a U.S. Air Force Brigadier General. On May 23, 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and promoted him to Major General on the retired list.
Brigadier General James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart, United States Air Force, was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Stewart and his dedicated contributions in the service of his country reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Jimmy married Gloria Hatrick McLean, the daughter of Edgar and Jessie Hatrick, August 9th, 1949 in Los Angeles, California.They raised four children together, two sons from Gloria's previous marriage and their twin daughters.[1] The family was Presbyterian.[1]
An American film and stage actor, James (Jimmy) Stewart, starred in many films over the course of his career, several of which are widely considered to be classics. He became known for portraying the average middle class man with everyday life struggles and also for his distinctive voice and down-to-earth nature. Of his acting technique, Cary Grant said, "He had the ability to talk naturally. He knew that in conversations people do often interrupt one another and it's not always so easy to get a thought out. It took a little time for the sound men to get used to him, but he had an enormous impact."[2]
Jimmy Stewart was a major star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one. Jimmy was also the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.[2]
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Jimmy & Beau |
Jimmy once owned a golden retriever that he was very fond of, a dog he called Beau. While filming a movie in Arizona, Stewart received a phone call from his veterinarian who informed him that Beau was terminally ill and that Stewart's wife Gloria wanted Jimmy's permission to put Beau to sleep.[3]
Jimmy told the vet to "keep him alive and I'll be there", then asked for several days leave from the film so he could spend some time with his dog before they put him down.[3]
Looking back on that time Jimmy said, "After [Beau] died there were a lot of nights when I was certain that I could feel him get into bed beside me and I would reach out and pat his head. The feeling was so real that I wrote a poem about it and how much it hurt to realize that he wasn’t going to be there any more."[3]
You can read the poem here, and watch him recite it on Johnny Carson.[4]
On 2 July 1997, surrounded by his children, Jimmy Stewart died at the age of 89, in Beverly Hills, California.President Bill Clinton commented that the world had lost "a national treasure... a great actor, a gentleman and a patriot."[2] He is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Wikipedia contributors, "Beau (poem)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikipedia:Beau (poem) (accessed March 1, 2018).
- ↑ I'll Always Love A Dog Named Beau Jimmy Stewart's recital of his Poem; YouTube Video, Courtesy of JohnnyCarson.Com. July 28, 1981
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