Historical Figures Codexery

James Stewart

The everyman who soared from Hollywood to the skies.

He became the first major American movie star to enlist in the United States Army to fight in World War II.[1] On May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, James Maitland Stewart was the first child and only male offspring of Elizabeth Ruth and Alexander Maitland Stewart.[2] Stewart attained the rank of brigadier general on July 23, 1959; no American actor had ever held a higher military rank.[3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
James Maitland Stewart
Born
20 May 1908
Birthplace
Indiana, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died
2 July 1997
Place of death
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Education
Princeton University (AB)
Occupation
Actor; military officer
Years active
1932–1991

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Stewart enrolled at Princeton in 1928, majoring in architecture and becoming a member of the Princeton Charter Club.[4] He debuted on Broadway in the brief run of Carry Nation and later appeared as a chauffeur in the comedy Goodbye Again.[5] Stewart signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after talent scout Bill Grady tracked his career since Princeton.[6] He became a major star when loaned to Columbia Pictures for Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938).[7]

After the war, he starred in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), which later grew to define his film persona.[8] In the 1950s, Stewart collaborated with director Anthony Mann on several Westerns, including Winchester '73 (1950).[9] He also worked with Alfred Hitchcock on films such as Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958).[10][11] Stewart served for 27 years in the Air Force, officially retiring on May 31, 1968.[3]

The J. M. Stewart and Company Hardware Store, the family business run by Stewart's father, was intended by him to be taken over by Stewart after his Princeton education.[2]

What the cited sources add

A 2014 BFI article notes that 2,000 spectators crowded into the theatre for the benefit world premiere of Rear Window, including United Nations officials.[12] The same source states that in his second collaboration with Hitchcock, Stewart plays L.B. Jeffries, a professional photographer with his leg in plaster who spies on a neighboring block of flats.[12] An Air and Space Magazine article from August 2007 reports that Brigadier General James Stewart introduced the film X-15 to moviegoers as its narrator.[13] That article also notes that the film X-15 was well received by critics in November 1961, with the Washington Evening Star calling it "an almost unbelievable screen spectacular".[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Resch 2005, p. 180; Eliot 2006, p. 15; ;; Fishgall 1997, p. 19; ; ;; Smith 2005, p. 30; Smith 2005, p. 30 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fishgall 1997, p. 19; ; ;; ;; ;; ;; ; ;; ; ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: James O'Neill, Jr, "Promotion for James? Senate group should up Colonel Stewart's Air Force rank", Washington Daily News, April 4, 1957, p. 4; Smith 2005, p. 30; Eliot 2006, p. 15; ;; Smith 2005, p. 30; Fishgall 1997, p. 19; Smith 2005, p. 30 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ;; ; "Princeton Triangle Club" . princeton.edu. Retrieved January 11, 2011.; ;; ; "On the Campus", The Princeton Alumni Weekly, 1928, p. 874 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fishgall 1997, p. 19; Eyman 2017, p. 35–38; ; ;; ;; Flint, "Henry Fonda Dies on Coast at 77; Played 100 Stage and Screen Roles", The New York Times, August 13, 1982; Dewey 1996, p. 230, 344, 390; Eliot 2006, p. 15; ;; Fishgall 1997, p. 19; Fishgall 1997, p. 19; Eliot 2006, p. 15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ;; ;; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sarris 1998, p. 30 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The 19th Academy Awards 1947", Oscars.org, October 4, 2014; ;; ;; "James Stewart, the Hesitant Hero, Dies at 89", The New York Times, July 3, 1997; Pollard, "How It's a Wonderful Life went from box office failure to Christmas classic", Independent, December 15, 2018; "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies", American Film Institute; Sarris 1998, p. 30; Fishgall 1997, p. 19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rafferty, "Film; Anthony Mann, Hollywood Soldiers", The New York Times, August 8, 2004; Basinger 2007, p. 79 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Wigley, "Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window turns 60", BFI Film Forever, August 4, 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "James Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eliot 2006, p. 15; Samadder, "My favourite Hitchcock: Vertigo", The Guardian, August 10, 2012; "BBC News – Vertigo is named 'greatest film of all time'", BBC News, August 15, 2012; Eliot 2006, p. 15; Matthews, "Vertigo rises: the greatest film of all time?", The International Film Magazine: Sight & Sound, September 2012; Fishgall 1997, p. 19; Crowther, "Vertigo, Hitchcock's Latest; Melodrama Arrives at the Capitol", The New York Times, May 29, 1958 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wigley, "Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window turns 60", BFI Film Forever, August 4, 2014. facts only, no text reused. bfi.org.uk
  13. "X-15: The Hollywood Version", Air and Space Magazine, August 2007. facts only, no text reused. airspacemag.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article James Stewart (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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