About
James Maitland Stewart, known as Jimmy Stewart, was an American actor born on May 20, 1908, in Pennsylvania and died on July 2, 1997, in Beverly Hills. Graduating from Princeton in architecture, he turned to theater and then film. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story (1940) and received five nominations. He portrayed upright characters in classics such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Vertigo, and Anatomy of a Murder. Enlisting in the army in 1941, he piloted B-24 bombers over Europe and finished as a colonel, then brigadier general in the reserves. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985.
* 1908-05-20 — † 1997-07-02
Major works
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)film
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)film
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)film
- Rear Window (1954)film
- Vertigo (1958)film
Key milestones
- 1941Enlists in the U.S. Army as a private.
- 1959Promoted to brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
- 1985Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Themes
Moral integrityOrdinary heroismDoubt and anxietyMilitary serviceAmerican life
Sources: britannica.com · reaganlibrary.gov · kennedy-center.org
