American actor (1908-1997). He was born in
Indiana,
Pennsylvania, and attended
Princeton University, where he studied
architecture. He became an
actor after
graduation and was the first
movie star to enter the
service for
World War II, joining a
year before
Pearl Harbor was
bombed. He was initially refused entry into the
Air Force because he weighed
five pounds less than the required 148 pounds, but he talked the
recruitment officer into ignoring the
test. He eventually became a
Colonel, and earned the
Air Medal, the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Croix de Guerre, and seven
battle stars. In 1959, while serving in the
Air Force Reserve, he became a
brigadier general. He is the highest
ranking actor in
military history.
Stewart never took
acting lessons, feeling he would
learn more by
acting, rather than
studying how to
act. Early in his
career, he played lots of
nice,
shy characters, but he eventually became a
dramatic actor, thanks to his performances in
Alfred Hitchcock's
suspense thrillers. He also starred in a large number of
Westerns.
When he won the
Best Actor Oscar in 1940 for "
The Philadelphia Story," he sent the
trophy to his
father, who kept it on
display in his
hardware store for
25 years.
Stewart's
films include "
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "
The Philadelphia Story," "
It's a Wonderful Life," "
Rope," "
Harvey," "
Rear Window," "
The Glenn Miller Story," "
The Spirit of St. Louis," "
Vertigo," "
How the West Was Won," "
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "
The Cheyenne Social Club," "
The Shootist," "
Airport '77," and "
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West."
Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)