Born James Maitland Stewart on May 20, 1908, he became one of the most proficient actors of his time, whose personal integrity set him apart in an industry where morals were often abused.
Stewart's upbringing had a lot to do with his values as an adult. He and his two sisters were raised by loving parents in the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. His father, Alex, ran the local hardware store. (One day, the Oscar for Best Actor that Jimmy received for The Philadelphia Story [1941] would be displayed in the hardware store window.)
Jimmy became a full-time actor after performing in plays at Princeton, and then in summer stock and on Broadway, which led to working in films.
His career was interrupted by World War II. Drafted into the Air Force shortly before Pearl Harbor, he was initially rejected because of being underweight, but he ate lots of fattening food and finally talked the doctor into marking down a slightly "heavier" number so he could join.
While fighting overseas, he found comfort in a note his father had slipped into his pocket before he left; included with the note was a copy of the Ninety-First Psalm. (He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. . . . Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day.)
Although he is well known for movies like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), It's a Wonderful Life (1948), Rear Window (1954), and Vertigo (1958), Jimmy often returned to the roles closest to his heart . . . to roles in Westerns.
He said the Western "saved his neck" after the War. Working with directors such as Anthony Mann and John Ford, he developed a much tougher character than he had in previous roles. Also, as the years went by and he aged, Stewart was much more comfortable playing a cowboy than a romantic lead.
Two things appeared along with Stewart in many of his Westerns: his hat and his horse.
He considered his hat (seen in several pictures in the collage above) a sort of good luck piece—tattered and sweat-stained as it may have been. John Ford hated the hat. After Jimmy wore it in Two Rode Together (1961), Ford wouldn't let him wear any hat, period, for their next film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).
As for the horse, Pie appeared in seventeen Westerns with Jimmy over a period of twenty years. Stewart praised the sorrel horse's acting ability and was very fond of the animal. While making The Far Country (1954), Pie was able to complete a scene, walking down an empty street, by himself with just a little instruction from Stewart. And he did it all in one take, too.
In the mid-fifties, Stewart starred in a radio program called The Six Shooter, later made into a TV series called The Restless Gun, starring John Payne.
Stewart, not proud of the direction Hollywood was heading, went into semi-retirement in the late seventies and eventually went into full retirement. His wife, Gloria, passed away in 1994, and on July 2, 1997, at the age of 89, Stewart passed away at his home in Beverly Hills.
Regarded by friends, co-workers, and fans alike as a gentle, warm, and professional man, Jimmy Stewart brought—and still brings—tears, strength, and laughter to audiences across the world.
Sources:
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life - Hosted by Johnny Carson (1987)
James Stewart: His Wonderful Life (A&E Biography) (1997)
Wikipedia > James Stewart