James Stewart was a prolific American actor who appeared in a variety of film roles in Hollywood, primarily of the Golden Age of Hollywood. From the beginning of his film career in 1934 through his final theatrical project in 1991, Stewart appeared in more than 92 films, television programs, and short subjects.
Stewart received several awards and nominations for his work. In 1999, he was ranked third by the American Film Institute on its "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars" list.
Eleven of his films have been preserved in the United States National Film Registry. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story whilst roles in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Harvey and Anatomy of a Murder earned him Academy Award nominations. He also won a Golden Globe Award for his role in the television series Hawkins.
Film career
Directors
Stewart made his mark in screwball comedies, suspense thrillers, westerns and family comedies.[1] He worked multiple times with directors, such as Anthony Mann (Winchester '73, Bend of the River, Thunder Bay, The Naked Spur, The Glenn Miller Story, The Far Country, The Man from Laramie and Strategic Air Command), Alfred Hitchcock (Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo), John Ford (Two Rode Together, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Cheyenne Autumn) and Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and You Can't Take It with You).
Directors with whom he also worked include Henry Hathaway (Call Northside 777 and How the West Was Won), Frank Borzage (The Mortal Storm), Ernst Lubitsch (The Shop Around the Corner), Billy Wilder (The Spirit of St. Louis) and Otto Preminger (Anatomy of a Murder).
Actors
Actors with whom Stewart worked include Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, Raymond Burr, Harry Carey, John Dall, Charles Drake, Dan Duryea, Frank Faylen, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, Ben Gazzara, Farley Granger, Cary Grant, Tom Helmore, Charlton Heston, Rock Hudson, Todd Karns, Arthur Kennedy, Karl Malden, Lee Marvin, Bernard Miles, Thomas Mitchell, Robert Mitchum, Frank Morgan, Harry Morgan, Arthur O'Connell, William Powell, Claude Rains, Oliver Reed, Edward G. Robinson, Mickey Rooney, Robert Ryan, George C. Scott, Robert Taylor, Spencer Tracy, Henry Travers, John Wayne, Richard Widmark and Cornel Wilde.
Actresses with whom Stewart worked include June Allyson, Eve Arden, Jean Arthur, Carroll Baker, Joan Chandler, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Marlene Dietrich, Peggy Dow, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Bel Geddes, Paulette Goddard, Gloria Grahame, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn, Josephine Hull, Betty Hutton, Grace Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Dorothy Lamour, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, Agnes Moorehead, Kim Novak, Cathy O'Donnell, Maureen O'Hara, Eleanor Powell, Donna Reed, Lee Remick, Debbie Reynolds, Thelma Ritter, Ginger Rogers, Rosalind Russell, Margaret Sullavan, Shelley Winters and Natalie Wood.
Feature films
Box office ranking
For a number of years exhibitors voted James Stewart as among the most popular stars in the country:
- 1940 - 11th (US)
- 1941 - 13th (US)
- 1948 - 25th (US)
- 1949 – 11th (US)[2]
- 1950 – 5th (US), 7th (UK)
- 1951 – 16th (US), 2nd (UK)
- 1952 – 6th (US), 8th (UK)
- 1953 – 7th (US)
- 1954 – 4th (US), 2nd (UK)
- 1955 – 1st (US), 2nd (UK)
- 1956 – 3rd (US), 2nd (UK)
- 1957 – 7th (US)
- 1958 – 9th (US)
- 1959 – 3rd (US)
- 1960 – 18th (US)
- 1961 – 22nd (US)
- 1962 – 13th (US)
- 1963 - 14th (US)
- 1964 - 23rd (US)
- 1965 - 8th (US)
- 1966 - 16th (US)
- 1970 - 17th (US)
Television appearances
Stewart had made guest appearances on television, The Jack Benny Program, in the 1950s, but first starred in Flashing Spikes, an hour-long episode of Alcoa Premiere directed by John Ford. In the early 1970s, he transitioned his career from cinema to television. For the series Hawkins, Stewart received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. In 1972, Stewart reprised his role from the film Harvey in a television film of the same name.
Documentaries and short subjects
Incomplete listing.
| Year | Movie | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Art Trouble | Mr. Burton | Ralph Staub | Uncredited; Shemp Howard short |
| 1935 | Important News | Cornelius "Corn" Stevens | Edwin Lawrence | — |
| 1938 | Hollywood Goes to Town | Himself | — | |
| 1939 | Hollywood Hobbies | Himself | — | |
| 1942 | Fellow Americans | Narrator | for the USAAF | |
| Winning Your Wings | Narrator | John Huston | for the USAAF | |
| 1943 | Screen Snapshots: Hollywood in Uniform | Himself | — | |
| 1946 | American Creed | Himself | — | |
| 1947 | Thunderbolt! | Narrator | John Sturges William Wyler | for the USAF |
| 1948 | 10,000 Kids and a Cop | Narrator | Charles Barton | — |
| 1954 | Tomorrow's Drivers | Narrator | — | |
| 1956 | Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars | Himself | — | |
| 1957 | The Heart of Show Business | Narrator | — | |
| 1961 | X-15 | Narrator | for the United States Air Force USAF | |
| 1962 | "The Convair B-58 Hustler Supersonic Bomber - Champion of Champions" | Narrator and USAF Reserve Brig. General | — | |
| 1971 | Directed by John Ford | Himself | Peter Bogdanovich | — |
| 1971 | The American West of John Ford | Himself | Denis Sanders | — |
| 1974 | The World at War | Himself | Thames Television ITV series | |
| Just One More Time | Himself | — | ||
| That's Entertainment! | Himself and Archive Footage | Jack Haley, Jr. | — | |
| 1976 | An All-Star Tribute to John Wayne | Himself | N/A | — |
| 1983 | James Bond: The First 21 Years | Himself | N/A | — |
| 1987 | James Stewart: A Wonderful Life | Himself and Archive Footage | David Heeley | — |
| 1993 | John Ford | Himself | N/A | — |
| 1994 | A Century of Cinema | Himself and Archive Footage | Caroline Thomas | — |
See also
References
- General
- "James Stewart Filmography". Allmovie. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- "James Stewart Filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- "James Stewart Filmography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- Specific
- ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "James Stewart Biography". Allmovie. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ↑ Hope Tops Crosby At the Boxoffice By Richard L. Coe. The Washington Post (1923–1954) [Washington, D.C] 30 Dec 1949: 19.