James Stewart

James is buried in the Wee Kirk Churchyard plot at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.

The Jimmy Stewart Museum and the Boy Scouts of America teamed together to have a new award available to Boy Scouts across America--The James M. Stewart Good Citizenship Award. The first awards were presented to scouts on May 11, 2003.

While in the military, James was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, seven Battle Stars and the Croix de Guerre.

James was 6' 3" tall.

During World War II, James flew over 20 bombing raids in Europe, and ended up a Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve.

In 1985, James received an Honorary Award from the Academy for his 50 years of work on film, and his high ideals off screen.

In response to Stewart's death in 1997, President Bill Clinton said that "America lost a national treasure. Jimmy Stewart was a great actor, a gentleman and a patriot."

When Stewart was first sent to Europe to fly bombing missions, his father gave him a letter in which he wrote, "Jim, I'm banking on the enclosed copy of the 91st Psalm. The thing that takes the place of fear and worry is the promise of these words. I am staking my faith in these words. I feel sure that God will lead you through this mad experience. God bless you and keep you. I love you more than I can tell you. Dad." Stewart carried the letter with him for the rest of his life, and the words from the Psalm that his father gave him are written on his grave marker: "For He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways."

There is a small airport called Jimmy Stewart Airport located in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

While in his junior year at Princeton University, Stewart joined the cheerleading squad, and he became head cheerleader in his senior year.

When President Harding's funeral train passed through a nearby town, Stewart's father took him to watch it pass. They put two pennies on the track to be flattened by the train, and they kept these pennies for many years.

James was the firstborn son of Alexander and Elizabeth Stewart and had two sisters, Mary and Virginia.

There is a museum dedicated to James Stewart, located on the main street in the town of Indiana, PA. In front of the museum is a statue of the actor.

The sign that welcomes people to Indiana, Pennsylvania also declares the town the "Birthplace of Jimmy Stewart".

In 1985, James was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by his close friend President Ronald Reagan.

James said his favorite film of his was the 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life.

James died only one day after Hollywood lost another acting icon, Robert Mitchum.

He co-hosted the Academy Awards twice, once in 1946 and another time in 1958.

James was never professionally trained as an actor.

When James passed away in 1997, over 3,000 people, mostly Hollywood celebrities, attended his funeral to pay their respects.

When James served as an officer and a pilot in the Army Air Corps in WWII, one of the sergeants in his unit was another famous actor, Walter Matthau.

He was of Northern Irish heritage from County Antrim.

His adopted son, Ronald Stewart, was killed in action while serving in the Vietnam War.

In 1983, James was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

James was a regular on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.

James knew how to play the accordian.

When James won the Best Actor Oscar in 1940 for The Philadelphia Story, he sent it to his father in Indiana, Pennsylvania, who set it in his hardware shop.

In 1932, James graduated from Princeton University.

In 1980, James was the recipient of an American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award.

James was good friends with actor Henry Fonda.