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122-514: James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor, military aviator, and poet. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality he portrayed both on and off the screen, he epitomized the " American ideal " in the mid-twentieth century. In 1999, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked him third on its list of

244-576: A portmanteau neologism popularised by the physician, amateur historian and politician Ian Adamson , merging Ulster and Lallans  – the Scots for 'Lowlands'  – but also said to be a backronym for 'Ulster-Scots language in literature and native speech'. The North American ancestry of the X-linked form of the genetic disease congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus has been traced to Ulster Scots who travelled to Nova Scotia in 1761 on

366-568: A pulmonary embolism three years later. James Maitland Stewart was born on May 20, 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, the eldest child and only son born to Elizabeth Ruth (née Jackson; 1875–1953) and Alexander Maitland Stewart (1872–1962). Stewart had two younger sisters, Mary (1912–1977) and Virginia (1914–1972). He was of Scottish and Ulster-Scots ancestry. The Stewart family had lived in Pennsylvania for many generations. Stewart's father ran

488-642: A Wonderful Life (1946), Harvey (1950) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). Stewart played darker, more morally ambiguous characters in movies directed by Anthony Mann , including Winchester '73 (1950), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), and The Naked Spur (1953), and by Alfred Hitchcock in Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958). Stewart also starred in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), The Flight of

610-485: A Wonderful Life (1946), the first postwar film for both of them. Stewart played George Bailey , an upstanding small-town man who becomes increasingly frustrated by his ordinary existence and financial troubles. Driven to suicide on Christmas Eve , he is led to reassess his life by Clarence Odbody , an "angel, second class", played by Henry Travers . During filming, Stewart experienced doubts about his abilities and continued to consider retiring from acting. Although It's

732-423: A Wonderful Life was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Stewart's third Best Actor nomination, it received mixed reviews and was only a moderate success at the box office, failing to cover its production costs. Several critics found the movie too sentimental, although Bosley Crowther wrote that Stewart did a "warmly appealing job, indicating that he has grown in spiritual stature as well as in talent during

854-591: A bit that he handles with characteristically engaging skill". MGM did not see leading-man material in Stewart, described by biographer Michael D. Rinella as a "lanky young bumpkin with a hesitant manner of speech." During this time, his agent Leland Hayward decided that the best path for him would be through loan-outs to other studios. Stewart had only a small role in his second MGM film, the hit musical Rose Marie (1936), but it led to his casting in seven other films within one year, from Next Time We Love to After

976-533: A box office failure. However, according to film scholar David Bingham, by the early 1950s, "Stewart's personality was so credible and well-established", that his choice of role no longer affected his popularity. Stewart ended the decade with Otto Preminger 's realistic courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and the crime film The FBI Story (1959). The former was a box office success despite its explicit dealing with subjects such as rape, and garnered good reviews. Stewart received critical acclaim for his role as

1098-464: A college graduate and a licensed commercial pilot. Stewart received his commission as a second lieutenant on January 1, 1942. After enlisting, Stewart made no new commercial films, although he remained under contract to MGM. His public appearances were limited to engagements for the Army Air Forces. The Air Corps scheduled him on network radio with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy , and on

1220-469: A corporation, Patron Inc., to produce the film. Stewart portrayed a photographer, loosely based on Robert Capa , who projects his fantasies and fears onto the people he observes out his apartment window while on hiatus due to a broken leg and comes to believe that he has witnessed a murder. Limited by his wheelchair, Stewart had to react to what his character sees with mostly facial responses. Like Mann, Hitchcock uncovered new depths to Stewart's acting, showing

1342-469: A critical and commercial failure, although Frank Nugent of The New York Times stated that "Mr. Stewart [and the rest of the cast] perform as pleasantly as possible." Stewart's last three film releases of 1936 were all box-office successes. He had only a bit part in The Gorgeous Hussy , but a starring role in the musical Born to Dance with Eleanor Powell . His performance in the latter

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1464-473: A decade earlier. He and co-star Simone Simon were miscast, and the film was a critical and commercial failure. William Boehnel of the New York World-Telegram called Stewart's performance emotionless, and Eileen Creelman of The New York Sun wrote that he made little attempt to look or sound French. Stewart's next film, The Last Gangster (1937) starring Edward G. Robinson , was also

1586-542: A distinctive voice on the Lux Radio Theater , The Screen Guild Theater , and other shows. So well-known had his slow drawl become that comedians began impersonating him. Stewart and Sullavan reunited for two films in 1940. The Ernst Lubitsch romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner starred them as co-workers who cannot stand each other but unknowingly become romantic pen-pals. It received good reviews and

1708-628: A failure, but it was followed by a critically acclaimed performance in Navy Blue and Gold (1937) as a football player at the United States Naval Academy . The film was a box-office success and earned Stewart the best reviews of his career up to that point. The New York Times wrote "the ending leaves us with the conviction that James Stewart is a sincere and likable triple-threat man in the [MGM] backfield" and Variety called his performance "fine". Despite good reviews, Stewart

1830-527: A man who knows violence first-hand and struggles to control it. The Stewart–Mann collaborations laid the foundation for many of the Westerns of the 1950s and remain popular today for their grittier, more realistic depiction of the classic movie genre. In addition, Stewart starred in the Western radio show The Six Shooter for its one-season run from 1953 to 1954. He and Mann also collaborated on films outside

1952-472: A pacifist lawman alongside Marlene Dietrich , a saloon girl who falls in love with him. It was critically and commercially successful. TIME magazine wrote, "James Stewart, who had just turned in the top performance of his cinematurity as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , turns in as good a performance or better as Thomas Jefferson Destry." Between films, Stewart had begun a radio career and had become

2074-408: A percentage of the profits. Stewart was also granted authority to collaborate with the studio on casting and hiring decisions. Stewart ended up earning about $ 600,000 for Winchester '73 , significantly more than his usual fee, and other stars quickly capitalized on this new way of doing business, which further undermined the decaying studio system . Stewart chose Mann to direct, and the film gave him

2196-944: A pilot when his father steered him towards Princeton. Stewart enrolled at Princeton in 1928 as a member of the class of 1932, majoring in architecture and becoming a member of the Princeton Charter Club . He excelled academically but also became attracted to the school's drama and music clubs, including the Princeton Triangle Club . Upon his graduation in 1932, he was awarded a scholarship for graduate studies in architecture for his thesis on an airport terminal design, but chose instead to join University Players , an intercollegiate summer stock company performing in West Falmouth, Massachusetts , on Cape Cod . Stewart performed in bit parts in

2318-502: A protagonist confronting his fears and repressed desires. Although most of the initial acclaim for Rear Window was directed towards Hitchcock, critic Vincent Canby later described Stewart's performance in it as "grand" and stated that "[his] longtime star status in Hollywood has always obscured recognition of his talent." 1954 was a landmark year in Stewart's career in terms of audience success, and he topped Look magazine's list of

2440-461: A reward for helping him escape from English captivity. Hamilton forced himself in on this deal when he discovered it and, after three years of bickering, the final settlement gave Hamilton and Montgomery each one-third of the land. Starting in 1609, Scots began arriving into state-sponsored settlements as part of the Plantation of Ulster . This scheme was intended to confiscate all the lands of

2562-734: A scientist in Koster's British production No Highway in the Sky , which was one of the first airplane disaster films ever made. Filmed in England, it became a box office success in the United Kingdom, but failed to attract audiences in the United States. Stewart took a small supporting role as a troubled clown in Cecil B. DeMille 's The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), which went on to win

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2684-678: A seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), orchestrated by talent scout Bill Grady, who had been tracking Stewart's career since seeing him perform in Princeton. His first Hollywood role was a minor appearance in the Spencer Tracy vehicle The Murder Man (1935). His performance was largely ignored by critics, although the New York Herald Tribune , remembering him in Yellow Jack , called him "wasted in

2806-500: A shattering emotional climax rendered by Stewart. Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News wrote that he "has one grand scene in which he demonstrates most effectively that he is something more than a musical comedy juvenile". For his next film, the romantic drama Seventh Heaven (1937), Stewart was loaned to 20th Century-Fox to play a Parisian sewer worker in a remake of Frank Borzage 's silent classic released

2928-519: A silver hairpiece in his movies. Consequently, Hitchcock cast Cary Grant in his next film, North by Northwest (1959), a role Stewart wanted; Grant was four years older than Stewart but photographed much younger. Stewart's second 1958 film release, the romantic comedy Bell, Book and Candle (1958), also paired him with Kim Novak, with Stewart later echoing Hitchcock in saying that he was miscast as 25-year-old Novak's romantic partner. The film and Stewart's performance received poor reviews and resulted in

3050-412: A small-town lawyer involved in a difficult murder case; Bosley Crowther called it "one of the finest performances of his career". Stewart won his first BAFTA, a Volpi Cup , a New York Film Critics Circle Award , and a Producers Guild of America Award , as well as earned his fifth and final Academy Award nomination for his performance. The FBI Story , in which Stewart portrayed a Depression-era FBI agent,

3172-723: A television pseudonym, "Michael Morris", (also used for Wayne's brief appearance in the John Ford-directed episode of the television series Wagon Train titled " The Colter Craven Story ") for his lengthy cameo. Next, Stewart appeared as part of an all-star cast—including Henry Fonda and John Wayne—in How the West Was Won , a Western epic released in the United States in early 1963. The film went on to win three Academy Awards and reap massive box-office figures. Drawl The most commonly-recognized Southern Drawl features

3294-502: Is forced to confront a psychopathic outlaw ( Lee Marvin ) in a small frontier town. The complex film initially garnered mixed reviews but became a critical favorite over the ensuing decades. Stewart was billed above John Wayne in posters and the trailers, but Wayne received top billing in the film itself. Stewart, Wayne, and Ford also collaborated for a television play that same year, Flashing Spikes (1962), for ABC 's anthology series Alcoa Premiere , albeit featuring Wayne billed with

3416-603: The New York Daily Mirror compared him to Stan Laurel in this melodramatic film, and Variety called his performance unfocused. Stewart became a major star when he was loaned out to Columbia Pictures to play the lead role in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938) opposite Jean Arthur . Stewart played the son of a banker who falls in love with a woman from a poor and eccentric family. Capra had recently completed several well-received films and

3538-490: The Air Force Reserve , and held various command positions until his retirement in 1968 as a brigadier general . Stewart remained unmarried until his 40s and was dubbed "The Great American Bachelor" by the press. In 1949, he married former model Gloria Hatrick McLean . They had twin daughters, and he adopted her two sons from her previous marriage. The marriage lasted until Gloria's death in 1994, and Stewart died of

3660-522: The Apache . Stewart's third film release of 1950 was the comedy The Jackpot ; it received critical acclaim and was commercially successful, but was a minor film in his repertoire and has largely been forgotten by contemporary critics and fans. In December 1950, the screen adaptation of Harvey was released, directed by Henry Koster and with Stewart reprising his stage role. With critics comparing his performance with Fay's, Stewart's performance as well as

3782-599: The British Empire and especially to the American colonies , later Canada and the United States. In North America , they are sometimes called "Scotch-Irish", though this term is not used in the British Isles . After some minor settling during the late Tudor and early Stuart periods, the first major influx of Lowland Scots and Border English Protestant settlers into Ulster came in the first two decades of

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3904-760: The British Plantations in Ireland , which had been destroyed by the rebellion of 1641, were restored. However, due to the Scots' enmity to the English Parliament in the final stages of the English Civil War , English settlers rather than Scots were the main beneficiary of this scheme. There was a generation of calm in Ireland until another war broke out in 1689, again due to political conflict closely aligned with ethnic and religious differences. The Williamite war in Ireland (1689–91)

4026-787: The Civil War , and his father had served during both the Spanish–American War and World War I. After first being rejected for low weight in November 1940, he enlisted in February 1941. As an experienced pilot, he reported for induction as a private in the Air Corps on March 22, 1941. Soon to be 33 years old, he was over the age limit for Aviation Cadet training—the normal path of commissioning for pilots, navigators and bombardiers—and therefore applied for an Air Corps commission as both

4148-568: The Gaelic Irish nobility in Ulster and to settle the province with Protestant Scottish and English colonists. Under this scheme, a substantial number of Scots were settled, mostly in the south and west of Ulster, on confiscated land. While many of the Scottish planters in Ulster came from southwest Scotland, a large number came from the southeast, including the unstable regions right along

4270-544: The Irish Rebellion of 1641 , the native Irish gentry attempted to extirpate the English and Scottish settlers in revenge for being driven off their ancestral land, resulting in severe violence, massacres and ultimately leading to the deaths of between four and six thousand settlers over the winter of 1641–42. Native Irish civilians were massacred in return. By 1642, native Irish were in de facto control of much of

4392-819: The Shemp Howard comedy short Art Trouble (1934), filmed in Brooklyn , and acted in summer stock productions of We Die Exquisitely and All Paris Knows at the Red Barn Theater on Long Island . In the fall, he again received excellent reviews for his role in Divided by Three at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre , which he followed with the modestly successful Page Miss Glory and the critical failure A Journey By Night in spring 1935. Soon after A Journey By Night ended, Stewart signed

4514-660: The United Irishmen to participate in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in support of republican and egalitarian ideals. Just a few generations after arriving in Ulster, considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots emigrated to the North American colonies of Great Britain . Between 1717 and 1775, over 100,000 migrated to what became the United States of America . Around the same time, the British took control of

4636-406: The diphthongization or triphthongization of the traditional short front vowels, as in the words pat , pet , and pit , especially at the end of sentences. They develop a glide up from their original starting position to [j] and, in some cases, back down to schwa . The Southern drawl is a common name for, broadly, the accent of Southern American English or, narrowly, a particular feature of

4758-707: The greatest American male actors . He received numerous honors including the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980, the Kennedy Center Honor in 1983, as well as the Academy Honorary Award and Presidential Medal of Freedom , both in 1985. Born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania , Stewart started acting while at Princeton University . After graduating, he began a career as a stage actor making his Broadway debut in

4880-658: The reserves of the United States Air Force after the Army Air Forces split from the Army in 1947. During active-duty periods, he served with the Strategic Air Command and completed transition training as a pilot on the B-47 and B-52 . Stewart was first nominated for promotion to brigadier general in February 1957; however, his promotion was initially opposed by Senator Margaret Chase Smith . At

5002-518: The 17th century. There is an Ulster Scots dialect of the Scots language . Historically, there has been considerable population exchanges between Ireland and Scotland over the millennia. This group are found mostly in the province of Ulster, their ancestors were Protestant settlers who migrated from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England during the Plantation of Ulster , which

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5124-506: The 17th century. Before the Plantation of Ulster (and even before the Flight of the Earls ), there was the 1606 independent Scottish settlement in east Down and Antrim . It was led by adventurers James Hamilton and Sir Hugh Montgomery , two Ayrshire lairds . Montgomery was granted half of Lord of Upper Clandeboye Conn McNeill O'Neill's land, a significant Gaelic lordship in Ulster, as

5246-474: The 18th and 19th centuries. In fact, these 'Scots-Irish' from Ulster and Lowland Scotland comprised the most numerous group of immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland to the American colonies between 1717 and 1775, with over 100,000 leaving Ulster at the time. Towards the end of the 18th century, many Ulster-Scots Presbyterians ignored religious differences and, along with many Catholic Gaelic Irish, joined

5368-535: The 1950s, Stewart experienced a career renewal as the star of Westerns and collaborated on several films with director Anthony Mann . The first of these was the Universal production Winchester '73 (1950), which Stewart agreed to do in exchange for being cast in a screen adaptation of Harvey . It also marked a turning point in Hollywood, as Stewart's agent, Lew Wasserman , brokered an innovative deal with Universal, in which Stewart would receive no fee in exchange for

5490-587: The Academy Award for Best Picture. Critics were curious why Stewart had taken such a small, out-of-character role; he responded that he was inspired by Lon Chaney 's ability to disguise himself while letting his character emerge. In the same year, Stewart starred in a critically and commercially failed biopic, Carbine Williams (1952), and continued his collaboration with Mann in Bend of the River (1952), which

5612-599: The Air Force on May 31, 1968, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60. Upon his retirement, he was awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal . Stewart rarely spoke about his wartime service but did appear in an episode of the British television documentary series The World at War (1974), commenting on the disastrous 1943 mission against Schweinfurt , Germany. After his experiences in

5734-548: The Phoenix (1965) as well as the Western films How the West Was Won (1962), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). With his private pilot's skills, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II seeking combat duty and rose to be deputy commanding officer of the 2nd Bombardment Wing and commanding the 703d Bombardment Squadron from 1941 to 1947. He later transferred to

5856-653: The Protestant minority's monopoly on power in Ireland. Their victories at Derry , the Boyne and Aughrim are still commemorated by the Orange Order into the 21st century. Finally, another major influx of Scots into northern Ireland occurred in the late 1690s, when tens of thousands of people fled a famine in Scotland to come to Ulster. It was only after the 1690s that Scottish settlers and their descendants,

5978-596: The Scottish lowlands. In particular, the origin of country and western music was extensively from Ulster Scots folk music, in addition to English, German, and African-American styles. The cultural traditions and aspects of this culture including its links to country music are articulated in David Hackett Fischer 's book, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America . In 2010's documentary The Hamely Tongue , filmmaker Deaglán Ó Mocháin traces back

6100-520: The Thin Man . He also received crucial help from his University Players friend Margaret Sullavan , who campaigned for him to be her leading man in the Universal romantic comedy Next Time We Love (1936), filmed right after Rose Marie . Sullavan rehearsed extensively with him, boosting his confidence and helping him incorporate his mannerisms and boyishness into his screen persona. Next Time We Love

6222-560: The USAF. Stewart was considered for the role of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee 's novel To Kill a Mockingbird , but he turned it down, concerned that the story was too controversial. Stewart and Ford's next collaboration was The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). A classic psychological Western, the picture was shot in black-and-white film noir style at Ford's insistence, with Stewart as an East Coast attorney who goes against his non-violent principles when he

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6344-801: The Ulster-Scottish settlers from native Irish landowners. The war itself, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms , ended in the 1650s, with the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . At the head of the army, Oliver Cromwell conquered all of Ireland. Defeating the Irish Confederates and English Royalists on behalf of the English Parliamentarians , he and his forces employed methods and inflicted casualties among

6466-434: The United States is higher (over 27 million) likely because contemporary Americans with some Scotch-Irish heritage may regard themselves as either Irish, Scottish, or simply American instead. Over the centuries, Ulster Scots culture has contributed to the unique character of the counties in Ulster . The Ulster Scots Agency points to industry, language, music, sport, religion and myriad traditions brought to Ulster from

6588-480: The University Players' productions in Cape Cod during the summer of 1932. The company's directors included Joshua Logan , Bretaigne Windust , and Charles Leatherbee, and amongst its other actors were married couple Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan , who became Stewart's close friends. At the end of the season, Stewart moved to New York with his Players friends Logan, Myron McCormick , and newly single Henry Fonda. Along with McCormick, Stewart debuted on Broadway in

6710-438: The Western Night Passage (1957), which had originally been slated as his ninth collaboration with Mann. During the pre-production, a rift developed between Mann and writer Borden Chase over the script, which Mann considered weak. Mann decided to leave the film and never collaborated with Stewart again. James Neilson replaced Mann, and the film opened in 1957 to become a box-office flop. Soured by this failure, Stewart avoided

6832-421: The Western genre such as Thunder Bay (1953) and The Glenn Miller Story (1954), the latter a critically acclaimed biopic in which he starred opposite June Allyson. It earned Stewart a BAFTA nomination and continued his portrayals of 'American heroes'. Stewart's second collaboration with Hitchcock, the thriller Rear Window , became the eighth highest-grossing film of 1954. Hitchcock and Stewart also formed

6954-424: The Wilson Model School for primary school and junior high school. He was not a gifted student and received average to low grades. According to his teachers, this was not from a lack of intelligence, but due to being creative and having a tendency to daydream. Stewart began attending Mercersburg Academy prep school in the fall of 1923, because his father did not believe he would be accepted into Princeton (his father

7076-487: The academy was recompensing for not giving him the award the year prior. Moreover, Stewart's character was a supporting role, not the male lead. He gave the Oscar to his father, who displayed it at his hardware store alongside other family awards and military medals. Stewart next appeared in two comedies— Come Live with Me (1941), which paired him with Hedy Lamarr , and Pot o' Gold (1941), featuring Paulette Goddard —that were both box-office failures. Stewart considered

7198-419: The accent: the articulation of the front pure vowels with lengthening and breaking ( diphthongization or even triphthongization ), perhaps also co-occurring with a marked change in pitch. Across a sentence, this phenomenon results in the "prolongation of the most heavily stressed syllables, with the corresponding weakening of the less stressed ones, so that there is an illusion of slowness even though

7320-412: The beginning of June 1945, Stewart was the presiding officer of the court martial of a pilot and navigator who accidentally bombed Zurich , Switzerland . Stewart returned to the United States in early fall 1945. He continued to play a role in reserve of the Army Air Forces after the war and was also one of the 12 founders of the Air Force Association in October 1945. Stewart eventually transferred to

7442-401: The betrayed boyfriend of the leading lady, portrayed by Jean Harlow and Janet Gaynor , respectively. Both films garnered him some good reviews. After an appearance in the short subject Important News (1936), Stewart had his first top-billed role in the low-budget "B" movie Speed (1936), in which he played a mechanic and speed driver competing in the Indianapolis 500 . The film was

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7564-515: The border with England (the Scottish Borders and Northumberland ). These groups were from the Borderers or Border Reivers culture, which had familial links on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border. The plan was that moving these Borderers to Ireland would both solve the Borders problem and tie down Ulster. This was of particular concern to James VI of Scotland when he became King of England, since he knew Scottish instability could jeopardise his chances of ruling both kingdoms effectively. During

7686-414: The brief run of Carry Nation and a few weeks later – again with McCormick – appeared as a chauffeur in the comedy Goodbye Again , in which he had a walk-on line. The New Yorker commented, "Mr. James Stewart's chauffeur... comes on for three minutes and walks off to a round of spontaneous applause." Following the seven-month run of Goodbye Again , Stewart took a stage manager position in Boston , but

7808-411: The civilian Irish population that have long been commonly considered by contemporary sources, historians and the popular culture to be outside of the accepted military ethics of the day (see more on the debate here ). After the Cromwellian war in Ireland was over, many of their soldiers settled permanently in eastern Ulster. Under the Act of Settlement 1652 , all Catholic-owned land was confiscated and

7930-410: The comedy to the show...In addition, he contributes some of the most irresistible romantic moments." His performance earned him his only Academy Award in a competitive category for Best Actor, beating out Henry Fonda, for whom he had voted and with whom he had once roomed, both almost broke, in the early 1930s in New York. Stewart himself assessed his performance in Mr. Smith to be superior and believed

8052-426: The critics. The New York Times noted, " The Stratton Story was the best thing that has yet happened to Mr. Stewart in his post-war film career...he gives such a winning performance that it is almost impossible to imagine any one else playing the role." Stewart's other 1949 release saw him reunited with Spencer Tracy in the World War II film Malaya (1949). It was a commercial failure and received mixed reviews. In

8174-438: The descendants of English settlers . For this reason, up until the 19th century, there was considerable disharmony between Dissenters and the ruling Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. With the enforcement of Queen Anne's 1703 Test Act , which caused further discrimination against all who did not participate in the established church , considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots migrated to the colonies in British America throughout

8296-405: The family business, the J. M. Stewart and Company Hardware Store, which he hoped Stewart would take over as an adult after attending Princeton University, as was the family tradition. Raised a Presbyterian by his deeply religious father, Stewart was a devout churchgoer for much of his life. Stewart's mother was a pianist, and music was an important part of family life. When a customer at the store

8418-464: The film itself received mixed reviews. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that "so darling is the acting of James Stewart [...] and all the rest that a virtually brand-new experience is still in store for even those who saw the play", while Variety called him "perfect" in the role. John McCarten of the New Yorker stated that although he "doesn't bring his part to the battered authority of Frank Fay...he nevertheless succeeds in making plausible

8540-483: The first films about the new science of public opinion polling . It was poorly received both commercially and critically. Stewart appeared in four new film releases in 1948. Call Northside 777 was a critically acclaimed film noir , while the musical comedy On Our Merry Way , in which Stewart and Henry Fonda played jazz musicians in an ensemble cast, was a critical and commercial failure. The comedy You Gotta Stay Happy , which paired Stewart with Joan Fontaine ,

8662-416: The first version, Hitchcock himself considered his remake superior. Stewart's next film, Billy Wilder 's The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), saw him star as his young adulthood hero, Charles Lindbergh . It was a big-budget production with elaborate special effects for the flying sequences, but received only mixed reviews and did not earn back its production costs. Stewart ended the year with a starring role in

8784-492: The genre and would not make another Western for four years. Stewart's collaboration with Hitchcock ended the following year with Vertigo (1958), in which he starred as an acrophobic former policeman who becomes obsessed with a woman (Kim Novak) he is shadowing. Although Vertigo has later become considered one of Hitchcock's key works and was ranked the greatest film ever made by the Sight & Sound critics' poll in 2012, it

8906-495: The growth of a new dialect. In the late 1800s, people from New South Wales began to move to other parts of the continent because of increased overseas immigration, gold rushes, and other factors. The "cavalry drawl" was a phenomenon of English-speaking officers in England, which was noted around 1840. Officers in certain cavalry regiments considered to be fashionable would affect a drawling delivery in their speech. Broad New Zealand, much like Broad Australian, began taking hold in

9028-411: The hot Southern climate or the laziness of its speakers. Broad Australian likely emerged from New South Wales , in southeastern Australia , in the early 1800s, when the population was significantly increasing by the importation of convicts. Many of the convicts came from Britain and Ireland, the origin of Broad Australian. However, the area was relatively isolated from outside influences which fostered

9150-513: The idea of redefining his screen persona through the Western genre. In the film, Stewart is a tough, vengeful sharpshooter, the winner of a prized rifle that is stolen and passes through many hands, until the showdown between him and his brother. Winchester '73 became a box-office success upon its summer release and earned Stewart rave reviews. He also starred in another successful Western that summer, Broken Arrow (1950), which featured him as an ex-soldier and Native American agent making peace with

9272-472: The island under a Confederate Ireland , with about a third under the control of the opposition. However, many Ulster-Scots Presbyterians joined with the Irish in rebellion and aided them in driving the English out. The Ulster Scots population in Ireland was probably preserved from destruction during the subsequent Irish Confederate Wars , when a Scottish Covenanter army was landed in the province to protect

9394-479: The late 1800s when people from the British Isles brought their varieties of English to New Zealand . Its drawl in is caused by vowel shifts and diphthongization. Ulster Scots people The Ulster Scots people or Scots-Irish are an ethnic group descended largely from Scottish and some Northern English Borders settlers who moved to the northern province of Ulster in Ireland mainly during

9516-601: The latter to be the worst film of his career. His last film before military service was the musical Ziegfeld Girl (1941), which co-starred Judy Garland , Hedy Lamarr , and Lana Turner . It was a critical failure, but also one of the best box-office performers of the year. Stewart became the first major American movie star to enlist in the United States Army to fight in World War II. His family had deep military roots: both of his grandfathers had fought in

9638-564: The majority of whom were Presbyterian , gained numeric superiority in Ulster, though still a minority in Ireland as a whole. Along with Catholics , they were legally disadvantaged by the Penal Laws , which gave full rights only to members of the Church of Ireland (the Anglican state church ), who were mainly Anglo-Irish (themselves often absentee landlords ), native Irish converts or

9760-530: The most knowing and engaging young actors appearing on the screen at present". Stewart's third film release of 1938, the First World War  drama The Shopworn Angel , saw him collaborate again with Margaret Sullavan. In his performance, Stewart drew upon his own feelings of unrequited love towards Sullavan, who was married to his agent, Leland Hayward . Although the film was otherwise well-received, critics were mixed about Stewart. Bland Johaneson of

9882-404: The most-popular movie stars, displacing rival Western star John Wayne . Stewart continued his successful box-office run with two collaborations with Mann in 1955. Strategic Air Command paired him again with June Allyson in a Cold War   Stewart took a central role in its development, using his experiences from the air force. Despite criticism for the dry, mechanistic storyline, it became

10004-522: The notion that Harvey, the rabbit, would accept him as a pal." Stewart later stated that he was dissatisfied with his performance, stating, "I played him a little too dreamily, a little too cute-cute." Despite the film's poor box office performance, Stewart received his fourth Academy Award nomination as well as his first Golden Globe nomination. Similar to It's a Wonderful Life , Harvey achieved popularity later, after frequent television showings. Stewart appeared in only one film released in 1951, playing

10126-527: The origins of this culture and language, and relates its manifestations in today's Ireland. The film's title refers to James Fenton's book, The Hamely Tongue: A personal record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim . Most Ulster Scots speak Ulster English as a first language . Ulster Scots is the local dialect of the Lowland Scots language which has, since the 1980s, also been called "Ullans",

10248-729: The play Carry Nation (1932). He landed his first supporting role in The Murder Man (1935) and had his breakthrough in Frank Capra 's ensemble comedy You Can't Take It with You (1938). Stewart went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the George Cukor romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story (1940). His other Oscar-nominated roles were in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), It's

10370-572: The point of being neurotic, thoughtful to the point of being tongue-tied", describing him as "particularly gifted in expressing the emotional ambivalence of the action hero". Stewart won the New York Film Critics Circle award and received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Stewart's last screen appearance of 1939 came in the Western Destry Rides Again , in which he portrayed

10492-469: The political comedy-drama Mr. Smith Goes to Washington . Stewart played an idealist thrown into the political arena. It garnered critical praise and became the third-highest-grossing film of the year. The Nation stated "[Stewart] takes first place among Hollywood actors...Now he is mature and gives a difficult part, with many nuances, moments of tragic-comic impact." Later, critic Andrew Sarris qualified Stewart's performance as "lean, gangling, idealistic to

10614-521: The radio program We Hold These Truths , a celebration of the United States Bill of Rights , which was broadcast a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor . Stewart also appeared in a First Motion Picture Unit short film, Winning Your Wings , to help recruit airmen. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1942, it appeared in movie theaters nationwide beginning in late May 1942 and resulted in 150,000 new recruits. Stewart

10736-411: The role of a Nietzsche -loving philosophy professor. The film's screenwriter Arthur Laurents also stated that "the casting of [Stewart] was absolutely destructive. He's not sexual as an actor." Stewart found success again with The Stratton Story (1949), playing baseball champion Monty Stratton  opposite June Allyson . It became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1949 and was well received by

10858-440: The screen with Carole Lombard . Stewart blamed its directing and screenwriting for its poor box-office performance. Regardless, the film received favorable reviews, with Newsweek writing that Stewart and Lombard were "perfectly cast in the leading roles". The other two films, The Ice Follies of 1939 and It's a Wonderful World , were critical failures. In Stewart's fourth 1939 film, he worked with Capra and Arthur again in

10980-519: The show", yet the film was again not a box-office success. Stewart's final film to be released in 1940 was George Cukor 's romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story , in which he played an intrusive, fast-talking reporter sent to cover the wedding of a socialite ( Katharine Hepburn ) with the help of her ex-husband ( Cary Grant ). The film became one of the largest box-office successes of the year and received widespread critical acclaim. The New York Herald Tribune stated that "Stewart...contributes most of

11102-560: The sixth highest-grossing film of 1955. Stewart's final collaboration with Mann in the Western genre, The Man from Laramie , one of the first Westerns to be shot in CinemaScope , was well received by the critics and audiences alike. Following his work with Mann, Stewart starred opposite Doris Day in Hitchcock's remake of his earlier film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). The film was another success. Even though critics preferred

11224-555: The story of Elwood P. Dowd, a wealthy eccentric, whose best friend is an invisible man-sized rabbit and whose relatives are trying to get him committed to a mental asylum. Stewart gained a following in the unconventional play, and although Fay returned to the role in August, they decided that Stewart would take his place again the next summer. Stewart's only film to be released in 1947 was the William A. Wellman comedy Magic Town , one of

11346-460: The tempo may be fast." The major characteristic of the Southern drawl is vowel breaking : the shifting of a monophthong into a diphthong or even a triphthong . In the Southern accent, the short front vowels /æ/, /ɛ/, and /ɪ/ may be somewhat raised (or become an up-gliding diphthong, or both) before finally centralizing towards a schwa -like off-glide [ə]. See the examples below: Drawling

11468-554: The territory of New France , allowing many Ulster-Scots to migrate to these areas as well. These people are known as the Scotch-Irish Canadians . In the United States census of 2000, 4.3 million Americans (1.5% of the population of the United States) claimed Scotch-Irish ancestry. Author and former United States Senator Jim Webb suggests that the true number of people with some Scots-Irish heritage in

11590-582: The third-tier football team due to his slender physique. Stewart also made his first onstage appearance at Mercersburg, as Buquet in the play The Wolves in 1928. During summer breaks, he returned to Indiana, working first as a brick loader and then as a magician's assistant. Due to scarlet fever that turned into a kidney infection, he had to take time out from school in 1927, which delayed his graduation until 1928. He remained passionate about aviation, with his interest enhanced by Charles Lindbergh 's first solo transatlantic flight, but abandoned visions of becoming

11712-639: The time of the nomination, the Washington Daily News noted: "He trains actively with the Reserve every year. He's had 18 hours as first pilot of a B-52." On July 23, 1959, Stewart was promoted to brigadier general, becoming the highest-ranking actor in American military history. During the Vietnam War , he flew as a non-duty observer in a B-52 on an Arc Light bombing mission in February 1966. He served for 27 years, officially retiring from

11834-529: The war film The Mountain Road (1960). To his surprise, it was a box office failure, despite his claims that it was one of the best scripts he'd ever read. He began a new director collaboration with John Ford , making his debut in his films in the Western Two Rode Together (1961), which had thematic echoes of Ford's The Searchers . The same year, he also narrated the film X-15 for

11956-475: The war, Stewart considered returning to Pennsylvania to run the family store. His former agent, Leland Hayward, had also left the talent business in 1944 after selling his roster of stars, including Stewart, to Music Corporation of America (MCA). Stewart decided not to renew his MGM contract and instead signed a deal with MCA. He later stated that he was given a new beginning by Frank Capra, who asked him to star in It's

12078-536: The years he was in the war", and President Harry S. Truman concluded that "If [my wife] and I had a son we'd want him to be just like Jimmy Stewart [in this film]." In the decades since its release, It's a Wonderful Life has grown to define Stewart's film persona and is widely considered a Christmas classic, and according to the American Film Institute, is one of the 100 best American movies ever made. Andrew Sarris stated that Stewart's performance

12200-522: Was a planned process of colonisation following the Tudor conquest of Ireland . The largest numbers came from Dumfries and Galloway , Lanarkshire , Renfrewshire , Ayrshire , Scottish Borders , Northumberland , Cumbria , Durham , Yorkshire and, to a lesser extent, from the Scottish Highlands . Ulster Scots people, displaced through hardship, emigrated in significant numbers around in

12322-619: Was a box-office success and received mostly positive reviews, leading Stewart to be noticed by critics and MGM executives. Time stated that "the chief significance of [the film] in the progress of the cinema industry is likely to reside in the presence in its cast of James Stewart", and The New York Times called him "a welcome addition to the roster of Hollywood's leading men". Stewart followed Next Time We Love with supporting roles in two commercially successful romantic comedies, Wife vs. Secretary (1936) with Clark Gable and Myrna Loy and Small Town Girl (1936). In both, he played

12444-553: Was a box-office success in Europe, but failed to find an audience in the US, where less-gentle screwball comedies were more popular. Director Lubitsch assessed it to be the best film of his career, and it has been regarded highly by later critics, such as Pauline Kael and Richard Schickel . The drama The Mortal Storm , directed by Frank Borzage , featured Sullavan and Stewart as lovers caught in turmoil upon Hitler 's rise to power. It

12566-431: Was a commercial and critical success. Stewart followed Bend of the River with four more collaborations with Mann in the next two years. The Naked Spur (1953) and The Far Country (1954) were successful with audiences and developed Stewart's screen persona into a more mature, ambiguous, and edgier presence. The films featured him as troubled cowboys seeking redemption while facing corrupt cattlemen, ranchers, and outlaws;

12688-489: Was a member of the class of 1898) if he attended public high school. At Mercersburg, Stewart participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. He was a member of the track team (competing as a high jumper under coach Jimmy Curran ), the art editor of the school yearbook, a member of the glee club , and a member of the John Marshall Literary Society. To his disappointment, he was relegated to

12810-411: Was also critically successful, but while Variety wrote that the performances of Stewart and Arthur garnered "much of the laughs", most of the critical acclaim went to Lionel Barrymore and Edward Arnold . In contrast to the success of You Can't Take It With You , Stewart's first three film releases of 1939 were all commercial disappointments. In the melodrama Made for Each Other (1939), he shared

12932-468: Was concerned that his celebrity status would relegate him to duties behind the lines. After spending over a year training pilots at Kirtland Army Airfield in Albuquerque, New Mexico , he appealed to his commander and in November 1943 was sent to England as part of the 703d Bomb Squadron to fly B-24 Liberators . He was based initially at RAF Tibenham , before moving to RAF Old Buckenham . Stewart

13054-534: Was convinced to continue acting when he was cast in the lead role of Yellow Jack , playing a soldier who becomes the subject of a yellow fever experiment. It premiered at the Martin Beck Theater in March 1934. Stewart received unanimous praise from the critics, but the play proved unpopular with audiences and folded by June. During the summer, Stewart made his film debut with an unbilled appearance in

13176-419: Was established in older Southern American English , surviving into 20th-century Southern American English, though declining in speakers born since 1960. The drawl is often associated with social stereotypes, positive and negative. Studies have shown that American adults tend to attribute Southern accents with friendliness and humility. However, the drawl is also perceived as slow and (mistakenly) attributed to

13298-586: Was fading, and a new wave of actors, including Marlon Brando , Montgomery Clift , and James Dean , would soon remake Hollywood. Stewart returned to making radio dramas in 1946; he continued this work between films until the mid-1950s. He also made a comeback on Broadway to star in Mary Coyle Chase 's Harvey in July 1947, replacing the original star Frank Fay for the duration of his vacation. The play had opened to nearly universal praise in 1944 and told

13420-663: Was fired after frequently missing his cues. Returning to New York, he then landed a small part in Spring in Autumn and a role in All Good Americans , where he was required to throw a banjo out of the window. Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times wrote, "Throwing a $ 250 banjo out of the window at the concierge is constructive abuse and should be virtuously applauded." Both plays folded after only short runs, and Stewart began to think about going back to his studies. Stewart

13542-1042: Was fought between Jacobites who supported the restoration of the Catholic James II to the throne of England and Williamites who supported the Protestant William of Orange . The majority of the Protestant colonists throughout Ireland but particularly in Ulster, fought on the Williamite side in the war against the Jacobites . The fear of a repeat of the massacres of 1641, fear of retribution for religious persecution, as well as their wish to hold on to lands which had been confiscated from Catholic landowners, were all principal motivating factors. The Williamite forces, composed of British, Dutch, Huguenot and Danish armies, as well as troops raised in Ulster, ended Jacobite resistance by 1691, confirming

13664-569: Was hospitalized. RKO initially wanted to replace Stewart, but eventually the project was canceled. However, Rogers' success in a stage musical caused the film to be picked up again. Stewart was recast in Vivacious Lady at Rogers' insistence and due to his performance in Of Human Hearts . It was a critical and commercial success, and showed Stewart's talent for performing in romantic comedies; The New York Herald called him "one of

13786-417: Was less well received by critics and was commercially unsuccessful. Despite its commercial failure, the film marked the close of the most commercially successful decade of Stewart's career. According to Quigley's annual poll, Stewart was one of the top money-making stars for ten years, appearing in the top ten in 1950, 1952–1959, and 1965. He topped the list in 1955. Stewart opened the new decade by starring in

13908-406: Was looking for a new type of leading man. He had been impressed by Stewart's role in Navy Blue and Gold (1937). According to Capra, Stewart was one of the best actors ever to hit the screen, understood character archetypes intuitively, and required little directing. You Can't Take It With You became the fifth highest-grossing film of the year and won the Academy Award for Best Picture . The film

14030-414: Was met with unenthusiastic reviews and poor box-office receipts upon its release. Regardless, several critics complimented Stewart for his performance, with Bosley Crowther noting, "Mr. Stewart, as usual, manages to act awfully tense in a casual way." Hitchcock blamed the film's failure on Stewart being too old to convincingly be Novak's love interest: he was fifty years old at the time and had begun wearing

14152-404: Was not well-received: The New York Times stated that his "singing and dancing will (fortunately) never win him a song-and-dance-man classification", and Variety called "his singing and dancing [...] rather painful on their own", although it otherwise found Stewart aptly cast in an "assignment [that] calls for a shy youth". Stewart's last film to be released in 1936, After the Thin Man , features

14274-549: Was one of the first blatantly anti- Nazi films to be produced in Hollywood, but according to film scholar Ben Urwand , "ultimately made very little impact" as it did not show the persecution experienced by Jews or name that ethnic group. Despite being well received by critics, it failed at the box office. Ten days after filming The Mortal Storm , Stewart began filming No Time for Comedy (1940) with Rosalind Russell . Critics complimented Stewart's performance; Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called Stewart "the best thing in

14396-638: Was promoted to major following a mission to Ludwigshafen , Germany, on January 7, 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions as deputy commander of the 2nd Bombardment Wing , the French Croix de Guerre with palm, and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters . Stewart was promoted to full colonel on March 29, 1945, becoming one of the few Americans to ever rise from private to colonel in only four years. At

14518-475: Was still a minor star, and MGM remained hesitant to cast him in leading roles, preferring to loan him out to other studios. After a well-received supporting part in Of Human Hearts (1938), he was loaned to RKO to act opposite Ginger Rogers in the romantic comedy Vivacious Lady (1938). The production was shut down for months in 1937 as Stewart recovered from an undisclosed illness, during which he

14640-503: Was the most successful of his post-war films up to that point. Rope , in which Stewart played the idolized teacher of two young men who commit murder to show their supposed superiority, began his collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock . Shot in long "real-time" takes, Stewart felt pressure to be flawless in his performance; the added stress led to him sleeping very little and drinking more heavily. Rope received mixed reviews, and Andrew Sarris and Scott Eyman have later called him miscast in

14762-409: Was unable to pay his bill, Stewart's father accepted an old accordion as payment. Stewart learned to play the instrument with the help of a local barber. His accordion became a fixture offstage during his acting career. A shy child, Stewart spent much of his time after school in the basement working on model airplanes, mechanical drawings, and chemistry—all with a dream of going into aviation. He attended

14884-469: Was underappreciated by critics of the time, who could not see "the force and fury" of it, and considered his proposal scene with Donna Reed , "one of the most sublimely histrionic expressions of passion". Stewart later named the film his personal favorite out of his filmography. In the aftermath of It's A Wonderful Life , Capra's production company went into bankruptcy, while Stewart continued to have doubts about his acting abilities. His generation of actors

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