I’m not reading the whole thread to see if anyone else posted this.
I saw some movie channel documentary about Jimmy, and a fan told a little anecdote: he saw JS in the street and said to him, “Mr. Stewart, I know this won’t mean anything to you, but I’m a big fan and I think you’re wonderful.” JS grasped the fan by the arm and said “It means everything to me.”
It was a simple human and humane gesture on Jimmy’s part, and I think about it every time I see his image in films to this day.
Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart were best friends. IIRC, they’d spend the whole day together, working on woodcraft or model trains or something, and hardly say a word to each other. That’s how comfortable they were with each other.
How does the military handle famous people who want to join? Can you see Clark Gable or Jimmy Stewart in boot camp, with the sergeant screaming in their face? I know drill instructors are trained to hell and back again, but are there special conditions for training celebrities?
Didn’t Stewart win an Oscar for that movie about Lindbergh?
Stewart won the Best Actor Oscar for The Philadelphia Story in 1941. He was also nominated for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, Harvey, and Anatomy of a Murder. But not for The Spirit of St. Louis.
I doubt he had to worry much about resuming his career. Of more immediate concern was the very real possibility (especially among bomber crews) that he would return wearing that all-too-common fashion accessory of the time, the toe tag.
That Stewart would walk away from celebrity and towards peril marked him as a rare bird in Hollywood - a decent man.
(Will his agent get ten percent of the stamp sales??)