Jimmy Stewart Biography

Jimmy Stewart

Nominated for five Academy Awards during his lifetime, winning Best Actor for The Philadelphia Story (1940), Stewart came to acting after graduating from Princeton University in 1932 with a degree in architecture. His films include You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Harvey (1950), The Glenn Miller Story (1953), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962), and The Big Sleep (1978).He enlisted in the Air Force in 1941, putting his acting career on hold while he completed 20 missions as a bomber pilot during World War II. In 1980 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute, and in 1985 he was awarded a special career Oscar.