Jimmy Stewart catapulted to stardom as everybody s favorite boy next door, his appeal emanating from his honest, affable persona. And he parlayed that appeal into a brilliant acting career spanning 79 films and nearly half a century.
His unforgettable performances as the naive idealist fighting political corruption in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...the delightful drunk whose companion is a six-foot rabbit in Harvey...and the flippant reporter caught between Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in his Oscar "RM" winner, The Philadelphia Story, have made him a cultural icon, a symbol of the idealism and simple nobility of the average guy.
Gary Fishgall, author of the well-received biography of Burr Lancaster Against Type, conducted thousands of hours of interviews for this book. Whether looking at Stewart's childhood, recalling the actor's fast-track dating days before his marriage at age forty to Gloria McLean, chronicling his heroic missions as a bomber pilot during World War II, telling behind-the-scenes film stories, or looking at his reclusive twilight years, Fishgall reveals a very human Jimmy Stewart -- in a superbly researched book that movie lovers will cherish.