Author(s): Marc Eliot

Biographies & Memoirs

Jimmy Stewart was one of Hollywood's nice guys, who enjoyed one of the longest screen careers in history, from "Murder Man" in 1935 to a "Lassie" film in 1981. His films were also remarkably wide-ranging, from heartwarming Frank Capra classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" through George Cukor's "The Philadelphia Story" to creepy Hitchcock masterworks like "Vertigo". His role in the comic film Harvey, about a man pursued by a giant invisible rabbit, he reprised on the London stage towards the end of his life. Marc Eliot's new biography is a superbly readable and comprehensively detailed account of Stewart's life and career, including notably a lengthy and fascinating account of his war service flying bombers for the US Air Force. He has obtained rare interviews from one of Stewart's daughters, from his "Vertigo" co-star Kim Novak, and from Frank Capra's son.