PEOPLE IN AMERICA - James Stewart

PEOPLE IN AMERICA -December 8, 2002: James Stewart

By Nancy Steinbach

In ''It's a Wonderful Life''
(THEME)

VOICE 1:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE 2:

And I'm Rich Kleinfeldt with the VOA Special English program, People in
America. Today, we tell the story of actor James Stewart. His movies were loved by
people around the world.

(Theme)

VOICE 1:

James Maitland Stewart was born in the small eastern town of Indiana,

Pennsylvania, in nineteen-oh-eight. His father had a hardware store that had been
owned by the Stewart family since the eighteen-fifties.

During high school, Jimmy played football, and acted in plays. He also learned to play the accordion¹. He took the
accordion with him to college at Princeton University, where he joined a musical group called the Triangle Club.
Through the club, he met students interested in performing.

Jimmy studied architecture at Princeton. He graduated in nineteen-thirty-two. Just before graduation, a friend
asked him to join an acting² group for the summer. Jimmy agreed because he thought it would be a good way to
meet girls.

VOICE 2:

Jimmy Stewart said later that if his friend had not asked him to join the summer theater group, he would never
have been an actor. He would have returned home to help his father in the store. Instead, he met a number of
good young actors while performing that summer in Cape³ Cod⁴, Massachusetts. One was Henry Fonda, who
would be a friend throughout his life.

VOICE 1:

Jimmy Stewart performed in Broadway plays in New York City until the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie company
gave him an acting job. He moved to California in nineteen-thirty-five. He acted in more than twenty-four movies
over the next six years. He appeared in all kinds of movies: funny ones, sad ones and musical ones. He even sang
a song in the movie "Born to Dance." It is called "Easy to Love":

(MUSIC)

VOICE 2:

The movie that made Jimmy Stewart a real Hollywood star was "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." It was released
in nineteen-thirty-nine. The next year, he won an Academy Award for best actor in "The Philadelphia Story."

The night he won the Academy Award, his father called him on the telephone from Pennsylvania. "I hear you
won some kind of an award," Alex Stewart said. "You had better bring it back here and we'll put it in the window
of the store." Jimmy Stewart's Oscar statue stayed in the window of Stewart's hardware store in Indiana,
Pennsylvania, for twenty-five years.


VOICE 1:

Jimmy Stewart was already an established and successful actor when World War Two started in Europe. Early in
nineteen-forty-one, he tried to join the Army. But he was rejected because he did not weigh enough. So he started
eating high fat foods and tried again. This time, he was accepted for military service.

The Army put him in the Air Corps⁵ because he already knew how to pilot a plane. In nineteen-forty-three, he
went to Europe as commander of an Air Force bomber⁶ group. He flew more than twenty combat missions,
leading as many as one-thousand planes at a time over Germany. He returned to the United States in nineteen-
forty-five as a colonel.

VOICE 2:

Jimmy Stewart won several military awards for excellent performance under very dangerous conditions. He
remained in the air force reserve after the war. In nineteen-fifty-nine he was made a general. Each year, he took
part in two weeks of active military duty. In nineteen-sixty-six, he requested combat duty and took part in a
bombing strike over Vietnam.

VOICE 1:

After World War Two, Jimmy Stewart returned to Hollywood. He found that his new movies were not as popular
as his earlier ones had been. One example was "It's a Wonderful Life." It was released in nineteen-forty-six. The
movie was not a success at first. But over time it has become one of the best loved American movies.

Jimmy Stewart said in later years that "It's a Wonderful Life" was the movie he liked best. It tells the story of a
small town man who feels the world would have been better if he had never lived. An angel comes to him and
shows him that this is not true. The movie celebrated⁷ values like loyalty⁸ and love of family.

VOICE 2:

Jimmy Stewart decided⁹ to play other kinds of parts after what seemed to be the failure of "It's a Wonderful Life."
He was a reporter in "Call Northside Seven-Seven-Seven" the next year. He was a suspicious head of a school in
the murder movie "Rope" in nineteen-forty-eight. In the nineteen-fifties, he appeared in many western movies
such as "Winchester Seventy-Three" and "Broken Arrow."

VOICE 1:

Jimmy Stewart enjoyed his greatest popularity in the nineteen-fifties. In nineteen-fifty-nine, he won awards from
the Venice Film Festival, the New York Film Critics and the Film Daily Writers. The awards honored him for his
performance in the movie "Anatomy¹⁰ of a Murder." He was the defense¹¹ attorney for an army officer accused of
murder. He was nominated for an Academy Award for that movie. He was also nominated for an Academy
Award for playing a man who has an imaginary rabbit friend, in the movie "Harvey."

Jimmy Stewart is well-known for his work with the famous director of mystery movies, Alfred Hitchcock. These
movies included "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "Rear Window" and "Vertigo¹²." Mr. Stewart also played real
heroes in several movies. He was band leader Glenn Miller¹³ in "The Glenn Miller Story." And he was pilot
Charles Lindbergh in "The Spirit of Saint Louis."

VOICE 2:

Jimmy Stewart appeared in fewer films in the nineteen-sixties. He was a senator in the Old West in "The Man
Who Shot Liberty Valance." In "The Shootist" he was a doctor in a small town. He also appeared on television.
But his two television shows were not successful.

Mr. Stewart began experiencing health problems as he aged¹⁴. He had heart disease, skin cancer and hearing loss.
But he found time to travel. And he published a book of poetry in nineteen-eighty-nine. It sold more than three-
hundred-thousand copies.

VOICE 1:


In nineteen-eighty, Jimmy Stewart was honored by the American Film Institute with an award for his lifetime
work. Three years later, he received a Kennedy Center honor for his work. And in nineteen-eighty-five, President
Ronald Reagan gave him the nation's highest civilian¹⁵ award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

People who knew Jimmy Stewart did not praise him just because he was a good actor and a war hero. They said
Jimmy Stewart was one of the nicest people they had ever met. He was a man who lived by the values he was
taught as a child in that small town in Pennsylvania.

He went back to Indiana, Pennsylvania, in nineteen-eighty-three, for his seventieth birthday. The town held a
huge celebration in his honor. President Reagan sent planes to fly over the court house. Parades were held. And a
statue of him was placed in the town center.

VOICE 2:

Jimmy Stewart married Gloria Hatrick McLean in nineteen-forty-nine. She had two sons from an earlier
marriage. Jimmy raised them as his own. One of the boys was killed during the Vietnam War while serving in the
Marine¹⁶ Corps. Jimmy and Gloria also had twin daughters.

Gloria Stewart died in nineteen-ninety-four. Friends said Jimmy Stewart was never the same after that. They said
he withdrew into his house because he did not know what to do without her. His health got worse. He died on
July the second, nineteen-ninety-seven.

VOICE 1:

Jimmy Stewart's daughter Kelly Harcourt spoke¹⁷ at his funeral in Beverly Hills. She reminded mourners of the
message of her father's favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" -- no man is poor who has friends. "Here's to our
father," she said, "the richest man in town."

(Theme)

VOICE 2:

This Special English program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Rich
Kleinfeldt.

VOICE 1:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week at this time for another People in America program on VOA.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

1 accordion   

n.手风琴；adj.可折叠的

参考例句：

• The accordion music in the film isn't very beautiful.这部影片中的手风琴音乐不是很好。
• The accordion music reminds me of my boyhood.这手风琴的乐声让我回忆起了我的少年时代。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

7 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

8 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 vertigo   

n.眩晕

参考例句：

• He had a dreadful attack of vertigo.他忽然头晕得厉害。
• If you have vertigo it seems as if the whole room is spinning round you.如果你头晕，就会觉得整个房间都旋转起来

13 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

14 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

15 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

16 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。