This World War II Veteran Was one of America's Most Beloved Actors

24. James Stewart faded quickly after Gloria died in 1994

Gloria Stewart suffered from lung cancer and died in February 1994. James Stewart, always a withdrawn and private person, became even more withdrawn. He seldom received what friends remained, including Gregory Peck, and remained at home for the most part. Peck reported that Stewart was not depressed, but that he simply wanted to rest in seclusion. In truth, Stewart seldom left his bedroom during the day. When he did it was for meals or for visits with his children and grandchildren. In the winter of 1996, he decided not to replace the battery in the pacemaker he wore to control an irregular heartbeat.

Two months later he was hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat. He returned to his home in Beverly Hills, where he died on July 2, 1997, at the age of 89. He was internationally mourned. President Clinton called him a “national treasure”. During his lifetime he was much more than a celluloid hero. He was a decorated war hero, and civic activist, and a philanthropist of note. Most of all, despite the wealth and fame he achieved, it failed to change him from the honorable and kind gentleman he was raised to be. Charlton Heston called him, “a role model and inspiration”. And his former costar, Kim Novak, said of him” He was not an actor. He was the real thing”.