Stewart, James, 1908-1997

James Stewart (Princeton Class of 1932) was an American actor.

James “Jimmy” Maitland Stewart (b. May 20, 1908, Indiana, Pa.-d. July 2, 1997, Los Angeles, Calif.), U.S. Air Force officer, enlisted in the Army as a private and began pilot training in 1941, receiving his commission early in 1942. At first he was assigned to recruitment and training positions due to his celebrity status, but in 1943 joined the 445th Bombardment Group. He served as operations officer, then commander of the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, flying combat missions over Germany. In 1944 he was transferred as group operations officer to the 453rd Bombardment Group and flew as command pilot in the lead B-24 on many missions deep into Nazi-occupied Europe. After flying 20 combat missions, he was made chief of staff of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the 8th Air Force. He continued to play an active role in the U.S. Air Force Reserve after the War, and retired in 1968.

Actor. Served in U.S. Air Force. Letter was written while Stewart was filming The Spirit of St. Louis.

John Strauss was a publicist for actor Jimmy Stewart.

John Strauss was born on April 2,1913. Before becoming a publicist, Strauss worked as a Warner Brothers film salesman in Buffalo, NY. In 1945 he transferred to the Warner Brothers publicity department in Burbank, CA. For the next 52 years, Strauss represented various celebrities, including those of Hollywood's "Golden Age" such as Lucille Ball, Jule Andrews, Jack Lemmon, as well as Jimmy Stewart.

He died September 21, 2001 at the age of 88.