Narrator Tom Parker, one of the best in the business, is the perfect choice for this superbly written portrait of a Hollywood legend (LJ 9/1/96). Dewey offers a rare treatment of a star: an actor's career documented and analyzed with skill and integrity. After arguing persuasively that Stewart's acting ability, in range of expression and depth of emotion, exceeded that of his Hollywood contemporaries, Dewey examines all of Stewart's films and the defining events of his life in an attempt to discover the wellspring of Stewart's inspiration. This is not an easy search with any performer, and if Dewey falls short, at least he never forgets that, in the biography of an actor, the craft of acting belongs in the forefront. His interviews with Stewart's costars and directors give a clear sense of his consummate professionalism. Detailed discussions of Stewart's wife, his children, and the Jimmy Stewart Museum are less than compelling, but these are minor flaws. Highly recommended.Peter Josyph, New York
Dewey, author of the Nelson Algren Prizewinning novel "Reasonable Doubts" (1991) and the first full biography of Marcello Mastroianni, has written a thorough biography of the now-reclusive Stewart by interviewing Stewart's children and more than 100 other sources (including many "names" from the entertainment world). Dewey dug through archives and library periodical collections to develop a multidimensional view of an actor whose natural style has sometimes caused audiences to undervalue his talent and skill. The narrative follows Stewart from his home in Indiana to Broadway, Hollywood, World War II, then back to Hollywood, with fairly unsensational but detailed discussions of the hot topics--e.g., Stewart's friends, loves, and political activities--fans will expect to find. Stewart's life was one of acting, and Dewey analyzes remarkable Stewart performances to reveal the actor's technique. Turner marketing plans include promoting the book in September on TBS/TNT during a week of Jimmy Stewart movie programming.
Biographer and novelist Dewey (Marcello Mastroianni, 1993; Reasonable Doubts, 1991) offers a voluminous, highly intelligent look at one of the richest and most complex of Hollywood star personas, not incidentally, one of the industry's most beloved actors.
Intriguingly, as Dewey ably demonstrates, Stewart is one of those actors who—thanks to generations of comedians and impressionists—we think we know cold but whose work is continually surprising. Ironically, Stewart had the kind of upbringing that people identify with his film characters: He was raised in Indiana, Penn., a small town in the middle of the state. His father, Alex, was a dominating personality, owner of a large hardware store, one of the town's most successful businesses. It was Alex who determined that his only son would follow his path to the Mercersburg Academy and Princeton. Alex was less than thrilled when Jimmy developed more of an interest in theater than in his chosen field, architecture, but the father was also shrewd enough to give him his opportunity to fail. Needless to say, he didn't. Stewart's rise was swift, moving like lightning from summer stock to Broadway to Hollywood and stardom. Dewey, as interested in the work as he is in the life, examines each of Stewart's films in considerable detail and with real acumen. Nor does he neglect Stewart's private life; he is utterly frank but never titillating about the actor's affairs with Norma Shearer, Ginger Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, and Olivia De Havilland. Also very astute is the analysis of Stewart's career choices, and the detailed recounting of his distinguished record as a bomber pilot and squad commander during WW II is downright moving. Dewey describes everything with a workmanlike prose that may not sing, but it hums nicely.
A model of how to do a serious but entertaining Hollywood biography; Dewey never loses sight of the work, which is what makes Stewart important in the first place.
