I Love Jimmy Stewart

I saw a clip from MSNBC this morning about the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, PA. I'd never known there was a museum for one of my favorite actors, and was nicely surprised. However, my surprise wasn't all positive, as the museum has come on hard financial times. The director of the museum said he thought it was because the people who were most familiar with Jimmy Stewart were aging.

I have been an enormous fan of Jimmy Stewart for as long as I can remember, and it's sobering to think of myself as soon-to-be extinct. I can't think of a Jimmy Stewart movie I don't like, and some are among my favorite movies. I think most people would choose "It's a Wonderful Life," especially in this season, but my own favorite is "Harvey." One of my most special memories is seeing a stage version when I was in college. I went to New York (I grew up in Connecticut) with my mother and we had a wonderful afternoon seeing Jimmy Stewart, Helen Hayes and Jesse White.  I also like the great Jimmy Stewart films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, especially "Rear Window."

Here's a cheer for the man who gave us Elwood P. Dowd in "Harvey" and George Bailey in a movie most of us will be seeing in the next two weeks...

Bless you, Jimmy Stewart and thank you!