With previous flying experience, Stewart served as a flight instructor until November 1943 when he was promoted to commander of a bomber squadron. Stationed in Europe, Stewart flew on over 20 missions and received numerous honors, including the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was promoted to the rank of colonel, and in 1959, he was appointed as a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve.

During this time, Stewart worked on several films, but it wasn’t until after the war that he returned to making movies full-time. In his first notable project following the war, he starred with Donna Reed in Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance as the heart-of-gold hero who must choose between his worldly ambitions and the familial demands of his small hometown. While the film was at first received without much enthusiasm, it has since become a beloved holiday classic.

Stewart reprised his 1947 Broadway role in Harvey (1950), playing an alcoholic who forges a friendship with an invisible 6 foot rabbit. His performance in the film earned him yet another Best Actor Oscar nomination. For Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder (1959), costarring Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara, Stewart was again nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. He won the New York Film Critics award for his performance in the film. As his own career manager, Stewart was known to have a good business sense. In the 1950s, after his status as one of Hollywood’s greatest leading men was fully established, Stewart began moving freely from one studio to another and negotiating deals that secured percentages of box office returns rather than a flat salary. Like many of his contemporaries, Stewart chose to work with certain actors and directors on projects. In addition to his three films with Capra, he starred in The Glenn Miller Story and The Far Country (1954), both directed by Anthony Mann. He appeared in director Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948); Rear Window (1954), costarring Grace Kelly; The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956); and Vertigo (1958), costarring Kim Novak. Stewart played roles in an array of film genres, from romantic comedies and war dramas to murder mysteries and Westerns. Among his more successful Westerns were The Naked Spur (1953), The Man from Laramie (1955), and John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962), costarring John Wayne. Other projects he worked on with Ford included How the West Was Won (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). In 1971, he ventured into television with his self-titled series, The Jimmy Stewart Show.