Three of his films are on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time, two of which are in the top five. These are: The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) at #69, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) at #5, and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) at #1.
Upon accepting his Honorary Oscar in 1985, he stated, "This was the greatest award I received, to know that, after all these years, I haven't been forgotten." The audience gave him a ten-minute standing ovation, making the show run long. Steven Spielberg, who was in attendance, said that he was humbled to even be in the same room as Jimmy, because he respected him so much.
Upon his death in July of 1997, a small group of fans and admirers placed a few items on his Hollywood star, not the least of which was a rather tall (although not six feet tall) plush rabbit wearing overalls. (It was reportedly stolen later in the night.).
Was a regular on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts." He was even a guest of honor in 1978.
Was named #3 on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends Actor list by the American Film Institute
Wearing his Army Air Forces uniform, he presented Gary Cooper with his Best Actor Oscar for Sergeant York (1941).
When he left to serve in World War II, his father gave him a letter that he kept in his pocket every day until the war ended.
When Stewart won the Best Actor Oscar in 1940, he sent it to his father in Indiana, Pennsylvania, who set it in his hardware shop. The trophy remained there for 25 years.
While always gracious with his fans, he was always very protective of his privacy. A notable example of this occurred when a nervy family of tourists set up a picnic on his front lawn. Stewart came out of his house and, without uttering a word, turned on the sprinklers.
While filming The Big Sleep (1978) in August 1977, Stewart appeared to be much older than his actual age of 69 at the time as the rich, wheelchair-bound General Sternwood. The fact is that he had a hearing impairment, and he was having memory problems, which caused him to keep flubbing his lines. It is believed that these health problems brought about his retirement from films shortly afterwards, although he was also concerned with the violence and explicit sexual content of modern films, and he saw no future for himself in the movie business.
While Stewart served as an officer and a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, one of the sergeants in his unit was Walter Matthau.