Jimmy Stewart stopped acting because he couldn’t hear

Rance CollinsSat, November 7, 2026 at 1:30 PM UTC

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James Stewart on his self-titled 1971-72 series; James Stewart in 1934Credit: NBCU Photo Bank; Screen Archives/GettyKey Points -

Jimmy Stewart stopped acting because he couldn’t hear, his daughter tells EW.

The Oscar winner’s final onscreen movie appearance was in 1980’s A Tale of Africa, 17 years before he died.

Stewart is the subject of a new biopic, Jimmy, starring KJ Apa.

James Stewart, more commonly known as Jimmy (the name of his biopic out this week), is one of the foremost legends of the silver screen, but though he lived until 1997, he gave up performing many years earlier.

In fact, the It’s a Wonderful Life star’s last onscreen movie appearance came 17 years before he died, in the Japanese film A Tale of Africa. A few years later, he’d make his last acting appearance in a television role on the 1986 miniseries North and South, Book II.

Stewart’s daughter, Kelly, says there’s a very simple explanation for why he hung up his hat.

“He was slowing down,” she tells Entertainment Weekly. “And what really bothered him was that he couldn’t hear. He had really bad hearing.”

James Stewart on the ‘The Jimmy Stewart Show’ in 1971Credit: NBCU Photo Bank

While hearing aids did already exist, and Stewart used them, the ’80s version was cumbersome, and the Philadelphia Story Oscar winner was not keen to employ the device on a film shoot with hundreds of people buzzing around.

“In those days, the hearing aids were like these giant plastic things, and so he couldn’t wear them on a set,” Kelly explains. “And so he couldn’t hear, and he didn’t want [any] special attention, so that he could hear, and so I think being hard of hearing really made taking on a part less attractive to him.”

The star was not against the more racy content in modern films, however. In fact, one of the most important movies of the New Hollywood movement made a huge impression on him.

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“I’ll never forget when he went to The Graduate. Now that was a pretty modern film. And Dad thought it was fantastic, and he thought Dustin Hoffman was one of the great new young actors,” Kelly shares.

Stewart would lend his voice to the seminal sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, in 1991, his last credit and a worthy send-off for the storied star, ranked the third-greatest classic Hollywood legend by the American Film Institute. He also received AFI’s Life Achievement Award in 1980 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, among a long list of other recognitions.

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In Jimmy, the actor’s service in World War II is covered, with KJ Apa stepping into the Rear Window star’s shoes. His daughter approves of his performance, too.

“I was thrilled because the problem with somebody playing Dad... was that you don’t want to sit there and listen to a Jimmy Stewart impersonation for two hours,” says Kelly. “And Dad has such a distinctive way of speaking. It’s hard not to do an impersonation, but KJ channels him and brings him to life without doing a Jimmy Stewart impersonation. So I don’t see how they could have found anybody better.”

Jimmy is playing in theaters everywhere.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

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