After decades of being one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors, Jimmy Stewart married Gloria Hatrick McLean in 1949. Gloria was a former model and mother of two boys, Ronald and Michael. Jimmy adopted the boys and in 1951, their family was complete when Gloria gave birth to twin girls, Judy and Kelly. Sadly, Ronald was killed in Vietnam, where he served as a Marine.
Inspired by his own father’s quiet strength, encouragement, and love of adventures, James became a wonderful dad. Daughter Kelly said: “he wasn’t a hands-on dad—he didn’t help us with our homework, and I doubt he ever changed a diaper. But he taught by example and just had a very quiet way about him.” Most of all, he never lectured his kids, and except for learning and practicing his lines in his favorite armchair, he never brought his work home. “He came through the door and left Hollywood out,” Kelly said.