When James Stewart looked back on his whole career, which lasted five decades and included some of Hollywood’s most loved movies, one name stood out above everyone else. It was not Katharine Hepburn, not Grace Kelly, and not even Alfred Hitchcock, whom he worked with so many times.
It was Margaret Sullavan. He called her his favorite co-star, and she was the one who made him a star. When she died, Stewart fell into a depression that his career never really recovered from.
How Margaret Sullavan Made James Stewart A Hollywood Star Against Studio Wishes
Stewart and Sullavan first met in the early 1930s when they were doing summer stock theatre on Cape Cod. They connected right away. Stewart was the Princeton graduate with that shy, folksy way about him, and he was completely taken with Sullavan. She was a rising stage actress with a quiet voice and a strong will.
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“It was so obvious he was in love with her,” said actor Walter Pidgeon, who worked with them. “He came absolutely alive in his scenes with her, playing with a conviction and a sincerity I never knew him to summon away from her.”
By 1936, Sullavan was already a big star in Hollywood, while Stewart was stuck at MGM playing small supporting parts. The studio had no idea what to do with this tall, hesitant actor. But Sullavan knew exactly what he could do.
When Universal cast Sullavan in ‘Next Time We Love‘, she had a big decision to make about who would play her leading man. The studio did not want the unknown Stewart, but Sullavan said she would not do the movie unless they hired him.
And she did not stop there. During filming, the director Edward H. Griffith bullied the nervous young actor. Sullavan spent her evenings coaching Stewart, helping him turn his awkward movements and hesitant way of speaking into the signature style that would make him famous. “It was Margaret Sullavan who made James Stewart a star,” Griffith later admitted.
Bill Grady from MGM agreed, saying, “That boy came back from Universal so changed I hardly recognized him.“
Movies That Showcased James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan’s Unforgettable On-Screen Chemistry
Stewart and Sullavan made four movies together between 1936 and 1940. They were ‘Next Time We Love‘, ‘The Shopworn Angel‘, ‘The Shop Around the Corner‘, and ‘The Mortal Storm‘. Their chemistry on screen was obvious, especially in Ernst Lubitsch’s beloved ‘The Shop Around the Corner‘. In that one, they played coworkers who argue all the time but do not know they are sending love letters to each other.
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They were such close friends that Sullavan and her husband at the time, agent Leland Hayward, bought a house across the street from Stewart in 1938. Stewart was always at their home. People never stopped talking about whether he had romantic feelings for her.
Pidgeon, who played the third person in a love triangle with them in ‘The Shopworn Angel‘, said he felt “like the odd man out.” However, he was not the only one who saw the connection between them.
The Tragic Death of Margaret Sullavan and Its Devastating Effect on Stewart
The story, unfortunately, takes a sad turn. Stewart reportedly asked Sullavan to marry him but she declined the proposal. She ended up marrying four times and had three children, including the author Brooke Hayward. Stewart married Gloria McLean in 1949.
In 1960, Sullavan died from a prescription drug overdose when she was 50 years old. Stewart was completely broken up about it. His wife said he fell into a depression and did not want to work for a while. After that, Stewart’s career changed. The lovable, bumbling regular guy from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life‘ and ‘The Philadelphia Story‘ started taking on darker, more complicated roles in Westerns.
Why Margaret Sullavan Remains James Stewart’s Most Memorable Co-Star
These days, Margaret Sullavan is mostly forgotten compared to Stewart’s other leading ladies. She liked the stage better than movies and only made 16 films. She left Hollywood in the 1940s to spend more time with her children and do theatre work.
But for James Stewart, she was never forgotten. In 1987, he did a television retrospective that Johnny Carson hosted. It confirmed what many people had always guessed. Among the clips and the interviews and the memories, the shadow of Margaret Sullavan was always there. She was the woman who made him a star. She was the one he loved. And she was the best co-star of his remarkable life.
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