The Touching Place Where Jimmy Stewart Kept His Oscar
With over 3,000 Academy Awards given out since 1929, you can imagine that there are some odd places the statuettes have been kept. According to InStyle, Anna Paquin revealed that the Oscar she won at age 11 for "The Piano" was stashed in the back of her closet, "next to her boots". The award that Kate Winslet won for "The Reader" in 2009 sits in the star's bathroom while Alicia Vikander chose to leave hers with a friend, whose daughter currently has possession of the statuette (via People).
What might be the most touching location of this award is one that legendary actor Jimmy Stewart chose for his Oscar. Known for his roles in westerns, and later for being a star attraction for several films directed by the late Alfred Hitchcock — Stewart cemented himself in film history with multiple roles as the likable everyman, as LiveAbout reported. He is still a household name, especially during the holiday season when his portrayal of "It's a Wonderful Life's" George Bailey is duly broadcast. Stewart received the award at the 1941 Oscars, but he didn't keep hold of it himself. He let someone else close to him display the statuette.
Stewart's father had the perfect place for the award
Jimmy Stewart graced the silver screen for over 50 years, racking up five Academy Award nominations. While his first Oscar bid for "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," didn't result in a win in 1940, the next year he was more successful. For his role in the critically acclaimed "The Philidelphia Story," Stewart took home the Oscar for best actor.
According to The Washington Post, Stewart received an early morning phone call from his father the day after the award ceremony. During this 4 a.m. exchange between the two, the elder Stewart was remembered for saying "I hear you won some kind of award. What was it, a plaque or something? Well, anyway, you better bring it back here, and we'll put it in the window of the store."
"The store" referred to a hardware store that his family had founded in 1848 (per ExplorePAhistory.com). The younger Stewart obliged and brought the coveted Academy Award with him to Indiana, PA, where his father proudly displayed it in the window of the hardware store for the next 25 years.