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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1997)
Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart dies ■ MOVIES: The actor was best known for roles in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Stewart, the lanky, slow-talking actor who embodied American decency and moral courage in such movies as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Won derful Life,” died Wednesday at 89. Daily Variety; columnist Army Archerd said Stewart’s son told him the star died at his Beverly Hills home. With his stammering, aw shucks delivery, Stewart turned in some of the most memorable performances in Hollywood his tory, appearing in more than 75 movies. Often he played earnest, some times bashful heroes, slow to anger but possessed with bottom less reserves of perseverance. He seemed the same in life, and the American public’s affection for him endured. Stewart won a best actor Acad emy Award for “The Philadel phia Story” and was nominated for the Oscar four other times. He was best known for his role as a suicidal businessman who finds redemption in the 1946 movie “It's a Wonderful Life,” one of the most beloved films in history — particularly at Christ mas — and Stewart’s personal fa vorite. In “Mr. Smith Goes to Wash ington” in 1939, he was an ideal istic young senator who chal lenges the backroom deals and opportunism on Capitol Hill. In one of Stewart’s most famous lines, he says: “I wouldn’t give you two cents for all your fancy rules if behind them they didn’t have a little bit of plain, ordinary kindness and a little lookin’ out for the other fella.” In an age of elegant, drop-dead handsome matinee idols, Stewart was more the average-looking guy next door. Stewart’s life reflected a small town, religious upbringing and sense of responsibility: He was conservative politically, married only once, earned medals for his bravery in World War II and of ten returned to help out at the family hardware store in Indiana, Pa., where his best actor Oscar was displayed in the window for 20 years. His acting seemed effortless and natural. Frank Capra, who directed “Mr. Smith” and “It’s a Wonder ful Life,” once said that even bet ter than a great performance is “a level of no acting at all, when the actor disappears and a real live person appears on the screen, a person the audience cares about immediately.” Stewart was one of the few to reach that level, Capra said. Reserved and self-effacing, Stewart was more likely to credit his directors than his own talent. “Hollywood dishes out too much praise for small things,” he once said. “I won’t let it get me, but too much praise can turn a fellow’s head if he doesn’t watch his step.” Stewart made his feature film debut in 1935’s “The Murder Man” as a newspaper reporter opposite Spencer Tracy. “I was all hands and feet, and didn’t know what to do with either,” he once said. But in his first five years in Hollywood he made 24 films, in cluding "You Can’t Take it With You,” “No Time for Comedy” and “Destry Rides Again” with Marlene Dietrich. He even played a bad guy, just once, in 1936’s “After the Thin Man” — his second movie role. In his Oscar-winning perfor mance in the 1940 “The Philadelphia Story,” he played a reporter entranced by a spoiled heiress — Katharine Hepburn. Cary Grant also starred. His Oscar nominations were for equally memorable roles: the senator in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” the depressed businessman in “It’s a Wonderful Life”; the eccentric whose best pal is an imaginary 6-foot rabbit in “Harvey” in 1950; and the de fense lawyer for an Army officer in “Anatomy of a Murder” in 1959. Alfred Hitchcock used him in stylish suspense films such as “Vertigo” and 1954’s “Rear Win dow,” in which he played a pho tographer who is confined to his room by a leg injury and witness es a murder in a nearby apart ment. In 1980, he received the Amer ican Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, and in 1985, an honorary Oscar. CHAD PATTESON/Emerald Middle-school age children participate in activities as a part of the Summer Enrichment Program. Gifted students gain opportunities ■ CAMPS: The Summer Enrichment Program offers new challenges to talented and gifted middle schoolers By Carl Yeh Associate Editor This summer camp is far from remedial. Nearly 100 middle school children ages 11-15 are learning about subjects such as music, algebra, quantum physics and history. They are participating in a summer program spon sored by the College of Educa tion for talented and gifted chil dren called the • Summer Enrichment Program (SEP). The program was started by George Sheperd, a recently re tired professor of education at the University. Since its inception in the summer of 1980, SEP has aimed to challenge talented and gifted children from all over the State of Oregon. “Basically, the thought was that kids who are talented and gifted are often in districts who do not have resources allotted to them. The thought was to give them a challenge in their classes — things that they wouldn’t be able to take in their own districts. For example, sixth graders would not normal ly be able to take algebra,’’said Blackwell, who has been with the summer program for 11 years. “They need an opportunity to delve into a topic or idea deep er. They need more depth. And because these kids are brighter, they are able to link more ideas together,” Blackwell said. Not only is extra depth in subject matter emphasized, but the talented and gifted students are encouraged to explore new areas. “We encourage students to take classes that they have nev er taken before,” Blackwell said. “Often times, the [students] are perfectionists, so we encourage them to try things they may not shine in, so that at least they had an experience.” The education does come at a price. “This year it costs $730 for two weeks, and that in cludes meals, accommodations, classes and recreation,” Black well said. However, many schools are sending their students with scholarships. The talented and gifted kids come from all over Oregon. Some even come from other states and other countries. The application for SEP is distrib uted in Oregon, but sometimes they find their way to far away places, Blackwell said. Some students come from rural parts of Oregon. “We have kids from Oakridge, Bandon, Hermiston and Scio,” Blackwell said. Sometimes students from these rural areas can feel isolat ed in their school, Blackwell said. “A lot of these kids are from small towns where they may be the only kid in school interest ed in writing poetry. This pro gram allows them to meet other kids who are as interested as they are in math, science or lit erature.” During their stay at the Uni versity, the young students are living in Earl Complex, a resi dence hall. Here, the young students are well taken care of, Blackwell said. “We hire college students to live with them as counselors when they’re not in classes." One of those college students is Marcello Barros. “I’m the dorm counselor supervisor — supervising the [other] coun selors in the program,” he said. “This is my third year work ing with the Summer Enrich ment Program. I have learned to really respect the program, and I have enjoyed observing kids grow,” Barros said. The first session of the SEP ends July 5. The second session runs July 6-19. “They’re really the type of kids that the world could use some more of. They’re bright and they’re encouraged to test their limits and try out new things,” Barros said. “I think they’re a lot of fun in general.” Finding a Job on the Internet X Janus X Lexis/Nexis sJ Basic UNIX X Computer Viruses Computer Maintenance & Troubleshooting the UO Library and University Computing INVITE YOU TO CHECK OUT The IT Curriculum Information Technology & Computing Workshops http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/ ♦ Free-open to UO students, staff and faculty. ♦ No registration required-just show up! ♦ Pick up a copy of the schedule at Knight Library or the Computing Center. For more information contact the Office of Library Instruction, 346-1817 or cbell@darkwing.uoregon.edu Rf Beginning Web Publishing X Intermediate Web Publishing Advanced Publishing^ & The Internet X The Web X E-mail X Web Surfing a LIVE MUSIC NO COVER EVER! John Fohll He’s back! 2 nights only July 9 & 11 7/3 Skip Jones 7/9 John Fohl 7/10 Skip Jones 7/11 John Fohl Open mic Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ■ ALL SHOWS START AT 9:00 p.m. Microbrews & Domestics on tap Including Labatts, Foster's and a large selection of other imports and micros K ECS TO CO!!! Monday Night Pool Tourney • Sign Op 6:30, starts 7:00 Free Pool Sunday & Tuesday Evening Come play horseshoes in our beer garden 2657 Willamette • 344-0816
