Gloria Stewart

Gloria Rankin Stewart (née Hatrick, formerly McLean ; March 10, 1918 – February 16, 1994) was the wife of actor James Stewart.

Early life

Gloria was born on March 10, 1918, to Edgar B. Hatrick of Larchmont, New York. Her family spent the summers at The Broadmoor hotel and resort. She attended the Finch School in New York and spent two years studying drama.

Personal life

First marriage

On August 16, 1943, she married Edward Beale McLean Jr., a son of heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean and Edward Beale McLean, heir to The Washington Post.

McLean, whose mother had owned the Hope diamond, had previously been married to Ann Carroll Meem, of Washington, D.C., from May 1938 to July 1943. 

Together, Edward and Gloria had two sons: Ronald (born 1944, died on June 8, 1969, aged 24, in Vietnam as a commissioned Marine officer) and Michael (born 1946). 

In January 1948, Gloria and Edward divorced and in October of that year, he married Manuela "Mollie" Hudson, the former wife of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr.

Second marriage

On August 9, 1949, Gloria married James Stewart, who adopted both children from her first marriage, Ronald, then age five, and Michael, age three. Together, she and Stewart had twin daughters born on May 7, 1951: Judy and Kelly. Kelly Stewart became an anthropologist.

According to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times, Gloria "was active on the boards of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, Natural History Museum, African Wildlife Foundation and St. John's Medical Center, and was a regular at charity dinners, dances and other events supporting those groups [...] She shared her husband's interests in skeet shooting, fishing, animals and travel.

A fan magazine in 1985 called their partnership 'Dream Factory's Outstanding Marriage'". From the 1950s onward, Gloria was a supporter of conserving big-game animals, rather than hunting them, and in time brought her husband around to the same viewpoint.

The couple remained married until she died of lung cancer on February 16, 1994, at the age of 75.

******************

When the doctor told him it was time to change his pacemaker battery, James Stewart, 88, replied with gentle firmness: “I’m going to Gloria now.” He had already decided. He didn’t want to prolong his life—he wanted to return to the love of his life. For decades he had been known as “America’s greatest bachelor.” Handsome, kind, beloved by all, he had dated extraordinary women: Ginger Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, Olivia de Havilland… and yet he had never married. Then, at 39, he met Gloria Hatrick McLean. She was already the mother of two children, recently divorced. An elegant, strong woman, with green eyes and a quiet grace that left Jimmy speechless. He fell in love instantly. He courted her shyly, even won over Gloria’s jealous dog… and at 41, he asked her to marry him. On August 9, 1949, they were married in a simple ceremony with only 18 guests. It was the most anticipated wedding in Hollywood—and the most sincere. Jimmy adopted Gloria’s two sons as if they were his own. Then came the twins, Judy and Kelly. When Gloria nearly lost her life during childbirth, Jimmy never left her side. He slept at the hospital, watching over her day and night. Their life together was a rare miracle in Hollywood: no scandals, no rumors—just real love. Forty-five years of laughter, children, travels, lunches in the garden, and that house in Beverly Hills filled with shared memories. In 1969, they lost their son Ronald, killed in Vietnam at 24. An unbearable pain. But they stayed together. Always. When Gloria died in 1994, Jimmy slowly faded with her. He stopped going out. He refused awards and interviews. He spent his days in Gloria’s garden, talking to her as if she were still there. In 1996, doctors told him they needed to replace his pacemaker battery—a simple procedure. But Jimmy refused. “I don’t want to go on living if my life no longer has a purpose,” he had said years earlier. And his purpose… was Gloria.

On July 2, 1997, surrounded by his children in the home where they had lived their whole life, Jimmy Stewart passed away peacefully. He was 89. His last words were: “I’m going to Gloria now.” He wasn’t sad. He wasn’t afraid. He was ready. Because theirs wasn’t a love story meant for magazine covers. It was a deeper truth: that true love doesn’t end with death. It waits. Patiently. Until it can be reunited. In a world that teaches us to “always resist,” to “never depend on anyone,” Jimmy left us a different lesson: love is also choosing to let go when the soul you love is no longer here. He didn’t fight to live a few more years. He chose Gloria. Once again. Forever.