The co-star who stuck with James Stewart for over 20 years: “He nearly killed Glenn Ford”
Like many actors before and since, James Stewart acquired a number of regular collaborators throughout a legendary career. Some of them were among Hollywood’s most famous names and lauded directors, but none of them were anywhere close to being his most prolific creative partner.
Stewart made multiple movies with his longtime friend John Wayne, in addition to a pair of Henry Hathaway pictures, his eight films under the direction of Anthony Mann, the three he worked on with John Ford, Frank Capra classics It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and You Can’t Take It with You, not to mention his quartet of unforgettable Alfred Hitchcock thrillers.
If cinema’s greatest everyman liked someone, then he was going to work with them as often as he could. As a result, he shared the screen no less than 17 times with his most regular co-star, which was even more impressive considering they were some of an established star in their own right.
They’d shared multiple scenes with Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven and been integral to Kirk Douglas’ leading performance in Man Without a Star, in addition to starring alongside Audie Murphy and Richard Widmark. His name was Pie, and he was a horse. Not just any horse, though, but a genuine member of Stewart’s inner circle, so much so he maintained that bond after death.
“The horse was amazing,” the Academy Award-winning icon told the British Film Institute. “He was sort of a maverick. He hurt a couple of people. I saw him when I started making westerns. Audie Murphy rode him a couple of times. He nearly killed Glenn Ford, ran right into a tree.”
Stewart was so taken by Pie that he was convinced the equine thespian understood the art of acting, which isn’t quite as bizarre as it sounds. “I got to know him like a friend,” the star reflected. “I actually believed that he understood about making pictures. He knew when the camera would start rolling and when they did the slates. He knew that because his ears came up. I could feel him under me, getting ready.”
Making well over a dozen films together was always going to foster a personal bond, but despite making several offers to do so, Stewart never actually owned the horse. However, when he was working on The Cheyenne Social Club with Henry Fonda, the latter painted a watercolour portrait of Pie that Stewart hung on the wall of his library at home.
As if by fate, two days later, Pie was dead. “It was a great loss,” Stewart confessed. “I consider him a friend.” Ensuring that he’d never be forgotten, the war hero and ‘Golden Age’ favourite had the horse buried on the grounds of his ranch to ensure he was always close by.
