In the realm of famous love stories, there’s nothing quite as romantic than those of old Hollywood’s greatest stars.

The story of how Jimmy Stewart, long deemed one of Hollywood’s “most recognisable faces” (and in his early career, “most eligible bachelors”), met model Gloria McLean is a particularly beautiful one.

If you’re not quite aware of Stewart’s fame, cast your eyes to any of his greatest cinema titles — we’re sure you’ll know a few. From It’s a Wonderful Life to Vertigo, Stewart owned the screen from the ’40s through to the ’60s, and quite rightly so.

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Over his career, he received five Best Actor nominations and won in 1941 for his performance in The Philadelphia Story. Stewart starred alongside actors of Hollywood royalty, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

But despite his career success and undeniable fame, Stewart didn’t see much luck in love.

The night they met

In his search for love, Stewart dated some very famous, and very beautiful stars, including Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind) and Marlene Dietrich (The Blue Angel), but he seemed to always be a little cautious with his heart.

Until one fateful summer night, he accepted a dinner invitation he otherwise would have turned down.

The year was 1948, and Stewart was still riding the success of arguably, one of his most renowned films It’s a Wonderful Life.

Just a few years before, he’d returned from military service, where he served his country in World War II.

Not one for parties at this stage, Stewart had been begged by friends, Gary and Rocky (Veronica) Cooper to attend their dinner party at their California home.

But the decision to dine was one that truly changed his life forever, as when he arrived at the dinner table, he found himself sat across none other than the very gorgeous, little-known model Gloria McLean.

In his own recollection, Stewart famously called the meet-cute “love at first sight”.

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As Stewart and McLean got to talking, he came to find that the girl he’d been so captivated by was also incredibly down to earth.

Something that truly attracted Stewart was Gloria’s uninhibitedness, she had a warm, wide smile, and laughed generously. She was also, not an actress, which proved quite a drawcard for Stewart, who, after so many years in the spotlight, had grown tired of the gossip and short-lived glamour of high celebrity romance.

“For me, it had been love at first sight,” he once said of the moment they met.

She was the kind of girl I had always dreamed of.”

“The kind you associate with open country, cooking stew and not fainting because it was made of cut-up squirrels. She’d look at home on a sailboat or a raft; in a graceful swing from a tree branch into the swimming pool.”

A loss followed by love

Some of this grace and good humour Gloria had, came after some difficult life events of her own, and a new perspective she’d adopted to live life as fully as possible.

That same year, Gloria had divorced her husband of six years, Edward Beale McLean Jr. He was the son of Edward Beale McLean, owner and publisher of The Washington Post, and the next heir to the newspaper fortune.

There’s not much explanation of what happened to Gloria’s husband, but it appears he left her to marry Manuela “Mollie” Hudson, the former wife of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr.

Ultimately, McLean left behind two young sons, Ronald, five, and Michael, three. When Jimmy met Gloria, she was desperately trying to get to grips with living life as a single parent.

Despite her struggles, Gloria was captivated by Stewart, who seemed to offer more than just a Hollywood romance — but a love that could serve her, and her two children.

Just a year later, the pair married on August 9, 1949, and Stewart made the ready decision to adopt his wife’s young sons, who were then just five and three.

Two years later, the couple welcomed twin daughters of their own, Kelly and Judy, and truly started their lives together.

In an interview with Closer Weekly in 2021, Kelly Stewart recalled the love her mother and father had.

“They shared a sense of humour and had a great respect for each other,” she said. “My mother was a really good sport and was really beautiful. I think my father was waiting for the right woman.”

Struck by illness

For 45 years, the pair remained happily married, living a glorious, social life in their beautiful Tudor-style home in Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills.

But in the early 1990s, Gloria fell ill and was diagnosed with lung cancer. After years of suffering, she lost her battle against the disease, and died in 1994.

After his wife’s death, Stewart seemed to lose interest in his life.

In historian Michael Munn’s biography, Jimmy Stewart: The Truth Behind the Legend, he claims that Stewart was suffering from a badly broken heart once Gloria passed.

“Gloria had been the very centre of his life, and she was gone,” he writes in the book.

In the following years, Stewart kept to himself, only visiting family and very rarely seeing friends.

In 1997, Stewart developed a blood clot in his lung, which left him in a poorly state.

In his last moments, surrounded by his children at home, his last words were said to be: “I’m going to be with Gloria now”.

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