Jimmy Stewart and the Yeti

Actor Jimmy Stewart, who starred in such classic films as "You Can't Take It With You," "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" and "It's A Wonderful Life," died on July 2, 1997. He was 89.

Little known to the general public, Jimmy Stewart was a major player in past cryptozoological projects. Being a hunting buddy and friend of F. Kirk Johnson, Stewart was a hidden partner behind the 1950s' Slick-Johnson expeditions in search of abominable snowmen.

Over the years, Stewart became a friend of Peter Bryne and got interested in Bigfoot pursuits. Stewart and Bryne were involved in the important Pangboche yeti hand incident of 1959. "Unsolved Mysteries" did a 1991 show on the Pangboche specimen's journey to Osman-Hill in London for analysis. Peter Byrne was a focus, but the program refused to credit Jimmy Stewart's signficant role in placing the yeti hand evidence in his luggage and flying it to London. I was a consultant to that segment and fought for Stewart's inclusion, to no avail. Stewart was too famous to be tied, in the public's mind, to yetis. Too bad.

Jimmy Stewart, a mosly secret supporter of cryptozoology, will be missed.

--Loren Coleman
Author of Tom Slick and the Search for Yeti (Boston & London: Faber and Faber, 1989)