Robert Matzen, Author of Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe

The Total Tutor Neil Haley will interview Robert Matzen, Author of Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe.

About Robert Matzen:

Robert Matzen is the author of seven books, including the award-winning Errol & Olivia: Ego & Obsession in Golden Era Hollywood and the bestselling Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3, which rose to #2 on the Amazon bestseller list for Biographies, won the 2015 ‘Biography of the Year’ Benjamin Franklin Award, and earned praise from the Smithsonian Institution. Regularly interviewed by international press, including the New York Post, Hollywood Reporter, and BBC, Matzen’s previous print work includes many articles about classic films, and the Greenwood Press reference volume, Carole Lombard: A Bio-Bibliography. His work as a filmmaker earned national awards and his feature documentary about George Washington, When the Forest Ran Red, is a genre classic. He has also written and directed several films for NASA.

In March 1941, Jimmy Stewart, America’s boy next door and recent Academy Award winner, left fame and fortune behind and joined the United States Army Air Corps to fulfill his family mission and serve his country. He rose from private to colonel and participated in 20 often-brutal World War II combat missions over Germany and France. In mere months the war took away his boyish looks as he faced near-death experiences and the loss of men under his command. The war finally won, he returned home with millions of other veterans to face an uncertain future, suffering what we now know as PTSD. Younger stars like Gregory Peck were now getting roles that might have been Stewart’s, and he didn’t know if he would ever work in Hollywood again. Then came It’s a Wonderful Life.