Famous Celebrities Who Died In Their 80s

Few actors in Hollywood history ever reach the iconic status of James "Jimmy" Stewart. With five Academy Award nominations and two wins (including an honorary Oscar), he is one of the most celebrated actors of all-time (per IMDb). Born in the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1908, Stewart grew up thinking he was going to inherit his family's hardware store, according to The Jimmy Stewart Museum. Instead, while at Princeton University studying architecture, he performed in a few stage shows and was hooked. Within a year of graduating, he made his Broadway debut and by 1935, he signed his first contract with MGM Studios and was headed to Hollywood, according to Biography, acting in iconic films such as "It's a Wonderful Life," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," and "Rear Window."

Over the next five decades, he made countless films, taking a break only during World War II when he put his Hollywood career on hold to join the Army Air Corps, flying combat missions in the European Theater against Nazi Germany (per The Jimmy Stewart Museum). Afterwards, he continued churning out dozens of films. By the '80s though, he slowed down and, when his wife passed away in 1994, he never quite recovered from the grief having been together since 1949 (per Biography). He died during the summer of 1997 at age 89 with Variety eulogizing him as a "movie star, war hero, good citizen and just plain nice guy."