James Stacy always wanted to be an actor, and was born in an ideal place to get into the business: when he was sixteen, he once bumped into one of his idols, James Dean at a drive-in. He made his movie debut in 1957's Sayonara with Marlon Brando playing a young reporter. Not satisfied with his lines as written, he adlibbed, but when the director would have ordered a retake, Brando intervened for "the kid", so Stacy got to keep his lines.

Stacy had a recurring role in "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", and remembers the Nelsons with great affection--an affection which appears to have been mutual, judging from Ozzie Nelson's comments in his autobiography. He was one of the stars of TV's "Lancer", in which he played an intense and angry young gun-fighter just learning to know his family--a role he credits/blames for the mostly serious roles he's had since, despite his conviction he's more naturally a comedian. It was on one of his serious roles, a guest-star appearance on a "Gunsmoke" episode, that he met his second wife, Kim Darby, the mother of his daughter. In 1973 (divorced from Kim Darby), James Stacy was riding a motorcycle with his girlfriend when they were struck by a drunk driver. The girlfriend was killed and Stacy lost his left arm and left leg. The resultant medical bills wiped out Stacy's savings, but his ex-wives and his Hollywood friends rallied round and threw a benefit for him. He kept a positive attitude and was soon acting again, and directing, too. The television series "Ironside" was an inspiration to him during this period--if there could be a series built around a handicapped character, why couldn't a handicapped actor succeed? His opportunities have certainly been more limited than they would otherwise have been, but he has been very careful to pick roles that are appropriate in their portrayal of the handicapped: he turned down a guest appearance on "The Golden Girls" when they wouldn't make certain changes to the script which he requested for that reason.


An avid skier before his accident, he has continued to ski since, providing the basis for one of his roles, in the movie Just a Little Inconvenience (1977) (TV).