He wasn't the one with the gravelly voice hunting down criminals on "Unsolved Mysteries." That was his brother. But James Langford Stack Jr. lived a life that was, in many ways, just as cinematic as anything seen on a Hollywood backlot. While his younger brother Robert Stack became a household name, James—often called Jim—carved out a niche in the high-society circles of Southern California and Northern Nevada that most people only read about in vintage gossip columns. Honestly, if you dig into the archives, you find a man who was basically the quintessential "wealthy sportsman" of the mid-century era.
It's easy to get him confused with his father, also James Langford Stack, who was a massive deal in the advertising world. The elder Stack was the guy who built a fortune at the helm of an agency that handled heavy hitters like Quaker Oats. But the younger James, born May 7, 1916, didn't seem to have the same itch for the boardroom. He was much more at home on a polo pony or behind the sights of a shotgun.
A Childhood of European Glitz and Family Drama
James didn't grow up in a typical American household. Because his father was loaded, the family spent a huge chunk of time in Europe. We're talking Rome, Adria, and Paris. He and Robert actually spoke French and Italian before they ever really mastered English. It’s kinda wild to think about these two future California icons wandering around Italy as toddlers, sounding more like locals than American heirs.
The family dynamic was complicated. His parents, James Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Wood, divorced when Jim was just a little kid. They actually remarried each other later—something you don't see every day—but his father passed away in 1928 when Jim was only 12. That left a massive inheritance and a lot of freedom.
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The Sportsman and the International Stage
By the time he hit his twenties, James Langford Stack Jr. was making headlines for his reflexes rather than his acting chops. He and Robert were a powerhouse duo in the world of outboard motor racing. In 1935, they went over to Venice, Italy, and absolutely dominated, winning the International Outboard Motor Championships.
He was also a crack shot. Jim was a member of the All-American Skeet Team, a distinction that required incredible discipline and a very steady hand. While Robert eventually used those shooting skills to play tough guys on screen, Jim kept it on the competitive field. He was the definition of a socially prominent sportsman—the kind of guy who spent his weekends at the Riviera Country Club or at Lake Tahoe, which would eventually become his long-term home.
The Wanda Hendrix Marriage and the Audie Murphy Connection
If there's one thing that puts James Langford Stack Jr. back in the spotlight for modern researchers, it’s his romantic life. Specifically, his marriage to actress Wanda Hendrix.
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Now, Wanda was a big deal. She had been married to Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II, in a relationship that was, by all accounts, incredibly turbulent and tragic. When she married Jim in 1954, it was seen as her chance for a quieter, more stable life away from the Hollywood grind.
- They got engaged in June 1954.
- The wedding took place at Robert Stack’s home—a very "Old Hollywood" move.
- Wanda even told reporters she was ready to give up her film career to be a wife.
The marriage didn't last forever; they divorced in 1958. But during those years, they were the "it" couple of the social circuit. Jim had been married once before, and he moved through these high-stakes social environments with a level of comfort that only comes from being born into it.
Why James Langford Stack Jr. Still Matters
It's tempting to dismiss someone like Jim as just a "brother of" or a "socialite," but he represents a very specific era of American life. He was part of that bridge between the Gilded Age wealth of his father and the modern celebrity culture of his brother. He didn't need the cameras to feel validated.
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He eventually settled in Crystal Bay, Nevada. If you know the area, you know it's the quiet, wealthy side of Tahoe—a place for people who want to disappear into the pines but still have a view of the water. He lived there until he passed away on July 2, 2006, at the age of 90.
Actionable Insights for History and Genealogy Buffs
If you’re researching the Stack family or the social history of mid-century California, keep these things in mind. First, always double-check the middle names. The "Langford" is the giveaway, as there are three generations of James Stacks and they all get lumped together in digital archives. Second, look into the Los Angeles Times archives from the 1930s and 40s specifically for "Skeet Shooting" and "Outboard Racing" results; that's where the real meat of his personal accomplishments lives.
- Verify the Generation: Ensure you aren't looking at the 1920s advertising mogul (his father) or his nephew.
- Check Local Nevada Records: His later life in Washoe County is much better documented in local property and social records than in Hollywood trade magazines.
- Contextualize the "Sportsman" Label: In the 1930s, being a "sportsman" wasn't a hobby; it was a full-time social occupation for the wealthy.
James Langford Stack Jr. might not have a star on the Walk of Fame, but he lived the kind of life that inspired the movies his brother starred in. He was the real-deal socialite-athlete who saw the world before he was ten and spent the rest of his life enjoying the fruits of a legacy he helped maintain.
To get a better sense of his world, you might want to look into the 1935 Venice motorboat race records or the 1954 society pages covering the Hendrix wedding. These primary sources offer a glimpse into a level of prestige that has largely faded from the modern public eye.