Early in 1939, Stuart and then-husband Sheekman spent four months traveling in Asia, Egypt and Italy, then landed in France just as France and  the United Kingdom declared war on Germany.
They appealed to the American consul, asking to stay, Sheekman as a war correspondent, Stuart as a hospital volunteer.
The consul refused help, and told them they had to return to the United States.
They caught the SS President Adams, the last American passenger ship to cross the Atlantic,  and arrived in New York City in September.

In New York, Stuart sought to return to stage acting, hoping to star on Broadway. "
I wanted to be a theater actress," she said, "but I thought it would be easier to get to New York and the theater if I had a name than if I just walked the streets as a little girl from California.
When I went back to New York with somewhat of a name, they didn't want movie actresses."
Stuart was, however, welcomed into summer stock theater on the east coast, and performed in various productions between 1940 and 1942, including: Man and Superman, The Animal Kingdom, The Night of January 16th, Accent on Youth, Mr. and Mrs. North, Arms and the Man, and Sailor Beware!.
In August 1940, she starred as Emily Webb, opposite Thornton Wilder—under Wilder's own direction—in his play Our Town, which was staged at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

To help with the war effort in the 1940s, Stuart took singing and dancing lessons, then the USO teamed her with actress Hillary Brooke.
The two blonde actresses toured the country, visited hospitals, danced with servicemen in canteens, sold war bonds.
Stuart "wanted terribly to volunteer for service overseas with the USO, but Arthur wouldn't hear of it."

Stuart asked her former agents to get her work.
Her first movie in four years, Here Comes Elmer (1943), was a comedy with music starring Roy Rogers' wife, Dale Evans.
In The Whistler (1944)—an early directing credit of the horror specialist, William Castle—Stuart co-starred with Richard Dix.
In her following film, Enemy of Women (1944), a war-themed drama, Stuart was seventh in billing.
Two years later, Stuart took one more role: she wore a redhead's wig in She Wrote the Book a comedy starring Joan Davis and Jack Oakie.
Early in 1939, Stuart and then-husband Sheekman spent four months traveling in Asia, Egypt and Italy, then landed in France just as France and  the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. They appealed to the American consul, asking to stay, Sheekman as a war correspondent, Stuart as a hospital volunteer. The consul refused help, and told them they had to return to the United States. They caught the SS President Adams, the last American passenger ship to cross the Atlantic,  and arrived in New York City in September.
In New York, Stuart sought to return to stage acting, hoping to star on Broadway. "I wanted to be a theater actress," she said, "but I thought it would be easier to get to New York and the theater if I had a name than if I just walked the streets as a little girl from California. When I went back to New York with somewhat of a name, they didn't want movie actresses." Stuart was, however, welcomed into summer stock theater on the east coast, and performed in various productions between 1940 and 1942, including: Man and Superman, The Animal Kingdom, The Night of January 16th, Accent on Youth, Mr. and Mrs. North, Arms and the Man, and Sailor Beware!. In August 1940, she starred as Emily Webb, opposite Thornton Wilder—under Wilder's own direction—in his play Our Town, which was staged at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
To help with the war effort in the 1940s, Stuart took singing and dancing lessons, then the USO teamed her with actress Hillary Brooke. The two blonde actresses toured the country, visited hospitals, danced with servicemen in canteens, sold war bonds. Stuart "wanted terribly to volunteer for service overseas with the USO, but Arthur wouldn't hear of it."
Stuart asked her former agents to get her work. Her first movie in four years, Here Comes Elmer (1943), was a comedy with music starring Roy Rogers' wife, Dale Evans. In The Whistler (1944)—an early directing credit of the horror specialist, William Castle—Stuart co-starred with Richard Dix. In her following film, Enemy of Women (1944), a war-themed drama, Stuart was seventh in billing. Two years later, Stuart took one more role: she wore a redhead's wig in She Wrote the Book a comedy starring Joan Davis and Jack Oakie.
Gloria Stuart