James Stacy was born Maurice William Elias on December 23rd, 1936 in Los Angeles, California. His father was born in Sidon, Lebanon and came to this country through Canada with his mother when he was two years old. His father later met his Irish-Scottish wife in Glendale, California at a dance. They had five children, three boys and two girls.

At first James wanted to be a pro football player, but when his good friend Robert Fuller took him to some acting classes, James decided on becoming an actor. He changed his name to James Stacy. James, from James Dean, one of his favorite actors, and Stacy from his niece.

In October 1963, James met and married actress Connie Stevens. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last and they divorced in 1966. It was on a Gunsmoke guest appearance that James met his second wife, Kim Darby, the mother of his daughter, Heather. They divorced a short while later.

In 1968, 20th Century Fox began casting for a new TV western called Lancer. James was signed for the role of youngest son Johnny, along with Andrew Duggan as father Murdoch Lancer, Wayne Maunder as the oldest son Scott and Elizabeth Baur as Murdoch's ward Teresa O'Brien. James continued to land roles in TV movies and appeared in a variety of TV shows.

Two years after the cancellation of Lancer, on the night of September 27, 1973, James's life was changed dramatically. While riding on his motorcycle with his girlfriend as passenger, he was struck by a car driven by a drunk driver. His girlfriend was killed and the accident cost Jim his left arm and leg.

Courageously refusing to retire, James began appearing in roles specially written to accommodate his handicap. His comeback film was the 1975 Kirk Douglas western Posse, in which he was cast in the role of newspaper editor Hellman. Kirk Douglas had written the part especially for James. In 1977, he starred in the TV-movie Just a Little Inconvenience, playing a double-amputee Vietnam veteran, and in Disney's 1982 fantasy film Something Wicked This Way Comes. Other TV appearances included Cagney & Lacey, Hotel and Highway to Heaven to name a few. His last regular TV role was Rogosheske in the weekly cop series Wiseguy. James was nominated twice for Emmys: Just a Little Inconvenience in 1977 and Cagney & Lacey in 1986.