At least that’s what Teacher says. At least that’s what Zuzu says. I’m referring of course to the classic Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life, and for those who have lived under a rock all their lives and never seen it, you can actually catch this clip as a film within the film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Ringing a bell? Well good, another angel just took flight.
The character of Zuzu Bailey was played by a young actress named Karolyn Grimes. She also starred in another terrific Christmas film called A Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant. In addition she has a party as Margaret Mary in the John Ford directed John Wayne film Rio Grande. That’s quite an impressive trio of films, even if she did nothing else. Well, she did do a few other things but for the most part that really was it.
Karolyn Grimes suffered some hardships both as a child – when both of her parents passed away when she was a young teenager. She was forced to move out of California to be with her aunt and uncle. Subsequently as an adult, she lost her first husband to a hunting accident, her second to cancer, and an 18-year old son to suicide. Hardly seems fair that all of these things should happen to such a sweet young girl who just made people smile.
She didn’t have much to do with fans of the film It’s a Wonderful Life until the 1980’s and 90’s, and then in the 2000’s, financial setbacks necessitated that she really parlay her child star career into some money…and thus, luckily for us, she started doing some appearances at conventions and such. (And since it’s not likely to happen, I won’t talk much about the It’s a Wonderful Life sequel that she had signed on for recently).
My friend Bob had gotten me a signed photo of Karolyn from the film when she first made her appearance at a Hollywood Show in the early 2000’s. But it wasn’t until a dozen years alter that I finally got the chance to meet her when she came to a Chiller Theatre show on October 27, 2012, that I attended.
Had I known the struggles she had faced at the time, I probably would have offered something to get a photo with her, but it was a true testament to her kindness that she didn’t charge me a thing to finally get that great photo op.
I’m still waiting to meet Jimmy Hawkins and Virginia Patton, but until that day unlikely comes, this was my only chance to get a photo with someone who had starred in the film. (I missed my chance to get a photo with Adriana Caselotti, who had a small part in the movie).
Celebrity encounters from the Fall 2012 Chiller Theatre show will continue…
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