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Life wasn't always great for Carolyn Grimes.
The actress was 6 years old when she was offered a role in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. Directed by Frank Capra, the film stars classic stars James Stewart and Donna Reed.
The film revolves around the character George Bailey, played by Stewart, who is contemplating suicide. His guardian angel steps in and shows him all the people whose lives he has touched. One memorable character is Zuzu, played by Grimes, who famously says: “Every time the bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”
Clockwise from top: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Combs, Jimmy Hawkins, Larry Sims and Carolyn Grimes. (Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty Images)
Although the film has become a holiday staple over the years, Grimes has suffered from personal tragedies outside of the spotlight.
said the now 84-year-old Hollywood Reporter That things started to take a terrible turn when she was eleven years old.
“My mother started getting sick,” the former child star recalls. “Unfortunately, it was something that couldn't be treated. It was what we call today early-onset Alzheimer's disease. At the time, they didn't call it that. They just called it brain atrophy.”
American child actress Carolyn Grimes, circa 1946. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)
Grimes noted that her acting career became financially impossible for her father, who did not approve of it in the first place.
“He had to pay someone to take me to audition because you have to have a guardian, and he had to pay someone, if I got a role, to be on set with me,” Grimes said. “It was too much for him.”
At the age of 14, Grimes lost her mother, who was only 44 years old. Grimes was orphaned a year later at age 15, when her grieving father was killed in a car accident. According to the outlet, Grimes' future has been left up to the court.
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Carolyn Grimes appeared in “The Bishop's Wife” (1947) with Cary Grant and “Rio Grande” (1950) with John Wayne. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)
“I had parents who were friends who were willing to take me in,” she said. “I asked the judge: 'Do I have any say at all about where I go or where I live?' “Your desires are like a drop in a bucket,” he said. “I will never forget that.”
Grimes was placed in the custody of her uncle and his wife. She left Hollywood, her hometown, and moved with them to Osceola: a small town in Missouri. Grimes claimed that over the next three years she suffered “extremely harsh” treatment from her aunt, who suffered from mental illness.
Eager to escape her domestic life, Grimes married a local boy at the age of 18.
“I had parents who were friends who were willing to take me. I asked the judge, 'Do I have any say at all about where I go or where I live?' “Your desires are like a drop in a bucket,” he said. “I will never forget that.”
James Stewart (1908-1997) as George Bailey, and Caroline Grimes as his daughter Zuzu, in a scene from Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“I had to run away, and this was the only way I could get out of there,” she admitted.
Grimes and her husband had two daughters before their divorce. He was later killed in a hunting accident.
She said “I do” again to a man who already had three children from a previous marriage. Together they have welcomed two more children.
While raising a family, Grimes attended the University of Central Missouri. For 25 years, she worked quietly as a medical technologist. Grimes said her children know little about her past in Hollywood.
WATCH: 'It's a Wonderful Life' star Donna Reed quietly kept World War II letters from soldiers for decades, her daughter says
“They knew I was in movies, but it wasn't important to them because it wasn't important to me,” she said. “I think in fourth grade they probably took a school picture and said, 'That's my mom, and I did this,' but that was it.”
The outlet reported this “It's a wonderful life” It entered the public domain in the 1970s. As a result, it was broadcast every Christmas, attracting a large number of fans. It wasn't until 1980 that Grimes, who had never seen the film, learned of its reappearance. She was living in Kansas at the time.
“Someone knocked on my door when I was 40 and said, 'Have you been in 'It's a Wonderful Life?'” Grimes said. I said: Well, yes. And they said: Can I do an interview? So I dug all my memorabilia out of the basement, and we did an interview.
Carolyn Grimes unveils a wax figure of James Stewart at Madame Tussauds on November 29, 2010 in Hollywood, California. (Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
“The next week, the same thing happened, and then it happened again,” she recalled. “I thought, 'Maybe I'd better sit down and watch this movie.'
Tragedy struck Grimes again in 1989. Her youngest son, whom the outlet described as a “shy, sensitive boy,” committed suicide at age 18.
“The really sad part is the fact that I never got to see my kids (It's a Wonderful Life, with its message that every life has great meaning and value),” she said.
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Donna Reed, shown here with James Stewart, died in 1986. She was 64 years old. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Grimes was “deeply in mourning” in 1990 when she decided to accept an invitation to attend the Chaplin Award ceremony. Stewart was honored. There the co-stars spoke for the first time as adults.
One of the things that Stewart and Grimes bonded over was the grief of losing a child. Stuart lost his son during the Vietnam War.
“I don't think you'll ever get over that,” Grimes said.
The pair even kept in touch Stewart died in 1997. He was 89 years old.
As an adult, Carolyn Grimes kept in touch with James Stewart. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Just a few years later, Grimes' second husband died of cancer, the newspaper reported. They were married for 25 years.
“I think that's the real reason,” Grimes said of their son's suicide.
“Something about that affected him,” she said, referring to her late husband.
The outlet revealed that around that time, “the lowest emotional point in Grimes' life,” she was saved by “It's a Wonderful Life.” In 1993, she was approached by Target hoping to participate in a Christmas promotion. While traveling the country, Grimes befriended several former child artists.
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“It's a Wonderful Life” has become a holiday staple every year across the country. (CBS via Getty Images)
“We became real brothers and sisters after that,” she said.
Since then, the retired grandmother has kept busy every year. During the holidays, she attends several events to celebrate the film and her contributions to Hollywood.
During her tour, Grimes has witnessed the impact “It's a Wonderful Life” has on fans young and old.
“People came through the line to get autographs, talking about contemplating suicide, how they saw the movie, and it saved them,” she said.
Today, Carolyn Grimes is a retired grandmother who lives a quiet life outside of Hollywood. (Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
She said that those encounters inspired her to spread the message of hope in the film and “keep it alive.”
“I just thought: This is my path, this is what I'm supposed to do,” she said. “And I've been doing it ever since.”
In 2021, Grimes told Fox News Digital that her parents gave her wisdom to help her overcome any obstacles.
Carolyn Grimes is proud of It's a Wonderful Life and the message it delivers. (Dr. Billy Ingram/WireImage/Getty Images)
“My parents instilled in me that everything would be okay in the end,” she said at the time. “It may not feel that way right now, but it will. Life is what you make of it. And I wanted it to be good.”
“My father also gave me a very strong religious background,” she noted. “I have a certain amount of respect for anyone who believes in a higher being and tries to follow a good path in life.
“I think this is something we should all strive to do. It's hard these days, but gosh, if we could just try. It's a scary world out there. And we need a movie like 'It's a Wonderful Life' now more than ever.” “I think that's the way I dealt with it.”
