Zuzu’s “Wonderful Life”: The Story of Karolyn Grimes

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That's invite code GETDROP777. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. To search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Our next storyteller has the privilege of being in one of the most beloved movies of all time while at the same time and from the same movie also has one of the most famous lines in movie history. Her story is as wonderful as both of these accomplishments.

Let's take a listen. My name is Carolyn Grimes and I was a child actress and I lived in Hollywood and my mother was a stage mom. She felt like I should be in the movies. So I was an only child and she truly put all her energies to that end and I had all kinds of lessons, dancing, singing, elucution, dialogue.

I mean everything was given to me and I had the opportunity. I'll never forget when I did dialect. I practiced so hard.

Give me please a piece of chocolate. It was so fun. I mean I really had a good time growing up and that was hard work to do all that. I played the violin at five. I played the piano at three. So all I did was practice pretty much most of my free time. Practice something but this was in 1940s. So back in the day Hollywood was pretty much all people in the industry.

That was the main way people made a living was working in the industry in some form. So it wasn't any big deal. Everybody, all the kids were involved in that so I never really realized it was special or that I was special. So my mom took me to see an agent and the agent liked me. Her name was Lola Moore and she had the biggest stable of kids in Hollywood and she sent me on an interview and I got a part. So I was in.

That was the end of that. I started when I was four years old. I was in a movie called That Night With You. That was my first but I did advertising. I did all kinds of things throughout that time in my life.

I advertised Buster Brown shoes and all kinds of things. So that's kind of how I got started and I really had a good time. By the time I did It's A Wonderful Life I was six and I'd already done four movies. So It's A Wonderful Life is the flagship for me.

That's the movie that everybody remembers and everyone wants to hear about. Back in the day we didn't have auditions. We had interviews and that was usually one-on-one with the casting director. So you went to the casting office and maybe there were five or six of us and you just waited your turn. Then you went in and talked to the casting people and boom boom boom.

That's it. So it wasn't like an audition and most of us I would say almost all of us were representing Lola Moore that one agent who had children all over LA that were in the movie business. So we just go there and my mother would take me to interviews and she took me to this interview and I sat there and we were just kind of talking with other kids and this mother accidentally spilled coffee on me on my dress because we wore dresses back then always you know and they were up to your butt. I mean they were so short. So I had a soil dress when I walked in there to talk to the casting director and lo and behold when I got in there Frank Capra was in there and so I had an interview with him and the casting director and who was there and you know I don't know what the mother thought she was going to do but I ended up it gave me something to talk about so I was chatty Kathy you know and when we were leaving this is when I found out I heard my mother talk to another mother and she said well you know she thought she spilled that coffee on purpose so you know it screwed me up when I went in to do my interview but that was how I got the part. Eventually got all these parts. I played with Bing Crosby and I played with some of the greatest people of all time.

I was in Rio Grande with John Wayne and that was a huge movie and I was on the set in Moab Utah as a little kid and I just that was my favorite of all the movies I ever did because I got to ride in covered wagons with Indians chasing me on horses you know I got I got to do all these fun things and it was just great and you know then Indians were brought in from the reservation and I was with Pat Wayne he was John Wayne's son and he had both Mike and Pat for the summer so they were there during the filming and they were actually in the film so Pat was my age and we played and had a really good time but we were told you can never go around the Native Americans don't go there well of course we went right there and we spied on them and it was just you know it was really an interesting time and I really had fun the Sons of the Pioneers were there and they'd serenade us and then I turned 10 while we were there and the Korean conflict broke out at that time and they confiscated a lot of the planes so it was a little difficult for them to get shipments of food and things like that and things like that flown in but John Wayne happened to be able to get $300 worth of fireworks and my birthday was the 4th of July he had that all shipped in he had a big cake made we went out to the Colorado River bluffs and it was happy birthday little miss Carolyn it was a great time and you've been listening to Carolyn Grimes share her story as a child actress and my goodness to be on an interview not an audition interview and have Frank Capricombe in the room surreal when we come back more of Carolyn Grimes story and just her personality and her wit and her memory here on Our American Story Lee Habib here the host of Our American Stories every day on this show we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country stories from our big cities and small towns but we truly can't do the show without you our stories are free to listen to but they're not free to make if you love what you hear go to our americanstories.com and click the donate button give a little give a lot go to our americanstories.com and give Denise has been playing jazz for 40 years last concert one of the musicians fell sick with RSV respiratory syncytial virus or RSV is a highly contagious virus that can lead to breathing problems this time she's choosing to help protect herself with Pfizer's RSV vaccine a brisbo a brisbo is a vaccine for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus RSV in adults with RSV. A brisbo is not for everyone and may not protect all who receive the vaccine don't get a brisbo if you've had a severe allergic reaction to its ingredients people with a weakened immune system may have a decreased response to a brisbo the most common side effects are tiredness headache pain at the injection site and muscle pain ask your pharmacist or doctor about Pfizer's RSV vaccine or brisbo respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for full prescribing information please call 1-844-989-7284 or visit abrisbo.com brought to you by Pfizer the strongest part of a Ford truck is right behind the wheel that's because strength is in your DNA and while we might not be related by blood we're all united by our sweat by the effort we put in strength comes in many different forms that's why the 2023 Ford F-150 truck is designed for those that work smart and play freely the type that gets practically a whole day's worth of work done before most to finish their first cup of coffee the 2023 Ford F-150 truck includes an available interior work surface Wednesday mornings have never looked so easy the 2023 Ford F-150 truck built Ford Tough tap your screen now to learn about the new 2023 Ford F-150 truck built Ford Tough at boost mobile passion and determination fuel what it means to get after it that's why they built their offers keeping in mind those who go to the market for the best quality food in mind those who go the extra mile boost mobile is partnered with champions from across the nation to empower you with devices and service that won't break the bank join boost mobile and get after it boost mobile is partnering with people you already know and love like the artist jc revere rapper singer-songwriter tusi and professional skateboarder and olympic athlete samaria bravar to highlight their unique talents inspiring journeys and how boost mobile helped them continue to get after it boost mobile knows the importance of shining a spotlight on the neighborhood kids and showing up for the communities they are in it's time to join boost mobile get after it switch to boost mobile today and get a free samsung galaxy a23 5g phone powered by america's largest 5g networks new customers only taxes extra one device per line 5g not available everywhere other restrictions apply check out the full offer details at boostmobile.com terms and conditions apply and we're back with our american stories and with carolyn grimes's story she was six years old when she starred as jimmy stewart's daughter zuzu in the 1946 christmas classic it's a wonderful life although as she told us before the break her favorite movie was rio grande released in 1950 starring alongside the great john wane here again is carolyn grind i like doing the westerns because there were there was horses involved there was always excitement you know in albuquerque i got to ride on a stagecoach right at the top and the horses you know were pulling this and it was really great and gabby hayes was in that movie and he went to the director and complained and said it was very dangerous for me to do that he wouldn't even do it he had a stunt double do it so i was up there you're not tied in or anything you know you're not secure you're just there and the horses could lurch and you go you know who knows but that was a lot of fun and because the director didn't pay attention to gabby hayes so i got to do it but i enjoyed that so much and i made a really good friend on that set and that was lon cheney jr do you remember lon cheney jr he was the wolf man very scary dude well i liked him a lot because he was nice to me and he took time and talked to me i mean i was shocked because i thought he'd be real scary and he kind of was scary but i didn't care he was he was kind of i liked him because he told me i was ugly and i said well why am i ugly and he said because you have freckles and i agreed i had freckles i hated them damn things i hated freckles so yeah um i began to like him right away and i watched every scene that he did in fighting and things like that he did one fight scene with randolph scott the entire scene he's got a cigarette hanging out of his mouth he told me before he did the scene he said now carolyn he said i am i'm just going to tell you that i'm going to bleed and you're going to watch this and he said this is what i have a capsule this capsule i'm gonna put it in my mouth and he said i'm gonna hit my cheek in some way and break that capsule and then blood's gonna come out of my mouth but i'm not hurt it's just fake isn't that great he took the time to tell me that and i thought that was really super i don't know i really um enjoyed doing that a lot and then i i loved um blue skies with bing crosby he was so great he he sent me my wardrobe that was in the movie for an after the movie present it back in the day the big star sent the members of the cast a gift as soon as the movie was over and he sent me my clothes from the film which i thought was pretty cool so i i just really enjoyed doing those kinds of things with these stars and they were so down to earth the ones that weren't down to earth us kids were told at the very beginning don't have anything to do with them and so we were warned and we didn't david nevin was one um there were quite a few that didn't like children children and didn't want to be bothered so we didn't bother them that was just the rule and if you did bother them or you forgot your lines or you did all these things you wouldn't last long because you'd get there's a lot of people that would take would take your job from you a lot of kids so the other movie that i really had fun with was the bishop's wife it was nominated for an academy award and it didn't didn't win an academy award but it was a wonderful film i mean it's wonderful life was nominated for five academy awards and it didn't win anything and so it got special mention for the making of the snow that was it and that was ivory soap flakes that um frank capra actually mixed him together with fomite and made the solution himself he actually had a degree in chemical engineering and so he made that snow he created it and they still use that technique in some of the movies today it was pretty remarkable because before that the snow had been corn flakes sprayed with kind of a white concoction and um the problem was they crunched when you stepped on them and frank capra wanted silent snow so that's how they got the silent snow but if you'll notice um in it's wonderful life when george is on the bridge and he jumps in to save clarence there's all this soap suds around in the water it's all over everywhere it goes all over their faces when george pulls him out it's all over their faces so it's kind of a funny thing and and the guy that's in the bridgekeeper house he comes out and he's got this flashlight now it's an ordinary flashlight just you know regular and he shines it down on them and it's like a beam from heaven you know it's a giant beam coming down you know you don't pay attention to things like that when you're watching the movie but i think it's a lot of fun to kind of think about things like that the movie was shot um in the hot hot summertime and it only took three months to shoot the film they started in april and they finished up the end of july and it was beastly hot really but the inside part of the bridge was done on a stage and they were able to keep that area fairly cool so they had a lot of crushed ice for snow that they used as well you know on the sides of the road and things like that on the roads and that was all shot inside a stage there was a location in on the studio ranch in Encino for all the outside scenes and the buildings and things like that but for the most part the whole thing was shot on a stage or in the back lot that's where the the water was was built in the back lot and so it was all right there but it was was really hot and we were wearing winter clothes and when there's a scene where jimmy stewart gets a real close-up as his eyes are big and you can see the sweat running off his face it's because he's hot he's he's really hot with his wool scratchy suit on and it's like 90 some degrees and that was extreme weather for la at the time so working with capra was a dream he was very particular he was meticulous he hand-picked everybody that was in that movie even the extras he hand-picked them there was a young woman who was a what do you call it in the wizard of oz she was one of the little people but she was just a young girl and she danced and ended up having a dance career as a teacher and so she was brought on the set for its wonderful life when they had the the scene where they're dancing at the high school gymnasium so she came and she taught all the kids how to do the charleston and her name was priscilla montgomery and well it is she's still with us but she had on a purple dress and so she was the first person to jump in the pool so she got fifty dollars extra tacked onto her check because she was the first one and the other kids that jumped in got twenty five dollars for jumping in and we've been listening to carolyn grimes share the stories of being on set as a child actress in the west places like albuquerque and some of our great national parks and also in the back lots of burbank and in cino making it's a wonderful life and who would have known i i did not and could not have imagined that was all done in a back lot and my goodness to hear about frank capra and i've read so much about how he worked and my goodness every detail down to in not only interviewing the children actors but hand picking the extras and directors my goodness the good ones and the great ones the details matter more of carolyn grimes her stories about it's a wonderful life and so much more here on our american story so denise has been playing jazz for 40 years last concert one of the musicians fell sick with rsv respiratory syncytial virus or rsv is a highly contagious virus that can lead to breathing problems this time she's choosing to help protect herself with visor's rsv vaccine abrisvo abrisvo is a vaccine for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus rsv in adults 60 years of age and older abrisvo is not for everyone and may not protect all who receive the vaccine don't get abrisvo if you've had a severe allergic reaction to its ingredients people with a weakened immune system may have a decreased response to abrisvo the most common side effects are tiredness headache pain at the injection site and muscle pain ask your pharmacist or doctor about visor's rsv vaccine abrisvo respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for full prescribing information please call 1-844-989-7284 or visit abrisvo.com brought to you by visor the strongest part of a ford truck is right behind the wheel that's because strength is in your dna and while we might not be related by blood we're all united by our sweat by the effort we put in strength comes in many different forms that's why the 2024 ford maverick pickup is designed for those who never knew they needed it the type that needs their truck to be as flexible as their schedule and can adapt on a dime the 2024 ford maverick pickup has a standard eight inch touchscreen and flexible storage wednesday mornings have never looked so easy the 2024 ford maverick pickup gets more done in tight spaces tap your screen now to learn about the 2024 ford maverick pickup built ford tough at boost mobile passion and determination fuel what it means to get after it that's why they built their offers keeping in mind those who go the extra mile boost mobile is partnered with champions from across the nation to empower you with devices and service that won't break the bank join boost mobile and get after it boost mobile is partnering with people you already know and love like the artist jc revere rapper singer-songwriter tusi and professional skateboarder and olympic athlete samaria bravar to highlight their unique talents inspiring journeys and how boost mobile helped them continue to get after it boost mobile knows the importance of shining a spotlight on the neighborhood kids and showing up for the communities they're in it's time to join boost mobile get after it switch to boost mobile today and get a free samsung galaxy a23 5g phone powered by america's largest 5g networks new customers only taxes extra one device per line 5g not available everywhere other restrictions apply check out the full offer details at boost mobile.com terms and conditions apply and we return to our american stories and carolyn grimes talking about it's a wonderful life the movie she starred in is jimmy stewart's daughter zuzu she was discussing the dance competition at bedford falls high school and how the young actors were taught the charleston from one of the girls who played one of the munchkins in the wizard of oz the actress turned dance instructor priscilla montgomery earned an extra 50 for being the first to jump into the swimming pool during the dance scene but she quickly found out that that money was not easy money here again is carolyn grimes but she had this purple beaded dress on and when she jumped in she told me that the weight from these beads pulled her down under and she said it was all she could do to keep her head above water because it was so heavy and they had to help her get out because she couldn't get out on her own she couldn't pull herself out because the dress was so heavy beaded so it was an interesting story oh my goodness there are so many interesting stories so i enjoyed doing all these movies and i was taught that these people were normal ordinary folks these stars were not i mean they weren't stars i mean i didn't even know what a star was my mother father kept me in the dark about a lot of things like that so that i would act normal i guess so but i just thought they were my friends i had no idea that these were stars so i really enjoyed it and then about the time i did um the bishop's wife with carrie grant loretta young and david nevin my mother started getting sick and that's when um i realized that i my life was going to take a different path because she had early onset alzheimer's and she started slipping and it took her five years but she died when i was 14 so during that time it was hard for my father to be with me on the set he was a manager of a Safeway store and he had to hire somebody to take me to an interview and then he'd have to hire somebody to be my guardian on the stage if i got a job and so he was he wasn't that interested in having me in the movies anyway and of course by that time i discovered boys and so i wasn't that greatly interested in acting either so when i was 14 my mom died and then a year later my dad was killed in a car accident so my life kind of changed at that point i was an orphan so the court took over because my father didn't leave a will so i had a mean aunt and uncle from missouri it was my father's brother and his horrible mean wife they came out and they got me and they they took me back to a little town in missouri i'd gone to la high there were 900 kids in my class at la high there were 800 people in the whole town so i had 36 other kids in my class in my high school but you know um i thought i'd been sent to hell and i didn't think i would recover from that and i tried every way possible to think of how i could run away but i didn't have any money and i didn't have any way to get out and i didn't have any real anybody to you know help me with that so she commandeered all my money and i she commandeered all my mail so i couldn't ask for help for anybody from anybody in california and eventually she stopped all the communication from california so i couldn't talk to any of my friends or anything that i had grown up with over the years after about a year i realized that these people in that town my teachers the merchants my friends at school everyone really rallied around me and they knew this woman was the devil my aunt and they made me realize that there are loving and caring people in this world and that's when i decided that i never wanted to go back to hollywood again because it's kind of dog-eat-dog and people take advantage of you and they use you and and i can see how this happened after i saw what real people were about and they had no reason they didn't want anything out of our relationship like they did in california that all they wanted was to give love and be friends and so i never went back to california after that of course i of course i lost all contact my aunt had made me do that but i graduated in high school went to college and i became a medical technologist and um and then i had kids and then i lost the husband to deer hunting and then i remarried and i was married to the second one for 25 years and he died of cancer and in that process i had two kids he had three and then we had two together so i raised seven kids and one of the children that we had together my son did take his own life when he was 18 and that was probably the worst experience that i will ever have in my life and my life and it hangs over me like a cloud forever it's a horrible way to lose a child but i did okay um and my husband was getting sick and there was somebody that knocked on my door in 1980 and they said have you ever have you are you that kid that zuzu kid that was in the movie it's a wonderful life and i said well yeah i was her and they said well can we have an interview and i thought okay so i went down to the basement and drug up all my memorabilia so i could show them all the movies and stuff and and so it happened again the following week and and it kept happening and i thought you know gee this is weird and so then i started getting fan mail and i thought holy cow what's going on here i don't understand this so i guess i better sit down and watch that film i had never seen the film it's a wonderful life until i was 40 years old i was raising kids i had seven kids to raise i lived in the kitchen the car and the laundry room that was my life so you know every once in a while at night i'd catch johnny carson but that was about it i didn't watch tv so i had not seen the film i have to tell you i did go to the premiere granted i saw it when i was 40 years old for the first time and you know why because i fell asleep at the opening so there you go i was six years old you know long night but i remember i remember going i got to talk on the radio that was big stuff you know well after i saw it that made my life different that's for sure and it it affected me just like it does everybody else you cry you laugh you feel good you feel sad but in the end it's a grateful experience that you have gone through and you've gotten a lot out of it so i realized what the movie was and about that time jimmy stewart had people coming to him and saying you know what happened to that little girl zu-zu and we've been listening to carolyn grimes tell her story my goodness what a turn it took when she was 14 first losing her mom and then at 15 her dad dying in a car accident with no will in came the adopted parents from missouri small town and a really really really mean aunt but then she learned that this small town rallied around her that there were good people everywhere but that knock on the door comes and finally she's reconnected to that life her earlier life and to the film it's a wonderful life which she'd never seen she fell asleep at the premiere when we come back what happens next with carolyn grimes here on our american story so denise has been playing jazz for 40 years last concert one of the musicians fell sick with rsv respiratory syncytial virus or rsv is a highly contagious virus that can lead to breathing problems this time she's choosing to help protect herself with Pfizer's rsv vaccine abrisvo abrisvo is a vaccine for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus rsv in adults 60 years of age and older abrisvo is not for everyone and may not protect all who receive the vaccine don't get abrisvo if you've had a severe allergic reaction to its ingredients people with a weakened immune system may have a decreased response to abrisvo the most common side effects are tiredness headache pain at the injection site and muscle pain ask your pharmacist or doctor about Pfizer's rsv vaccine abrisvo respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for full prescribing information please call 1-844-989-7284 or visit abrisvo.com brought to you by Pfizer the strongest part of a ford truck is right behind the wheel that's because strength is in your dna and while we might not be related by blood we're all united by our sweat by the effort we put in strength comes in many different forms that's why the 2024 ford ranger truck is designed for those always seeking a new adventure the type that starts their week by washing the weekend's dirt off their bumper the 2024 ford ranger raptor truck includes ford co-pilot 360 driver assist features like pre-collision assist and rear view camera wednesday mornings have never looked so easy the 2024 ford ranger truck daring and versatile from road to trail tap your screen now to learn about the 2024 ford ranger truck built ford tough at boost mobile passion and determination fuel what it means to get after it that's why they've built their offers keeping in mind those who go the extra mile boost mobile is partnered with champions from across the nation to empower you with devices and service that won't break the bank join boost mobile and get after it boost mobile is partnering with people you already know and love like the artist jc revere rapper singer-songwriter tusi and professional skateboarder and olympic athlete samaria bravar to highlight their unique talents inspiring journeys and how boost mobile helped them continue to get after it boost mobile knows the importance of shining a spotlight on the neighborhood kids and showing up for the communities they're in it's time to join boost mobile get after it switch to boost mobile today and get a free samsung galaxy a23 5g phone powered by america's largest 5g networks new customers only tax is extra one device per line 5g not available everywhere other restrictions apply check out the full offer details at boostmobile.com terms and conditions apply and we continue with our american stories in 1980 carolyn grimes was visited by a reporter asking if she played jimmy stewart's daughter in the 1946 christmas classic it's a wonderful life this was the first of many interactions with people wanting to know what happened to the six-year-old girl who played zuzu bailey so the 40-year-old carolyn decided to sit down and watch it's a wonderful life for the very first time to see what all the fuss was about here again is carolyn grimes about that time jimmy stewart had people coming to him and saying you know what happened to that little girl zuzu and he had one of his secretaries find me this all happened in 1980 it was like wow this is a different world and so that's when things started happening and i saw the movie i knew the messages in the movie were wonderful and i wanted to go out and help spread this positive messages that the film has to offer so i started doing a lot of speaking and just appearances locally because i was still raising kids but in 1993 the target company got together and they decided to promote it's a wonderful life for their christmas in their stores that year so they got the bailey kids together that was the reunion of the bailey kids and so we went all around on a tour they took us everywhere to all their target stores and it was just a blast and i that's when i started meeting people you know they would go through the autograph line and they would share with you their stories and and they would share with you how that movie had affected their lives a lot of them had been on the bridge and that movie saved their lives and the messages from that film lived within their hearts and i realized then that this was something that i had to do so i loved being on the road and i've been on the road ever since travel everywhere and then i started a it's wonderful life festival in seneca falls 20 years ago it's just the best experience you could ever have it's wonderful so the second weekend in december and it's in seneca falls new york and it's all about it's a wonderful life it's great it's really wonderful there are so many people who come and inquire in bedford falls or seneca falls about the film so we started a museum in 2010 and it's a it's a wonderful life museum it's the only museum in the country that celebrates a black and white movie and it's a great little place to go in seneca falls and that's another reason to go to the festival is because this wonderful museum it's got a lot of great stuff in it and people are people come and they enjoy every bit of it and we have thousands and thousands that go through it and they love the film so much it's a great experience so i hope everyone can make it certainly at least one time in their life and of course i've i've gone through you know meeting a lot of the cast members from the film and as they check out saying goodbye and they get their wings so we're we're kind of a small number now we have jimmy hawkins who played little tommy and carol combsmueller who played janey who played the piano jimmy was the kid who burped and i still with us and um there was a twins that played the baby of pete when he's in the height or the playpen she picks him up and that's pete well the twins are still alive and also the baby that played janey is still alive so and then there's another fella that's alive and he was um in the beginning scene where the boys are sliding down the hill and the ice and we call him shovel boy and he he really um just started becoming active with us at the festival and so he is there every year now then virginia patin moss who played harry bailey's wife she is still with us yeah and she i think she's 99 but it's great so we have a lot of fun during the festival and i'm usually on the road from october through december to through christmas and then i mean i'm gone every weekend someplace so it's wonderful i just have the best time i meet so many wonderful people it's just been the best thing that ever happened to my life and i'm thrilled and honored to be that little girl that played zuzu i had a lot of fun filming with jimmy stewart and um i actually think that for me the my favorite part was the petal scene hi daddy well what happened to you i want a flower oh wait now where do you think you're going i want to give my flower a drink oh i'll give the gift out of the flower i'll give it a drink no right here look daddy paste it i'm gonna paste this together of course i saw him put the petals in his pocket and frank capper did not change that you know you they you don't shoot a scene just once you do it 20 times especially capra because he had a huge amount of extra footage but um capra left it that in there because he wanted wanted to show that i knew my daddy wasn't perfect but i loved him very much so that's why he left it in there and then um i started a whisper good as new no give the flower a drink now will you do something for me will you try and get some sleep i'm not sleeping i want to look at my flower i know i know but you just go to sleep and then you can dream about it and it'll be a whole garden i have no clue why i started to whisper i want to give it a drink i want to give my flower a drink why i whispered i have no clue because he didn't tell me to do that but he liked that too so that was fun and then of course the scene where i'm coming down the stairs on jimmy stewart's back oh my gosh when i was on the stairs on his back larry sims who played pd well he's behind us and he's lifting my rump so that i'm giving it you know so i'm not falling off his back and then when he comes down the stairs he's got mary's hand in his left hand and he's got tommy under his right arm and i'm hanging on his back literally his neck you know with my arms and my legs are wrapped around him like a little frog and it's just that was quite an experience and of course we didn't do that just once either we did it many times but i always prayed that i wouldn't fall off of him and he was very tall he was six feet four so he i was way up there in the air but it was great memories great memories most people ask me the question what was it like working with jimmy stewart and i loved working with jimmy stewart he was kind he was generous and after he found me in 1980 we became friends and we did a couple things together and it was really nice to have him in my life the other thing i think was his gentleness he was very gentle with me and i appreciate that very much so when i said the line that everybody remembers and the movies remember before for for for sure i had no idea that that line would be come a piece of film history and it truly has it's everywhere and it's it's a a line that people will always remember forever and i'm blessed to be able to say that daddy teacher said every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings so i wish everyone would really watch the film every christmas it's become a tradition in a lot of homes and i think that it gives a little bit of positive feelings and i think that it gives a little bit of positive feelings and it gives a little bit of hope for all of us if we watch that movie every year at christmas and an amen to that a terrific job on the production by greg hangler and a special thanks to carolyn grimes for her storytelling and by the way to go to or visit the it's a wonderful life festival you're going to go to seneca falls new york a beautiful part of this country it's every year in early december and go to wonderfullifemuseum.com to find out more about the museum and boy what carolyn learned when target took the bailey kids on the road he said together we learned the stories of so many people and the film saved lives and we hope we do the same here at al american stories which is tell positive stories for a good and beautiful country the story of carolyn grimes and it's a wonderful life here on our american stories tis the season of making the perfect wish list and the perfect playlist with beau's quiet comfort ultra earbuds and headphones breakthrough immersive audio uses specialized sound to bring your fave holiday classics to life and world-class noise cancellation ensures a not so typical silent night and an epic holiday party of one it's everything music should make you feel taken to new holiday highs visit bows.com forward slash iheart this holiday season and shop sound that's more than just a present the best part of a ford truck is right behind the wheel you that's because 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