The “It’s a Wonderful Life” child star left Hollywood after a series of tragedies
This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Life hasn’t always been pretty for Caroline 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 classic film stars James Stewart and Donna Reed.
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The film tells the story of George Bailey, played by Stewart, who contemplates suicide. His guardian angel intervenes and shows him all the people he has touched in his life. One memorable character is Zuzu, played by Grimes, who famously says, “Every time the bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”
Clockwise from top: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs, Jimmy Hawkins, Larry Simms and Karolyn Grimes. (Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty Images)
While the film has become a beloved holiday staple over the years, Grimes has endured personal tragedies that have kept her out of the spotlight.
An 84-year-old man said about it The Hollywood Reporter When he was 11 years old, things began to take a terrible turn.
“My mom started getting sick,” the former child star recalled. “Unfortunately, it was incurable. It was what we would call early-onset Alzheimer’s today. They didn’t call it that back then. They just called it cerebral atrophy.”
American child actress Caroline Grimes, 1946. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)
Grimes noted that his acting career became a financial hardship for his father, who initially disapproved of it.
“He had to pay someone to take me to auditions, because you have to have a guardian, and if I got a part, he would have to pay someone to be on set with me,” she said. “It was a little too much for him.”
At the age of 14, Grimes lost his mother, who was only 44 years old. Grimes was orphaned a year later at the age of 15 when his heartbroken father was killed in a car accident. According to the publication, Grimes’ future is pending in court.
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Caroline Grimes appeared in The Bishop’s Wife (1947) with Cary Grant and Rio Grande (1950) with John Wayne. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)
“I had friends’ parents who agreed to take me,” she said. “I asked the judge if I had any say at all about who I went to or where I lived. And he said: “Your souls are like a drop in a bucket.” I will never forget this.”
Grimes was placed in the custody of his uncle and his wife. He left Hollywood, where he was born, and moved in with them Osceola is a small town in Missouri. Grimes claimed that over the next three years, she endured “extremely cruel” treatment from her mentally ill aunt.
Wanting to escape her domestic life, Grimes married a local boy at the age of 18.
“I had friends’ parents who agreed to take me. I asked the judge if I had any say in who I went to or where I lived.” And he said: “Your souls are like a drop in a bucket.” I will never forget this.”
James Stewart (1908-1997) as George Bailey and Caroline Grimes as their daughter Zuzu in a scene from Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“I had to run and it was the only way to get out of there,” he said.
Before the divorce, Grimes and her husband had two daughters. Later, he died in a hunting accident.
She once again said “I do” to the man who already has three children from her previous marriage. They welcomed two more children together.
Grimes attended the University of Central Missouri while raising her family. He worked quietly as a medical technologist for 25 years. Grimes said her children know very little about her Hollywood past.
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“They knew I was in movies, but it didn’t matter to them because it didn’t matter to me,” she said. “I think in fourth grade they could have taken a picture to school and said, ‘That’s my mom and she did this,’ but that was about it.”
The publication reported on this “It’s a Wonderful Life” It entered the public sphere in the 70s. As a result, it aired every Christmas, gaining a new legion of fans. In 1980, Grimes, who had never seen the film, learned of its revival. He was living in Kansas at the time.
“When I was 40, someone knocked on my door and said, ‘Have you been in It’s a Wonderful Life?'” Grimes said. “I said yes. And they said, “Can I do an interview?” they said… That’s why I dug out all my memories from the basement and we had an interview.”
Caroline Grimes presents 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, then it happened again,” he said. I thought, “Maybe I should sit down and watch this movie.”
Tragedy struck Grimes again in 1989. Her youngest son, whom she described as a “shy and sensitive boy”, died at the age of 18.
“The really sad part is that I’ll never see my children,” she said (“It’s a Wonderful Life, with its message that every life has great meaning and value”).
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Donna Reed, pictured here with James Stewart, died in 1986. He was 64 years old. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Grimes was “in deep mourning” when she decided to accept an invitation to attend the 1990 Chaplin Award Gala. Stewart was being honored. It was there that the interlocutors spoke for the first time as adults.
One of the things Stewart and Grimes bonded over was the heartache of losing a child. Stewart lost a son during the Vietnam War.
“I don’t think you’ll ever get over it,” Grimes said.
The couple has remained in touch to this day Stewart died in 1997. He was 89 years old.
As an adult, Caroline Grimes became involved with James Stewart. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
The publication reported that Grimes’ second husband died of cancer a few years later. They have been married for 25 years.
“I think that really led to it,” Grimes said of her sons’ suicide.
“Something about it did something to him,” he said, referring to his late wife.
It was then that “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “the lowest emotional point in Grimes’ life,” saved him. In 1993, Target contacted her in hopes of participating in a Christmas advertising campaign. While touring the country, Grimes befriended several former child performers.
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“It’s a beautiful life” becomes the main theme of the holiday every year across the country. (CBS via Getty Images)
“We became real brothers and sisters after that.
Since then, the retired grandmother has been busy every year. During the holidays, he attends numerous events to celebrate the film and his contributions to Hollywood.
During her tour, Grimes witnessed the impact of “It’s a Wonderful Life” on fans both young and old.
“People lined up for autographs and they discussed taking their own lives and how they saw the movie and it saved them,” he said.
Today, Caroline Grimes is a retired grandmother living a quiet life outside of Hollywood. (Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
According to him, these meetings inspired him to spread the film’s message of hope and “keep it alive”.
“I just thought, this is my path and I have to do it,” he said. “And I’ve been doing it ever since.”
In 2021, Grimes told Fox News Digital that her parents gave her the wisdom to overcome any obstacles.
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Carolyn Grimes is proud of “It’s a Beautiful Life” and the message it presents. (Dr. Billy Ingram/WireImage/Getty Images)
“My parents instilled in me that everything will be okay in the end,” she said. “It might not feel like it right now, but it will. Life is what you make of it. And I wanted it to be good.”
“My parents also gave me a very strong religious background,” he said. “I have a certain amount of respect for anyone who believes in a supreme being and is trying to do well in life.
“I think that’s something we should all try to do. It’s hard these days, but gosh, if only we could 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 how I got over it.”
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