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Karolyn Grimes, Zuzu in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ Looks Back on a Life That Wasn’t Always Wonderful;The 84-year-old, who was six when she played Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed's daughter, was orphaned at 15 and later lost a son to suicide, didn't even see the Christmas classic until she was 40

The 84-year-old, who was six when she played Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed's daughter, was orphaned at 15 and later lost a son to suicide, didn't even see the Christmas classic until she was 40.

That’s because 78 years ago, at the age of six, Grimes spent two weeks on the set of Frank Capra ’s film It’s a Wonderful Life playing Zuzu Bailey, the daughter of Jimmy Stewart ’s George and Donna Reed’s Mary — and in so doing, totally unbeknownst to her, attained immortality. In her mind, it was, and for decades would remain, just another movie, no more or less important than the 15 others in which she appeared, including, over the next few years, 1947’s The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant, 1950’s Rio Grande with John Wayne and 1952’s Hans Christian Andersen with Danny Kaye. In the 1970s, a clerical oversight resulted in It’s a Wonderful Life ’s copyright lapsing and the film entering the public domain, which made it possible for television networks to broadcast it without having to pay licensing or royalty fees.

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