Karolyn Grimes
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. It includes attribution to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008) |
| Karolyn Grimes | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 4, 1940 Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1945–1952 |
Karolyn Grimes (born July 4, 1940) is an American actress known for her role as "Zuzu Bailey" in the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life. She also played "Debbie" in the 1947 Christmas film, The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young.
Grimes was born in Hollywood, California. Her mother pushed her into acting, but her acting career declined with her mother's health. The latter died from illness when Grimes was 14, and she lost her father from a car crash a year later. A court ruling sent her from Hollywood to Osceola, Missouri, where she lived in what she called a "bad home" with her aunt and uncle. She went to college, married, raised kids, and became a medical technologist.
Zuzu had been a part of Grimes' past but as It's a Wonderful Life gained more attention, she gave local interviews in the 1980s and national interviews in the 1990s. Her first husband's death in a hunting accident, 18-year-old son's suicide in 1989, and second husband's death from cancer in 1994 made it difficult for Grimes to move on. After she suffered a serious financial setback during the early 2000s recession, she made a career of her advocacy for the film, whose hopeful and optimistic message she now says she can relate to.[1]
She tours big-screen showings of It's a Wonderful Life at dinner theatres worldwide, signing autographs, sharing tidbits, and pointing out small 'goofs'. One such mistake is that she, 6 years old at the time, faked the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" in the movie's famous closing scene.[citation needed]
Grimes was honored as a famous Missourian with a star on the Missouri Walk of Fame in Marshfield, Missouri. She also received the city's highest honor, The Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative in 2007 at the annual Marshfield cherry blossom festival.
[edit] References
- ^ "It Wasn't Always a Wonderful Life for Little Zuzu Bailey". Social.entertainment.msn.com. http://social.entertainment.msn.com/movies/blogs/the-hitlist-blogpost.aspx?post=50381402-d8b2-4393-bf75-10ab2122c685. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
- Lane, Raymond M. (December 2, 2011). "For Zuzu of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ it wasn’t such a wonderful life afterward". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/for-zuzu-of-its-a-wonderful-life-it-wasnt-such-a-wonderful-life-afterward/2011/11/21/gIQAYt3CLO_story.html. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
