Karolyn Grimes

Karolyn Grimes (born July 4, 1940 ) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Zuzu Bailey in the 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life, delivering the film's famous line "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings". She also played Debby Brougham in the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife.

Early life Grimes was born in Hollywood, California. Her father worked as a store manager for Safeway. From an early age her mother took her for all sorts of lessons, training in violin, piano, singing and dance, and took her to auditions. By ruling of the District Court, she was sent from Hollywood to live with her uncle and his wife in Osceola, Missouri. It was a very difficult adjustment for her. Life in rural Missouri was a far cry from life in southern California, and her aunt was strict, mean and unstable. Karolyn adjusted to the changes, and found support from among the townspeople, who were aware of what she was going through. She first attracted attention playing Fred MacMurray's daughter in 1945's Pardon My Past. Her most famous role came as Zuzu in It's a Wonderful Life in 1946.

In total, Grimes starred in 16 motion pictures as a child actor; however, it is as Zuzu that she is best remembered. She 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.

Every year since 2001 Karolyn Grimes has visited the town of Seneca Falls, New York believed to be the real life inspiration for the film It's a Wonderful Life.' She has headlined the Town's annual 'It's a Wonderful Life Festival for 23 times as of 2025. Fellow film co-stars Jimmy Hawkins, Carol Coombs, and Jeanine Roose have also appeared alongside her at various times.

During the summer of 2018 Karolyn Grimes filmed a documentary entitled Angels Among Us using the town of Seneca Falls as a starting point for a journey around the world to discover real life people who are living like angels-in-training by helping others. The documentary features cameo appearances from fellow It's a Wonderful Life actors Hawkins, Coombs and Roose. A special 45 minute version of the documentary was shown at the It's a Wonderful Life Festival and via Prime Video and Spectrum Cable twice between 2019 and 2021. It will be rereleased in full length in 2026 in honor of It's a Wonderful Life'''s 80th Anniversary.

In 2019 the first season of a follow-up series also entitled Angels Among Us was filmed at MPT, the PBS affiliate in Baltimore, MD. Production of future episodes ceased due to covid. The series is not currently available on DVD or streaming.

Starting in 2024, Grimes launched a radio show and podcast with her partner Dr. Chris Brunell entitled Zuzu All Grown Up in which she interviews do-good-ers who are "earning their wings" and explores topics about makes a wonderful life both of which topics pay tribute to the film. More than 150 episodes of the series have been produced which concluded its second season on January, 7, 2026, with a third season set for an early Spring 2026 debut. The series airs on various platforms include IHeart Radio, Spotify, Roku, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Fire devices. url=https://www.zuzunetwork.com

Personal life

She married, had two children, divorced, married again to a man with three children, and then had two more children with her second husband. Renewed interest in It's a Wonderful Life in the early 1980s led Jimmy Stewart to wonder what had happened to the little girl who had played "ZuZu". Grimes was 39 years old by the time Stewart's secretary tracked her down. In the mid-1980s she began receiving cards and letters from fans who loved It's a Wonderful Life. Repeated showings on local and cable television each holiday season created a broad base of admirers, and the movie became a perennial holiday favorite. After the death of her second husband, she came to appreciate the depth of the film, particularly the deep desperation portrayed by Stewart.

Through her speaking engagements, she met a psychologist who worked at the Benedict House, a homeless shelter in the Bremerton area, whom she married. Grimes moved to the Seattle area. In addition, she appears annually at the "It's a Wonderful Life"'' event held in Seneca Falls, New York, the town that inspired Bedford Falls in the film. In 2023 she recited her famous line "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings" for the Christmas single "A Day in the Life of a Christmas Tree", by Danish singer, Anders Knudsen.

Filmography Film

Television