Karolyn Grimes is best known for having played "Zuzu" in Frank Capra's timeless film "It's A Wonderful Life" with James Stewart and Donna Reed. Since then, she has overcome many obstacles and has become the film's ambassador, appearing at many fan conventions around the world. She runs her own website, www.zuzu.net, where she has numerous essays, photos, a store filled with memorabilia and just about everything related to her work in the 1946 Christmas classic. During the time she worked in Hollywood, Karolyn acted alongside some of the biggest cinema legends in the business. Her sparkling personality made her a standout and an unforgettable part of the films we all know and love. She has come to mean so much to so many people, who recognize her as part of their annual holiday cheer. She often receives gifts and tributes from fans who just want to thank her for making their lives happier and return the favor in their own creative ways. From inspiring business names to children's names, "Zuzu" is one of Hollywood's most important characters of all time. Karolyn spoke with us regarding her life and career, and how her role as "Zuzu" has built a legacy of its own. You can click play below to hear the audio from the interview, as well as read the transcription.

MP: I'm talking with Karolyn Grimes, who many people know as having played "Zuzu" in the timeless film "It's A Wonderful Life". Karolyn, thank you so much for talking with me today.

Karolyn: Well thank you for calling me.

MP: Most people know you from “It’s a Wonderful Life”, 1946, playing Zuzu and of course delivering the famous line “every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”. But you’d actually made four films prior to that if I’m not mistaken, one of them being “Blue Skies” with Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire. How did you get such a young start in films?

Karolyn: Well my mother was a stage mother, and I lived in Hollywood. Most of the kids were in the business one way or the other and we all had the same agent. My mother took me to this agent, Lola Moore, and she was kind of the one that had the largest children's stable in town. So, she liked me and she sent me on some interviews and I got some parts and by golly I was in!

MP: Speaking of Blue Skies, it was made the same year as “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and you played Bing Crosby’s daughter in the film, Mary Elizabeth. How did you actually land that particular part?

Karolyn: Actually it was made the year before but released that following year, because I was only five when I did that one. They were having a problem finding a little girl that looked like Bing Crosby and they were even thinking about putting a blonde wig on one of his boys. Then I came along and they thought I'd work, so I got the part. It was a wonderful experience for me because he never forgot who I was and I did quite a few movies for Paramount so I saw him quite a bit afterwards when I was doing other films. He just always was friendly and just a gentle soul.

MP: You’ve worked with some incredible actors and actresses, Fred MacMurray, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart naturally, Bing Crosby as I mentioned, Cary Grant, Betty Grable, Buster Keaton, Ida Lupino and the list goes on. Can you describe how you felt being on those sets with such big names or were you even aware of how big they were?

Karolyn: Hadn't a clue, no. I think my mother protected me, my parents really protected me from the fact that these people were very famous and really movie stars of a generation that will never come again. I had no idea. I just thought it was a job, and I was working and everybody did this, I didn't know any different and I thought these people were my friends.

MP: Nice friends to have!

Karolyn: Well, they were nice! I would say 98% of them were very, very nice.

MP: I read that while filming “It’s A Wonderful Life”, there was actually a severe heat wave, which must have made it difficult to focus when it was supposed to be Christmas time. Can you describe what a typical day was like on that set?

Karolyn: It was hot, but you know as a little kid you don't really notice the heat, adults notice the heat, not kids. Of course, we all had winter clothes on. But there's something psychological about all this fake snow around you. Maybe it cooled us off, I don't know! I thought it was the best thing that ever happened. In Hollywood it doesn't snow so it was the first time I'd ever seen any snow. Of course it wasn't real but still, I was in heaven.

MP: You also played Debby in “The Bishop’s Wife” with Cary Grant and Loretta Young. In 1996, it was remade as “The Preacher’s Wife” with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston. Did you see that remake and if you had seen it, what were your thoughts on it?

Karolyn: I did see it. It was a totally different movie. They made my part a boy, and I don't think that "The Bishop's Wife" was ever supposed to be a musical. It was just a totally different movie, a really different story in a way.

MP: More so they took the premise and just spun it in a different direction.

Karolyn: I think so, they missed the nuances of the original messages from the film I felt like. But, you can't fix something that's not broken. A lot of people come to me and come to other people wanting to remake "It's A Wonderful Life", well you can't. You can't remake Jimmy Stewart. He is the movie, he is George Bailey. In the case of "The Bishop's Wife", you can't remake those characters, Cary Grant as "Dudley the Angel" and David Niven, they were just tantamount to the whole story, and beautiful, gorgeous, lovely Loretta Young, well she was just an institution in herself and you just can't do that over.

MP: I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they did attempt to remake "It's A Wonderful Life".

Karolyn: I don't think anybody would touch it. I really don't. I've had a lot of people come my way and nobody wants to touch it. Now, there's been a lot of sequels and there's some interest in sequels but I don't know if those will ever happen either. You know, following Tommy Bailey's life or whatever, that kind of thing. But no, I dont think that anybody would ever even attempt it - at this juncture.

MP: I understand that as a teenager, you did some commercial work with George Reeves, who people are familiar with as “Superman” in the 1950s. It was a cereal commercial if I'm not mistaken?

Karolyn: Yes, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, yeah Kellogg's the cereal.

MP: Is that commercial hard to come by?

Karolyn: I have it, but I don't know if it's hard to come by or not, I have no clue. People send me things, that's the only way I ever get them. I'm always thrilled when they do that.

MP: I know that a few years ago, you did an interview with "Monsters from the Vault", where you spoke of your memories working with Lon Chaney, Jr. You of course worked with him in the film “Albuquerque” in 1948. It was a western in which you played a little girl named Myrtle. Looking back on the time that you had to work with him, how do you remember him best?

Karolyn: Well, you know he was a big man and he was kind of grouchy and a bit scary. But, I really liked the man. I found him fascinating because he was "The Wolf Man", good grief I could stare at him forever! He was just a gentle giant. He was snarly, he had his little stuff he sipped from shall we say. He could be kind of gnarly but he was a gentle man and I really think that he was kind. There was a fight scene and he was going to bleed, everybody was looking forward to watching this scene. We were on location and he told me all about it because he knew everybody would be watching. He said "now I'm going to bleed" but he said "but this is how I'm going to do it". He showed me the capsules and told me what he was going to do so that I wouldn't be alarmed when I saw this blood. I thought that was pretty neat.

MP: When you watch films that you were in, I would assume that it’s like watching memories in addition to just watching a movie. Is it different for you to watch films that you were in as opposed to watching any other movie?

Karolyn: Well, when I watch a movie that I'm in, it's like watching my own home video in a way. It does dredge up memories. Everytime I see it, I think of something else, it brings something else to mind and I like watching them. I think they're fun and I enjoy it very, very much because it's just like walking down memory lane for me.

MP: Did you keep in touch with any of the stars you worked with after the movies had been completed?

Karolyn: I did with Bing Crosby, because he was just a dynamite kind of guy. Then I left Hollywood when I was 15, so that kind of ended my career and my connection with Hollywood, until "It's A Wonderful Life" started raising its head. In the 1980s, they found me, the media found me in Kansas, so I started doing things for "It's A Wonderful Life". Mr. Stewart had been getting inquiries, you know, "what ever happened to Zuzu?" and things like that so I got with him. So, we became friends again and I also reunited with Loretta Young because just as a connection of the fact that we worked together and I played her daughter. So, it was fun and she sent me prayers right up until she really, really got sick. I needed them, she was a very devout Catholic and that was important to her. She was a lovely lady.

MP: From your experiences working in Hollywood in the 40s and 50s, do you see any major differences now with how child stars are perceived in the media as opposed to back then?

Karolyn: I think I do. With the media of television and computers, they have no private lives, they are larger than life shall we say. They have a whole different kind of career because they are so famous, because of the media. When we were doing movies, the media respected your privacy and if there was a dirty story you had printed about you, if someone did they would be black-balled, no one would print it, it was a no no.

MP: But now it's celebrated.

Karolyn: Now it's celebrated because it pays well. It's all about money and it's a whole different ball game now. So whatever scoop you can get, whatever picture you can find, these kids are magnified, they have no life. They have none and it's very difficult to grow up under a microscope.

MP: Your life now is much different than your life in Hollywood was. Was it difficult for you to make the transition from being an actress to having a "regular" life?

Karolyn: No, fortunately I was a teenager and I sort of discovered boys, you know. So my focus changed actually. I did not miss that part of my life at all. I was too focused on the other things that happened in my life and so I really didn't miss those days. I missed my friends, I really missed them a lot. But, that was all because I had to leave Hollywood. The court shipped me back to a little town in Missouri because I was orphaned, so that was the end of that.

MP: Have you ever thought about, or even considered returning to movies?

Karolyn: No, no I didn't want to then because I'd discovered real people and caring individuals that really don't come about in Hollywood. It's a different playing field and I knew it back then, and I know it now. I've had some producers tell me they needed mothers for these tv sitcoms, but you know the only way I could do it is if I lived there. I just don't think I could, I don't want to live there. My days are precious and I'm not going to live there.

MP: How about now? Do people still recognize you on a regular basis because of the characters you played?

Karolyn: That's the fun part of my life because I have the best of both worlds. No one knows who I am. But, the minute they find out who I am, oh my gosh, their eyes light up, they go crazy because "oh, It's A Wonderful Life is my favorite movie!" and "I celebrate Christmas with you every year!" and it's a whole different ball game. It's just so wonderful. Then you're treated totally different, and I have made so many friends because of this movie. I travel a lot, I go to other countries and the groups I travel with, when they find out who I am, we form friendships that we continue to have for many, many years. So, it's the best of both worlds. I'm very, very fortunate.

MP: It really is a staple in many people's yearly Christmas celebration.

Karolyn: Oh it is, and now it's in the United Kingdom, it's their third favorite Christmas film.

MP: A good number of the movies you’ve been in are on DVD, and if they're not on DVD, they're certainly on VHS. Do you have copies of everything that you’ve done?

Karolyn: Yes I do, every single thing. I do, and if I hadn't found it, I did find it on Ebay. The last one that I never could find, I found last year and it was a short called "Sweet and Low".

MP: Sammy Davis Jr. and his father...

Karolyn: Yes and his uncle, he danced. It was spectacular what he did. But, that was the one I didn't have so I found it on Ebay, a 16mm print, then I had it put on DVD. So now I have them all.

MP: I read that there's a restaurant in Missouri called “Zuzu's Petals Restaurant” that opened in 2001. Were you involved in actually starting that business or was it done as more of a tribute that you participated in?

Karolyn: The second...I wasn't involved in it, the only thing I did, I was there for the grand opening. Unfortunately it's no longer there, it's gone. The guy that was the chef and one of the owners, he went to California, he went back to Hollywood and that's where he's at now. That's a shame but there's many, many "Zuzu" businesses. There's a "Zuzu's Cafe" in Seneca Falls, New York and there are a lot of "Zuzu's Petals" florists and "Zuzu" gifts and all kinds of things.

MP: Its really branched out.

Karolyn: Oh yes, but I don't have anything to do with them, it's just that people pick that name.

MP: It's still a great commentary on a character that you created basically.

Karolyn: That's true. It's amazing the amount of children now that are being named Zuzu. It's amazing. First it was dogs, cats, gerbils and all that kind of stuff. Now it's actually little girls and I have a file of all these little girls that are named Zuzu. It's quite rewarding to think that this film had that much of an impact on people's lives that they want to carry this forward with their daughters. I have a fan who lived in Montana and he named his little girl "Zuzu Rose" and he has a bakery, and he called it "Zuzu's Wonderful Loafs".

MP: Since you had roles in two Christmas classics, “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “The Bishop’s Wife”, what is the Christmas season typically like for you? Do you do a lot of special events?

Karolyn: Boy, do I ever! I don't have a personal Christmas, my personal Christmas is shared with my fans. I travel from the first of October until about the last of December and sometimes the first week in January. I'm home about two days a week and that's just kind of to fill orders. That's about it, unpack, repack. It's tough, it really is hard because unfortunately I can't hire anybody to do anything for me, I have to do it myself because I sign everything myself. It's all a personal one-on-one sort of thing, whether it's long distance or right there. So I really don't have much of a private, personal Christmas anymore and unfortunately that isn't so good for my family but I feel like I'm doing the right thing.

MP: You run your own website, www.zuzu.net. In addition to being able to connect with all of your fans, you also have a wide range of products and information, including some books that you’ve written. So, what can a visitor expect to find on your site?

Karolyn: There's some letters from fans and there is a store, and there is a page for appearances. There are pages of essays from other people as well as my thoughts on things and a bit of a biography about myself. Things like that, pretty big website.

MP: And you have regular visitors. I visited myself and I've seen the photos, I've seen the things that people have sent you, the photos you've taken, the quilt that was made for you, your tapestries, it's just fantastic.

Karolyn: This last year I got two tins of hand-made cookies, and they were all either bells or round, and they said "It's A Wonderful Life". They were all hand-decorated: "It's A Wonderful Life", "Zuzu" or "1946" or a rose with "Zuzu's Petals", they were all individually hand-decorated. They were just beautiful. I was so excited about it that I had them polyurethaned and so they're in my museum. I get some lovely things. People are just so creative that it's incredible, it really, really is.

MP: What's on the horizon for you, in terms of your future goals or any projects that you might have in the works?

Karolyn: Well, I just try to develop my relationship with the fans and whether that's with a presentation or a personal appearance, that's my mission in life, is to try to transfer the messages from that movie to today. People can benefit from so many of the different messages and they're all good. There are so many nuggets in that movie and I like to share them with people and give them hope, because I think a lot of people today have lost hope. They need to have a little rejuvenated energy and I like to be able to do that. So, I like to work with fundraisers for organizations that are charities and things like that where I have the opportunity to talk to people and to actually be one-on-one with them and to develop a relationship. Because, it's just so beautiful to see it unfold and see people react and have them share their stories about how this movie has affected their lives. It's a reward to me, nothing could ever, ever compete with that, it's just a blessing. So, it's sort of a mission.

MP: Could I maybe ask you to give us your famous line from “It’s A Wonderful Life?”

Karolyn: I'd be happy to! "Daddy, teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings"

MP: That's fantastic. Is there anything you’d like to add that maybe we haven't covered?

Karolyn: No, I think you've done very well!

MP: Once again, I'm speaking with Karolyn Grimes, who was in the timeless film "It's A Wonderful Life" playing "Zuzu" and of course as you've heard, she's become the film's ambassador, spreading its messages and its good points, and trying to share that with everybody, and enjoys hearing how much its meant to other people and how its impacted their lives. So Karolyn, again, I really appreciate you speaking with me today.

Karolyn: Well thank you for talking to me because it's always a pleasure for me to share my love for this film.

*** I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Karolyn Grimes for taking time out to speak with me. I'd also like to remind everyone to visit her official website, www.zuzu.net and check out all of her great photos, essays and memorabilia! ***