What I Eat: Behind The Scenes With ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ Star

“I love to eat,” says Karolyn “Zuzu” Grimes, the actress who played the iconic cherubic young daughter of George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) in the timeless holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. “I like Christmas cookies and I always fix a prime rib roast for Christmas dinner. That’s tradition.”

For Grimes, the holiday season is tumultuous, emotional and full of traveling, yet she still has time to make a big family meal for Christmas, which also includes a green bean casserole.

“I use Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, cheese and French’s dried onions,” she says. “For the cheese, I use cheddar. Tillamook. That’s all I cook with — I love Tillamook!”

For Grimes, the joyous grind of traveling during the holiday season started in 1980 when It’s a Wonderful Life, which had previously been thought of as a flop, earned a resurgence. People started to approach Grimes for interviews and she started receiving fan mail. Then, in 1993, she was hired by Target, which reunited the Bailey children for a holiday campaign.