WOODLAND HILLS : ‘Wonderful Life’ Cast Members Still Entertain

Had her piano rendition of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” been flawless, Carol Coombs Mueller might have disappointed her audience.

Instead, each sour note was greeted with smiles and nods from entertainment industry retirees at the Motion Picture and Television Home, as they recalled images from Frank Capra’s 1946 tear-jerker “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In the movie, the musical bungling of Mueller’s character, Janie Bailey, helps drive her father, George, played by James Stewart, to the brink of suicide.

“I tried practicing during the past few weeks,” Mueller said. “But I still play about as badly as I did when I was 10.”

Mueller and the other three Bailey “kids” from the holiday classic entertained the retirees and visiting preschoolers Tuesday, as part of the final leg of a first-ever reunion tour to promote a chain of retail stores.

She, Larry Simms (Peter Bailey), Karolyn Grimes Wilkerson (ZuZu Bailey) and Jimmy Hawkins (Bobby Bailey) decorated a Christmas tree with “It’s a Wonderful Life” ornaments, signed autographs and led the assembled senior citizens and children in Christmas carols, after a professional pianist took over for Mueller.

As they did during stops in Tampa, Portland and Denver, the foursome chatted about their small roles in a film that has become nearly synonymous with Americana.

“People always ask what it was like to work with Jimmy Stewart,” Wilkerson said. “And almost everybody says the movie meant a lot to them or taught them something.”

The upbeat message of the film certainly taught her something.

“I live that movie,” said Wilkerson, who endured the early deaths of both parents, a son and her first husband. “If I didn’t, I think I would have collapsed by now.”

That sentiment for the film was echoed by residents of the Woodland Hills home, most of whom are old enough to be the parents of the “Bailey kids.”

“They don’t make movies like that anymore, with that kind of message,” Fayard Nicholas, 79, said. “When Jimmy Stewart is up on that bridge, you’re saying, ‘No, Jimmy. Don’t be so upset. Life is pretty good. In fact, it’s a wonderful life!’ ”