Film star joins Bosco in holiday classic screening

Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY - To help celebrate the holidays, St. John Bosco High School recently held a screening of a beloved holiday classic, including a special appearance by one of the film’s stars.

It’s been 72 years since Carol Coombs shared the big screen with James Stewart It’s a Wonderful Life.

Originally born in Toronto, Canada, Coombs, her mother, and her brother came to California looking for a way to sustain themselves in desperate times. She was just 4 years old at the time.

“My mother brought my brother and I out from Canada, and she got us in films,” said Coombs. “The reason why is because it was the [Great] Depression and we lost everything...we had to leave my father and he never did make it back out.”

Coombs, now 82, says that she had no prior inclination to get into films. It was her mother who went to a studio and asked how she could get her children into films.

“They gave us the name of a wonderful who handled mostly children,” said Coombs. “That got us started.”

Coombs appeared in 24 films between 1941 and 1958, mostly in minor roles.

Her first film was an uncredited part in 1941’s Blossoms in the Dust. She was around 10 years old when she landed the role of eldest daughter Janie in It’s a Wonderful Life, which released in 1946.

“It was really exciting because I was part of a family again,” said Coombs. “We had left Canada, left my father. All of a sudden you get this part in a picture and you’re going to have a brother and sisters. That was so exciting.”

“Every time I got a part in a picture, I knew that it helped us…I was blessed that way.”

Coombs says that It’s a Wonderful Life didn’t do so well upon its first release.

“That’s what we’ve heard; that it wasn’t popular very much at first,” said Coombs.

She had no idea the holiday classic that it would become.

“Oh, heavens no, not at all,” said Coombs. “You’re hired, you’ve got the script. You learn that and you do your best, but you don’t know the whole picture of it all. Nothing. But when it came out, wow, what a wonderful movie. We were so thrilled.”

She retired from acting after marrying her husband Chet Mueller. The couple has been married for 62 years, and have three children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Coombs says it is a “blessing” to see It’s a Wonderful Life still enjoyed all these years later.

“It was a beautiful film [with] a wonderful director. It was done so well,” said Coombs. “The children that were in it as a family are still good friends. We don’t live close together but we’re still god friends.”

Coombs described the Bosco screening as a “real privilege.”

“Perhaps a lot of these kids wouldn’t have seen it,” said Coombs. “There’s so many good lessons in the film.”

She hopes that future generations will continue to get the true message of the film.

“The blessing of the family. Sticking together through thick and thin,” said Coombs. “Every life is important.”