Virginia Patton Moss, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Star, Dead at 97

Virginia Patton Moss, the last surviving adult cast member of the 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life, has died. she was 97. Moss only appeared in a handful of other films, including the 1949 comedy The Lucky Stiff with Dorothy Lamour, but she did participate in interviews about It’s a Wonderful Life throughout her life.

Moss died on Aug. 18 in Albany, Georgia, according to her obituary on Legacy. Karolyn Grimes, one of the surviving child actors of It’s a Wonderful Life, also published a tribute to her co-star. “We have another angel!Virginia Patton Moss. She was 97 years old,” Grimes, 82, wrote on Facebook. “She played Harry Bailey’s wife in the film, It’s a Wonderful Life! She is now with her beloved Cruse. She will be missed!”

Moss is credited by her birth name, Virginia Patton, in the It’s a Wonderful Life credits. She starred as Ruth Dakin Bailey, the wife of Harry Bailey (Todd Karns) and sister-in-law to George Bailey (James Stewart). She was the last surviving adult actor from the cast, although several child actors in the film are still alive, notes Variety.

The former actress started performing while studying at the University of Southern California. She made several uncredited appearances in films made during World War II, including Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Old Acquaitance (1943), Hollywood Canteen (1944), The Last Ride (1944), and The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945). After It’s A Wonderful Life, she starred in The Burning Cross and A Double Life (both 1947), Black Eagle (1948), and The Lucky Stiff (1949).

After marrying Cruse W. Moss in 1949, Moss retired from acting and they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. She became a businesswoman, raised their three children, and worked at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Moss and Cruse were married until his death in 2018.

Although she left acting behind, Moss often sat for interviews about It’s a Wonderful Life. During an appearance at a screening of the film in 2012, Moss said she never regretted leaving Hollywood. “I couldn’t see me doing that for my life,” she told Patch. “That isn’t what I wanted. I wanted exactly what I am. Ann Arbor, Michigan, a wonderful husband, wonderful children, a good part of the community. I work hard for the community.”