In It's a Wonderful Life, which actor plays George Bailey?

James Stewart plays George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, the film’s central character.

George Bailey is a Bedford Falls businessman who repeatedly gives up personal ambitions to help his family and community. On Christmas Eve, a crisis makes him believe that his life has no value, leading to the film’s famous supernatural intervention.

Stewart had already become a major Hollywood star through films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Philadelphia Story. It’s a Wonderful Life was one of his first major roles after serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.

The film was directed by Frank Capra and released in 1946. Although it later became a Christmas television favorite, its initial theatrical reception was more modest than its modern reputation. George Bailey is sometimes confused with Ebenezer Scrooge, but George is an original character rather than a Dickens adaptation.