THIS WONDERFUL LIFE BACKSTAGE GUIDE 9 sweetheart, raising a family, keeping his family’s savings and loan afloat and fighting for the good people of the town. After losing a large sum of money one Christmas Eve, he becomes so desperate he contemplates suicide, thinking he is worth more to his family dead than alive. His guardian angel shows him what life would have been like for the residents of Bedford Falls if he had never lived. Leaming previously played George Bailey for six seasons with American Blues Theater in our annual radio style production of It’s a Wonderful Life. “I’ll do it as long as my body will hold out,” Leaming told Wilson. “It’s a large task, but I truly love this story.” That love is why he returns to snowy Bedford Falls year after year. “We change the world where we touch it every day, and it’s so easy to forget that,” Leaming said. “We get down on ourselves and our lives, and this show reminds you that how you walk through the world matters.” Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) Actor Jim Leaming in This Wonderful Life at Laguna Playhouse Actor Jim Leaming in This Wonderful Life at Laguna Playhouse (edited from Syracuse.com)