It’s a Wonderful Life star Virginia Patton Moss died on Thursday at an assisted living facility in Albany, Georgia, the Mathews Funeral Home announced. She was 97. 

The cause of death and other details have not been revealed yet.

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Patton was the last surviving adult cast member of the Frank Capra holiday classic. She played Ruth Dakin Bailey, the sister-in-law of Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey. Her character was married to Harry Bailey (Todd Karns).

“We have another angel! Virginia Patton Moss. She was 97 years old. 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!” Karolyn Grimes, who starred alongside Patton in It’s a Wonder Life, said on Facebook. 

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“We are saddened to hear of Virginia Patton Moss’ passing. She played Ruth Dakin Bailey (Harry’s wife) in ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’. Our thoughts are with her family and friends,” Jimmy Stewart Museum said on Twitter. 

Who was Virginia Patton Moss?

Born in Cleveland on June 25, 1925, Virginia Ann Patton was raised in Portland, Oregon. Only a few years after starring in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), the actor retired in 1949, with her final film credit being The Lucky Stiff. 

She was a niece of General George S. Patton. She graduated from the Jefferson High School in 1942. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. 

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At USC, Patton collaborated with screenwriter William C. DeMille. She was picked for Capra for It’s a Wonderful Life then under the Liberty Films production company.

Patton later said that she was the only girl the famous director ever signed in his entire career. She signed with Warner Bros., made her movie debut in the musical Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), starring Eddie Cantor.

After It’s a Wonderful Life, Patton made only four films – B-Western Black Eagle (1948), The Burning Cross (1946),  A Double Life (1947) and The Lucky Stiff (1949)

Patton was married to Cruse W. Moss from 1949 until his death in 2018. She gave up acting in the late 1940s to concentrate on raising a family with her husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan.