George Bailey is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 and the main protagonist in Frank Capra

Frank Capra

Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...

's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....

. He is played by James Stewart

James Stewart (actor)

James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...

. He is loosely based on George Pratt, a character in Philip Van Doren Stern

Philip Van Doren Stern

Philip Van Doren Stern was an author, editor, and Civil War historian whose story "The Greatest Gift," published in 1943, inspired the classic Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life .-Early life:...

's The Greatest Gift

The Greatest Gift (story)

"The Greatest Gift" is a 1943 short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern which became the basis for the film It's a Wonderful Life.-Plot summary :...

.

Throughout the story, George is shown as a selfless person since childhood. He saves his younger brother Harry from drowning, after Harry accidentally sleds down into icy water. Rescuing Harry causes George to lose his hearing in one ear. He saves his boss, Mr. Gower, from jail time when Gower accidentally puts poison in a customer's medicine bottle. From a young age, George always wanted to go to college and to travel and see the world; however, he keeps having to postpone the fulfillment of these ambitions, time after time.

When his uncle loses $8,000 and George does not know that his rival, Mr. Potter, has it, George is on the verge of committing suicide by jumping from a bridge; however, his guardian angel, Clarence, stops him. Clarence shows George what life in his hometown, Bedford Falls, would be like if George hadn't been born. When George realizes suicide is a mistake, he goes back to the bridge and utters his famous line, "I want to live again." He soon returns to his world, and the citizens of Bedford Falls come to greet him and donate money to replace the missing $8,000.