George Bailey is a fictional character and the protagonist in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. He occupies slot #9 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 greatest screen heroes (in its 2003 list entitled AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains). He is played by James Stewart as an adult and Bobby Anderson as a child. He is loosely based on George Pratt, a character in Philip Van Doren Stern's The Greatest Gift.