<P> The film opens with an elderly man (Richard Attenborough) sporting a hat, glasses, and a brown coat with a cane, walking on the street as his morning routine . As he stops at a crosswalk, a young boy named Ryan pleads to his grandfather, Judge Henry Harper, to "ask him". Henry, knowing that the man overheard Ryan, clears up the misunderstanding by saying that Ryan thinks he is Santa Claus . After an exchange of laughs, the elderly man surprises Ryan by saying, "I am ." After he leaves, a dismayed and contented Ryan states that he "should have got his autograph". </P> <P> On the same day, Cole's Department Store's special events director Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) fires Tony Falacchi from being the store's Santa after he gets drunk before taking part in the Thanksgiving parade . Immediately trying to find a replacement, she spots the elderly man from the film's opening who was berating the inebriated Tony before the parade . When Dorey begs him to take over, he introduces himself as Kris Kringle . He does so well in the parade that he is immediately hired to be the store's Santa for the holiday period . </P> <P> All the children begin to believe that he is the real Santa, with the exception of Dorey's six - year - old daughter, Susan (Mara Wilson). Dorey's boyfriend and neighbor, Bryan Bedford (Dylan McDermott), does his best to convince Susan to believe . While being babysat one night by Kris, she shares her Christmas wish with him . She would like a dad, a house (used every year for the Cole's catalog photoshoot) and a baby brother . He asks if she would begin to believe in Santa if she got all those things . She agrees that she would . </P> <P> Kris is credited with bringing in increasingly more sales to Cole's than previous years . One night, while walking home, a man tries to interrogate him, which angers and leads him to assault the former . These actions, however, lead him to be arrested . The man whom he assaulted is revealed to be Tony, who had apparently taken revenge by means of setting him up to be arrested with the help of staff and the administration of Shopper's Express, Cole's rival department store corporation . </P>

Who plays susan in miracle on 34th street 1994