Deanna Durbin
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 4, 1921
- Died
- April 20, 2013 (aged 91)
- Birthplace
- Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Biography
Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With the technical skill and vocal range of a legitimate lyric soprano, she performed many styles from popular standards to operatic arias. In 1946, Durbin was the second-highest-paid woman in the United States, just behind Bette Davis; her fan club ranked as the world's largest during her active years. Durbin was a child actress who made her first film appearance with Judy Garland in Every Sunday (1936), and subsequently signed a contract with Universal Studios. She achieved success as the ideal teenaged daughter in films such as Three Smart Girls (1936), One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), and It Started with Eve (1941). Her work was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy, and led to Durbin being awarded the Academy Juvenile Award in 1938. As she matured, Durbin grew dissatisfied with the girl-next-door roles assigned to her and attempted to move into sophisticated non-musical roles with film noir Christmas Holiday (1944) and the whodunit Lady on a Train (1945). These films, produced by frequent collaborator and second husband Felix Jackson, were not as successful; she continued in musical roles until her retirement. Upon her retirement and divorce from Jackson in 1949, Durbin married producer-director Charles Henri David and moved to a farmhouse near Paris. She withdrew from public life, granting only one interview on her career in 1983.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Movie · as (archive footage)
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Love is All
Movie · as Singing voice (archive recording)
Hollywood’s Children
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
For the Love of Mary
Movie · as Mary Peppertree
Up in Central Park
Movie · as Rosie Moore
Something in the Wind
Movie · as Mary Collins
I'll Be Yours
Movie · as Louise Ginglebusher
Because of Him
Movie · as Kim Walker
Lady on a Train
Movie · as Nikki Collins / Margo Martin
Christmas Holiday
Movie · as Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin
Can't Help Singing
Movie · as Caroline Frost
The Shining Future
Movie · as Self
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Movie · as Ruth Kirke Holliday
His Butler's Sister
Movie · as Ann Carter
Hers to Hold
Movie · as Penelope ‘Penny’ Craig
Show-Business at War
Movie · as Self
It Started with Eve
Movie · as Anne Terry
Nice Girl?
Movie · as Jane 'Pinky' Dana
A Friend Indeed
Movie · as Self / Performer
It's a Date
Movie · as Pamela Drake
Spring Parade
Movie · as Ilonka Tolnay
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Angels of Mercy
Movie · as Self / Performer
First Love
Movie · as Constance (Connie) Harding
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
Movie · as Penny Craig
Mad About Music
Movie · as Gloria Harkinson
That Certain Age
Movie · as Alice Fullerton
One Hundred Men and a Girl
Movie · as Patricia Cardwell
Three Smart Girls
Movie · as Penny Craig
Every Sunday
Movie · as Edna