
Deanna Durbin
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1921-12-04
Day of Death
2013-04-20 (91 years old)
Place of Birth
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Deanna Durbin
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
Acting
(2009)
(2009)
(2004)
Los Angeles Plays Itself
as Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)
(2002)
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(2002)
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1982)
Hollywood’s Children
as Self (archive footage)
(1974)
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage)
(1948)
Up in Central Park
as Rosie Moore
(1948)
For the Love of Mary
as Mary Peppertree
(1947)
Something in the Wind
as Mary Collins
(1947)
I'll Be Yours
as Louise Ginglebusher
(1946)
Because of Him
as Kim Walker
(1945)
Lady on a Train
as Nikki Collins / Margo Martin
(1944)
Christmas Holiday
as Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin
(1944)
Can't Help Singing
as Caroline Frost
(1944)
The Shining Future
as Self
(1943)
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
as Ruth Kirke Holliday
(1943)
His Butler's Sister
as Ann Carter
(1943)
Show-Business at War
as Self
(1943)
Hers to Hold
as Penelope “Penny” Craig
(1941)
It Started with Eve
as Anne Terry
(1941)
Nice Girl?
as Jane 'Pinky' Dana
(1941)
A Friend Indeed
as Self / Performer
(1940)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as Self (archive footage)
(1940)
It's a Date
as Pamela Drake
(1940)
Spring Parade
as Ilonka Tolnay
(1940)
Angels of Mercy
as Self / Performer
(1939)
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
as Penny Craig
(1939)
First Love
as Constance (Connie) Harding
(1938)
Mad About Music
as Gloria Harkinson
(1938)
That Certain Age
as Alice Fullerton
(1937)
One Hundred Men and a Girl
as Patricia Cardwell
(1936)
Three Smart Girls
as Penny Craig
(1936)
Every Sunday
as Edna