Person
Deanna Durbin
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Movie (archive footage)
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2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2002
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
Movie Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
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2002
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
Movie Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
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1982
Hollywood’s Children
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1974
That's Entertainment!
Movie (archive footage) (uncredited)
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1948
For the Love of Mary
Movie Mary Peppertree
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1948
Up in Central Park
Movie Rosie Moore
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1947
Something in the Wind
Movie Mary Collins
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1947
I'll Be Yours
Movie Louise Ginglebusher
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1946
Because of Him
Movie Kim Walker
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1945
Lady on a Train
Movie Nikki Collins / Margo Martin
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1944
Can't Help Singing
Movie Caroline Frost
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1944
Christmas Holiday
Movie Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin
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1944
The Shining Future
Movie Self
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1943
His Butler's Sister
Movie Ann Carter
More credits
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1943
Hers to Hold
Movie Penelope “Penny” Craig
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1943
Show-Business at War
Movie Self
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1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Movie Ruth Kirke Holliday
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1941
It Started with Eve
Movie Anne Terry
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1941
Nice Girl?
Movie Jane 'Pinky' Dana
-
1941
A Friend Indeed
Movie Self / Performer
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1940
Angels of Mercy
Movie Self / Performer
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1940
Spring Parade
Movie Ilonka Tolnay
-
1940
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
1940
It's a Date
Movie Pamela Drake
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1939
First Love
Movie Constance (Connie) Harding
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1939
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
Movie Penny Craig
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1938
That Certain Age
Movie Alice Fullerton
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1938
Mad About Music
Movie Gloria Harkinson
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1937
One Hundred Men and a Girl
Movie Patricia Cardwell
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1936
Three Smart Girls
Movie Penny Craig
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1936
Every Sunday
Movie Edna
