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.
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0002052
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236987
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Filmography (Movies)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:31/12/2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:01/01/2009
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Character:Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)
Release Date:28/07/2004
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
Character:Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:21/03/2002
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
Character:Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:05/02/2002
Hollywood’s Children
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:24/02/1982
That's Entertainment!
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:21/06/1974
For the Love of Mary
Character:Mary Peppertree
Release Date:01/09/1948
Up in Central Park
Character:Rosie Moore
Release Date:09/07/1948
Something in the Wind
Character:Mary Collins
Release Date:21/07/1947
I'll Be Yours
Character:Louise Ginglebusher
Release Date:02/02/1947
Because of Him
Character:Kim Walker
Release Date:18/01/1946
Lady on a Train
Character:Nikki Collins / Margo Martin
Release Date:03/08/1945
Can't Help Singing
Character:Caroline Frost
Release Date:25/12/1944
Christmas Holiday
Character:Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin
Release Date:17/06/1944
The Shining Future
Character:Self
Release Date:11/04/1944
His Butler's Sister
Character:Ann Carter
Release Date:26/11/1943
Hers to Hold
Character:Penelope “Penny” Craig
Release Date:16/07/1943
Show-Business at War
Character:Self
Release Date:21/05/1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
Character:Ruth Kirke Holliday
Release Date:19/02/1943
It Started with Eve
Character:Anne Terry
Release Date:26/09/1941
Nice Girl?
Character:Jane 'Pinky' Dana
Release Date:21/02/1941
A Friend Indeed
Character:Self / Performer
Release Date:02/01/1941
Angels of Mercy
Character:Self / Performer
Release Date:10/11/1940
Spring Parade
Character:Ilonka Tolnay
Release Date:27/09/1940
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:31/07/1940
It's a Date
Character:Pamela Drake
Release Date:22/03/1940
First Love
Character:Constance (Connie) Harding
Release Date:10/11/1939
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
Character:Penny Craig
Release Date:24/03/1939
That Certain Age
Character:Alice Fullerton
Release Date:06/10/1938
Mad About Music
Character:Gloria Harkinson
Release Date:27/02/1938
One Hundred Men and a Girl
Character:Patricia Cardwell
Release Date:05/09/1937
Three Smart Girls
Character:Penny Craig
Release Date:20/12/1936
Every Sunday
Character:Edna
Release Date:28/11/1936
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