Deanna Durbin

Born: 1921-12-04

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.


Placeholder

That's Entertainment!

as (archive footage)
Released: 1974-06-21

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50...

Movie page

Los Angeles Plays Itself

as Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)
Released: 2004-07-28

From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop...

Movie page

Christmas Holiday

as Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin
Released: 1944-07-31

Don't be fooled by the title. Christmas Holiday is a far, far cry from It's a Wonderful Life....

Movie page

Lady on a Train

as Nikki Collins / Margo Martin
Released: 1945-08-03

While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building....

Movie page

Show-Business at War

as Self
Released: 1943-05-21

A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

Movie page

Hollywood’s Children

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1982-02-24

A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy...

Movie page

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1940-07-31

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including...

Movie page

Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 2002-03-21

The films, affairs and struggles of the iconic star of The Blue Angel as told by Rosemary...

Movie page

Hers to Hold

as Penelope “Penny” Craig
Released: 1943-07-16

Deanna Durbin is all grown up in Hers to Hold, the unofficial sequel to her "Three Smart Girls"...

Movie page

Three Smart Girls

as Penny Craig
Released: 1936-12-20

The three Craig sisters – Penny, Kay, and Joan – go to New York to stop their divorced father...

Movie page

It Started with Eve

as Anne Terry
Released: 1941-09-26

A young man asks a hat check girl to pose as his fiancée in order to make his dying father's...

Movie page

One Hundred Men and a Girl

as Patricia Cardwell
Released: 1937-09-05

The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed...

Movie page

Every Sunday

as Edna
Released: 1936-11-28

Edna's grandfather is a conductor of a small orchestra that gives concerts in the park every...

Movie page

It's a Date

as Pamela Drake
Released: 1940-03-22

An aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a...

Movie page

Mad About Music

as Gloria Harkinson
Released: 1938-02-27

A young woman at a girl's school in Switzerland makes up stories about and writes herself...

Movie page

That Certain Age

as Alice Fullerton
Released: 1938-10-06

Dashing reporter Vincent Bullit has just returned from covering the Spanish Civil War. His boss,...

Movie page

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

as Ruth Kirke Holliday
Released: 1943-02-19

A missionary tries to outwit the U.S. government and smuggle Chinese orphans into the country.

Movie page

Something in the Wind

as Mary Collins
Released: 1947-07-21

A grandson of a recently deceased millionaire mistakes a beautiful female disc jockey for her...

Movie page

Can't Help Singing

as Caroline Frost
Released: 1944-12-25

With the California Gold Rush beginning, Senator Frost's singing daughter Caroline loves a young...

Movie page

Spring Parade

as Ilonka Tolnay
Released: 1940-09-27

In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a...

Movie page

For the Love of Mary

as Mary Peppertree
Released: 1948-09-01

Young girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.

Movie page

I'll Be Yours

as Louise Ginglebusher
Released: 1947-02-02

A small-town girl tells a small fib to a wealthy businessman; complications ensue.

Movie page

First Love

as Constance (Connie) Harding
Released: 1939-11-10

In this reworking of Cinderella, orphaned Connie Harding is sent to live with her rich aunt and...

Movie page

Three Smart Girls Grow Up

as Penny Craig
Released: 1939-03-24

Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together,...

Movie page

His Butler's Sister

as Ann Carter
Released: 1943-11-26

Aspiring singer Ann Carter visits her stepbrother in New York, hoping to make it on Broadway.

Movie page

The Shining Future

as Self
Released: 1944-04-11

Documentary short film intended to drum up support for the Fifth War Loan Campaign. It shows a...

Movie page

Because of Him

as Kim Walker
Released: 1946-01-18

A young woman who wants to break into the theater schemes to become the protege of a famous...

Movie page

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression

as Self (archive)
Released: 2009-01-01

A two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s.

Movie page

Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 2002-02-05

The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were...

Movie page

Up in Central Park

as Rosie Moore
Released: 1948-07-09

A newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man help expose political...

Movie page

Nice Girl?

as Jane 'Pinky' Dana
Released: 1941-02-21

Jane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his...

Movie page

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing

as (archive footage)
Released: 2009-12-31

This is a two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1940s.

Movie page

Angels of Mercy

as Self / Performer
Released: 1940-11-10

Short film in support of the Red Cross showing civilian volunteers'work, radio and movie...

Movie page