Deanna Durbin Overview:

Legendary actress, Deanna Durbin, was born Edna Mae Durbin on Dec 4, 1921 in Winnipeg, Canada. Durbin died at the age of 91 on Apr 20, 2013 in Neauphle-le-Ch?teau , France .

MINI BIO:

Auburn-haired, blue-eyed, oval-faced Canadian songstress with fresh, natural appeal who, almost single-handed, kept her studio (Universal) financially afloat with her appealing charms and lilting soprano until Abbott and Costello came along a few years later. Special Academy Award 1938. Married (third of three) French director Charles David in 1950 and retired to live in France.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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She was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures. Deanna Durbin's handprints and footprints were 'set in stone' at Grauman's Chinese Theater during imprint ceremony #43 on Feb 7, 1938. Durbin was never nominated for an Academy Award. However she won one Honorary Award in 1938 (with Mickey Rooney) for their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as juvenile players setting a high standard of ability and achievement.

BlogHub Articles:

Sings Silent Night

By KC on Dec 24, 2020 From Classic Movies

I never miss watching this scene from Lady on a Train (1945) on Christmas Eve. 's version of Silent Night is so soothing and full of the wonder of the season. Whatever you believe. Wherever you are tonight. I wish you peace and joy.... Read full article


Christmas Holiday (1944): A and Gene Kelly Noir

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 25, 2019 From 4 Star Films

Christmas Holiday begins as a movie we’ve probably seen before countless times. A returning G.I. (Dean Harens)?is getting ready for some Christmas leave except our star is as stiff as cardboard and that comes before he gets the sobering news. The girl he was intent on marrying has duped him to... Read full article


Sings Silent Night

By KC on Dec 24, 2018 From Classic Movies

I never miss watching this scene from Lady on a Train (1945) on Christmas Eve. 's version of Silent Night is so soothing and full of the wonder of the season. Whatever you believe. Wherever you are tonight. I wish you peace and joy.... Read full article


10 Things You May Not Know About

By Stephen Reginald on Apr 9, 2018 From Classic Movie Man

10 Things You May Not Know About (1921 – 2013) was one of the biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s. She had an international fan club that was the largest in the world. With her beautiful soprano voice and genuine charm on screen, Durbin endeared herself to a g... Read full article


Sings Silent Night

By KC on Dec 24, 2017 From Classic Movies

The Christmas spirit always truly envelopes me when I hear sing Silent Night. I watch this scene from Lady on a Train (1945) every year, because it gives me a feeling of peace that I feel should be a part of the season, but because of the chaos of celebration and preparation often isn... Read full article


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Deanna Durbin Quotes:

[Doctor Harvey disposes of Jonathan Sr.'s forbidden cigar]
Jonathan Reynolds: Hey, that's a two-dollar cigar!
Dr. Harvey: Where'd you get it?
Anne Terry: Don't look at me - I smoke a pipe.


Jonathan Reynolds Jr.: Oh, I think you have a nice room. It's... different.
Anne Terry: Uh-huh. On a clear day you can see all the way across it.


Harry Loren: Dad was a lawyer. He always wanted to be a musician - you should have heard him play the cello! But his father made him be a lawyer. They were all lawyers, his father, his grandfather - his great-grandfather was a pirate too. They hanged him in Jamaica. I guess that's why Dad never liked to wear a necktie.
Penny Craig: We had a grandfather who was a horse thief.
Dorothy Craig: A great-great-grandfather, Penny. And he didn't really steal the horses.
Kay Craig: And they didn't hang him.
Penny Craig: 'Cause they couldn't catch him.


read more quotes from Deanna Durbin...



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Deanna Durbin Facts
Universal Pictures top star in the 1940s where she was paid $400,000 per film. She is reported as the star who saved the company.

She was sought for the female leads of the original Broadway productions of both Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Oklahoma!" (1943) and Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "My Fair Lady" (1956). Universal refused to loan her for Oklahoma! and she turned down the lead in My Fair Lady (after Lerner personally came to her home to audition the songs for her) because, as she said later, "I had my ticket for Paris in my pocket."

In Italy, all her films were dubbed by either Rosetta Calavetta or Lidia Simoneschi.

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