Deanna Durbin
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 |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.02 |
Birthday | 1921-12-04 |
Place of Birth | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
Also Known As | Edna Mae Durbin, |
1945
Lady on a Train
6.5/47
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one t...
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Lady on a Train
1941
It Started with Eve
7.1/26
A young man asks a hat check girl to pose as his fiancée in order to make his dying father's last moments happy. However, the old man's health takes a...
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It Started with Eve
1944
Christmas Holiday
6.4/29
Don't be fooled by the title. Christmas Holiday is a far, far cry from It's a Wonderful Life. Told in flashback, the story begins as Abigail Martin ma...
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Christmas Holiday
1941
Nice Girl?
5.3/3
Jane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his hand-built car than in Jane. She decides to shed her "nice gi...
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Nice Girl?
1938
Mad About Music
7.2/7
A young woman at a girl's school in Switzerland makes up stories about and writes herself letters from an imaginary explorer-adventurer father; and is...
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Mad About Music
1939
First Love
7.8/12
In this reworking of Cinderella, orphaned Connie Harding is sent to live with her rich aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. She's har...
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First Love
1938
That Certain Age
4.8/5
Dashing reporter Vincent Bullit has just returned from covering the Spanish Civil War. His boss, newspaper magnate Fullerton, has more plans to send h...
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That Certain Age
1937
One Hundred Men and a Girl
6.2/20
The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed friends and through persistence, charm and a few misunderst...
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One Hundred Men and a Girl
1947
Something in the Wind
6.3/7
A grandson of a recently deceased millionaire mistakes a beautiful female disc jockey for her aunt, who once dated the grandfather.
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Something in the Wind
1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
6.4/7
A missionary tries to outwit the U.S. government and smuggle Chinese orphans into the country.
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The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1939
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
7.3/6
Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's fiancé, an...
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Three Smart Girls Grow Up
1946
Because of Him
6.2/5
A young woman who wants to break into the theater schemes to become the protege of a famous Broadway star.
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Because of Him
1936
Three Smart Girls
6.4/16
The three Craig sisters – Penny, Kay, and Joan – go to New York to stop their divorced father from marrying gold digger Donna Lyons and re-unite him w...
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Three Smart Girls
1943
His Butler's Sister
7.1/7
Aspiring singer Ann Carter visits her stepbrother in New York, hoping to make it on Broadway.
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His Butler's Sister
1936
Every Sunday
3.8/6
Edna's grandfather is a conductor of a small orchestra that gives concerts in the park every Sunday. Because of lack of audience the city officials wa...
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Every Sunday
1944
Can't Help Singing
5.1/7
With the California Gold Rush beginning, Senator Frost's singing daughter Caroline loves a young army officer; the Senator can't stand him, and has hi...
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Can't Help Singing
2004
Los Angeles Plays Itself
7.647/51
From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen...
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Los Angeles Plays Itself
1948
For the Love of Mary
5.8/6
Young girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.
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For the Love of Mary
1947
I'll Be Yours
6/4
A small-town girl tells a small fib to a wealthy businessman; complications ensue.
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I'll Be Yours
1940
It's a Date
6.4/7
An aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more seasoned performer, expects the same part. The situ...
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It's a Date
1943
Hers to Hold
6.8/6
Deanna Durbin is all grown up in Hers to Hold, the unofficial sequel to her "Three Smart Girls" films of the 1930s. Durbin plays Penelope Craig, the s...
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Hers to Hold
1940
Spring Parade
6.8/9
In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller. It says that she wil...
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Spring Parade
1948
Up in Central Park
7/4
A newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man help expose political corruption in New York City.
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Up in Central Park
1944
The Shining Future
4/2
Documentary short film intended to drum up support for the Fifth War Loan Campaign. It shows a happy family in the future of 1960 enjoying the prosper...
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The Shining Future
1974
That's Entertainment!
7.246/59
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
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That's Entertainment!
2002
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
0/0
The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950s when short subjects virtuall...
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Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
1943
Show-Business at War
7/3
A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
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Show-Business at War
1940
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
6.5/3
This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeche...
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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
2002
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
6.4/8
The films, affairs and struggles of the iconic star of The Blue Angel as told by Rosemary Clooney, Roger Corman, Deanna Durbin and many more.
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Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
1982
Hollywood’s Children
0/0
A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell).
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Hollywood’s Children
1941
A Friend Indeed
0/0
An American Red Cross fund-raising short starring Deanna Durbin.
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A Friend Indeed
1940
Angels of Mercy
0/0
Short film in support of the Red Cross showing civilian volunteers'work, radio and movie personalities at a fund-raising gala and encouraging recruitm...
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Angels of Mercy
2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
0/0
A two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s.
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Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
6/1
This is a two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1940s.
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