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. I don't think Deanna Durbin will ever lose her fan base, every year more people "discover" her and her delightful personality. Judy stayed in Hollywood, led a tragic life and died of a drug overdose at 47. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 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). "I was a typical 13-year-old American girl," she wrote, as quoted by the outlet.. Catching up on Lady On A Train recently,it was interesting to see that her then husband,Felix Jackson produced it and her third husband,Charles David directed it. In 1946, Durbin was the second-highest-paid woman in the United States, just behind Bette Davis,;[6] her fan club ranked as the world's largest during her active years. How about Judy Garland? Prior to singing "Whatever Became of Hubert? Unlike Judy Garland, she seemed to be very mature in the films that she made, even as a young teenager. Her new husband Charles David promised to give her that. Harper hopes his book will celebrate Durbins films in Hollywood, as well as introduce her to movie buffs discovering her work for the first time. Deanna Durbin was a child starin the '30s. It is Deannas story, not Judys, and she sings Deannas music and not Judys (except forSomewhere Over the Rainbow). Durbin continued her push to establish herself as a more dramatic actress with the film noir Christmas Holiday (1944), directed by Robert Siodmak and co-starring Gene Kelly. In a rare interview, given in 1983 to the film journalist David Shipman, she said: "I did not hate show business. By 1938, Hollywood launched a nationwide search to find the right young man who would give Durbin her first screen kiss in the movie First Love, the New York Times reported. When her former producer Joe Pasternak tried to dissuade her, she told him, "I can't run around being a Little Miss Fix-It who bursts into songthe highest-paid star with the poorest material. "My name is 'Penny' in the picture," she explained, "so I get a penny a day from my producer. If you ever notice that one of Deanna Durbins movies is on television, a rarity, catch it. The whole interview can be read at DeannaDurbindevotees.com. [4] Durbin soon became Thomas's prize pupil, and he showcased her talent at various local clubs and churches. The Universal producer Joe Pasternak constantly tried to change her mind, but Durbin told him: "I can't run around being a Little Miss Fix-It who bursts into song the highest-paid star with the poorest material. Durbin continued her success with It's a Date (1940), Spring Parade (1940), and Nice Girl? (The other two were Ginger Rogers and Billy Wilder.). Edna Mae's time in Canada, however, was brief. She had one older sister, Edith (later Mrs. Heckman, born in England, died in California). For one thing, just take a look at my last four films and youll appreciate that the stories I had to defend were mediocre, near impossible. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. She lives in the French village of Neauphl-le-Chteau, and for over 35 years has resisted every approach from film companies. Market data provided by Factset. I tried to create the very best in my music, to try to recreate, to approach her purity. She is also referenced in the Glenn Miller WWII novelty song "Peggy the Pin-up Girl". Durbin's singing is featured in Alistair MacLean's 1955 novel HMS Ulysses, being broadcast over the wartime ship's internal communication system. The strength of the play is its show biz history. Of course, I'm very fond of him in my own way. William Harper recently wrote a biography on Deanna called Deanna Durbin A Hollywood Fairy Tale The Legend of Edna Mae and answers some of our questions. All rights reserved. The new regime discontinued much of Universal's familiar product and scheduled only a few musicals. Impressive money could be made, too. In Philippe Mora's film The Return of Captain Invincible (1983), Christopher Lee sings a song called "Name Your Poison", written by Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley, which has the line, "Think of young Deanna Durbin / And how she sang on rum and bourbon. Internet Archive, Old Time Radio, "Lux Radio Theater" 1938 #8, Deanna Durbin "The Turntable Song" Something in the Wind, Learn how and when to remove this template message, She spoke of the Deanna "persona" in the third person, List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees, Date of death of Edna David per Social Security Death Index, "U.S. 28, Iss. This is the last known interview with the reclusive film star and recording artist before her death in . She certainly was a mysterious woman. It turns out she simply enjoyed her private life. (Photo by Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images), 40S STAR ROSALIND RUSSELL REFUSED TO PLAY SECOND FIDDLE TO CARY GRANT IN HIS GIRL FRIDAY, BOOK SAYS, She just became displeased with Hollywood, said Harper. ARGOSY PLANNING 2 'FUGITIVE' FILMS New York Times 9 Nov 1946: 24. What makes Deanna Durbin's story different is that she was never comfortable with adulation. Because she left show business in 1950, and lived until 2013, Deanna Durbin spent most of her life out of the limelight. Still a beautiful brunette, though heavier than in her film days, the 34-year-old Deanna says for the first lime in her life she is enjoying privacy with her family. [citation needed] By the time she was 10, her parents recognized that she had definite talent and enrolled her in voice lessons at the Ralph Thomas Academy. That role, of course, would have made her famous all over again, an international superstar, a brilliant comet racing across the show business sky. ", Lehrer said that Vice President Hubert Humphrey had been relegated to "those where-are-they-now columns: Whatever became of Deanna Durbin, and Hubert Humphrey, and so on." We, HER FANS, can only hope. Chanson, Comedy/Novelty Music, Educational, Field Recording, Film Score/Soundtrack, Interview/Dialogue, Minstrel, Monolog, Music Hall, Musical/Original Cast, Natural Sounds, Poetry, Prayers/Sermons, Radio Play/Show, Schlager, Special Effects . Her parents took her to live in California when she was a baby. In 1949, she was released from her contract. Deanna married director Charles Davis when she was 28 and retired to live in a French farmhouse. Then suddenly, she disappeared. Thanks for your comment. Edna Mae Durbin was born on December 4, 1921, at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, the younger daughter of James Allen Durbin and his wife Ada (ne Read) Durbin, who were originally from Chester, England. I have come across tons of Actresses who left Acting when they were young. She didnt make great demands., He added, She just wanted more say in her own films, but she couldnt. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents. But at this point, she just had enough. In 1936, her singing landed her a spot in Eddie Cantors weekly radio program. Her husband has told journalists that "Mario Lanza pleaded with her for years to make a film with him. In 1958 a letter she sent to the . Wishing to move into more sophisticated material, They Lived Alone was retooled into The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943), the World War II story of refugee children from China. Show biz buddies? ), Edward Everett Horton,Deanna Durbin,Charles David, I did not find the Deanna Durbin interview at the site you mentioned. "[32] Indian-Bengali film director Satyajit Ray, in his acceptance speech for an Oscar (Honorary Lifetime Achievement) in 1992, mentioned Deanna Durbin as the only one of the three cinema personalities he recalled writing to when young who had acknowledged his fan letter with a reply. View Interview. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. Her name is written not only in the history of world cinema, but also in the cultural code of the whole world.The latest photos of Deanna Durbin are not easy to find. There is no rough styling, trying to make it seem, without understanding the essence. Well, of course you do - Dorothy from Oz. She granted only one interview since 1949 to film historian David Shipman in 1983. Her new husband. More than Six Decades in Retirement. Her films were tailored to fit both her personality, which made the word "vivacious" seem like an understatement, and her singing voice, which was feminine, sweet, mature beyond her years and extraordinarily powerful. Deanna Durbin Devotees Durbin turned down the role, and was suspended by the studio from October 16, 1941, to early February 1942. That union lasted until Davids death in 1991 at 92. When she was at the top of her career as Hollywood's leading actress and singer, she turned her back on that world for a life of seclusion. Gall is an authority on both women and researched their lives thoroughly. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. I really hope people will discover Deanna again and watch her movies, he said. In the late 1930s and 1940s, Deanna and Judy, just teenagers, were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood. DEANNA DURBIN GETS SUSPENSION AT STUDIO: Penalized by Universal After It Refuses Concessions to Her This group is for fans of Deanna Durbin, the Canadian-born soprano and film star who at 14-years-old, single-handedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy with her 1936 film, "Three Smart Girls.". I also enjoyed the company of my fellow actors, the leading men who were so much older, like Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas, Franchot Tone, Walter Pidgeon, Joseph Cotten, Vincent Price and Robert Cummings. She tried to match these changes and starred in a fashionable then noir-style film. Sight and Sound; London Vol. Family? In the late 1930s and through much of the 40s, Durbin was a top box-office attraction. Also in the interview, she steadfastly asserted her right to privacy, something she maintained until the end of her life, declining to be profiled on websites. How did her rather wild personal life (three marriages and two out of wedlock pregnancies) affect her? Durbin figures prominently in the 1963 Ray Bradbury short story "The Anthem Sprinters" (collected in The Machineries of Joy). She could have probably gone to MGM or another studio because she was still at the height of her acting abilities and her voice at her best. She probably dressed down to avoid attention. As she grew older, Durbin attempted to tackle more adult roles, including that of a prostitute in the 1944 film Christmas Holiday. Critics slammed her attempts to transition into more mature roles, causing Durbin to become frustrated with the roles she was given. Theres not much out there on her, but she left behind a wonderful body of work. No exclamation point. An engineering firm named its so-called dream home in her honor. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. O'Brien's mother, Gladys Flores, was a . Judy had, well, Judy had it all. Its box-office success is generally held to have been responsible for saving the studio from bankruptcy. She had also completed 22 films by then. She stated that the studio pushed a "childlike image" on her, but I'm not so sure about that. [21] Durbin settled the complaint by agreeing to star in three more pictures, including one in Paris; this did not materialize before Durbin's contract expired. She fled to Europe and completely turned her back to Hollywood.. He's a fun guy, and he has lots of great qualities. Her major motion pictures were Three Smart Girls (1936), Mad About Music (1938) and That Certain Age (1938). Raising a family in France with her third husband, Durbin refused all but one interview over the subsequent decades, preferring peace and privacy to her lasting fame as Hollywood's "Little Miss Fix-It." Deanna Durbin was born Edna Mae Durbin on Dec. 12, 1921, at Grace Hospital, a Christian community medical center in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The film was intended as a demonstration of their talent as performers as studio executives had questioned the wisdom of casting two female singers together. This girl could sing! David, thanks for reprinting this fascinating interview. Visiting a Deanna Durbin fan site,( Deannadurbindevotees.com),I was fascinated to read an interview author David Shipman did with Deanna in 1983 at her home in France. While often re-creating her movie songs for commercial release, Durbin also covered independent standards, like "Kiss Me Again", "My Hero", "Annie Laurie", "Poor Butterfly", "Love's Old Sweet Song" and "God Bless America". Upon her retirement and divorce from Jackson in 1949, Durbin married producer-director Charles Henri David and moved to a farmhouse near Paris. From the age of eight she started taking voice lessons and when she was 14 she was recommended to the MGM studio boss Louis B Mayer, who planned to cast her in a biopic of the opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink. A reviewer for the New York Times praised her 'phenomenal vocal cords'. [4], In early 1935, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was planning a biographical film on the life of opera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink and was having difficulty finding an actress to play the young opera singer. Deanna was a Hollywood star in every way. (1941). 30S STAR THELMA TODD WAS BECOMING' TIRED 'OF HOLLYWOOD' BEFORE HER MYSTERIOUS DEATH, BOOK CLAIMS, Judy Garland (left) with Deanna Durbin, circa 1936. I lived in Texas for a little while, but I didnt learn about that until after I had moved away. An orphaned boarding-school graduate secretly attends a prestigious ball, where she falls for the boyfriend of her snobbish cousin. it's already old news now, as dated as its subject the obituary notices announcing the death at 91 of deanna durbin, the "plucky child movie star" who saved universal studios from financial ruin; "the best-loved and most fondly remembered singing star of hollywood's golden age" who cut short her career at 28; "the perfect girl next door" who Winston Churchill was also a fan of Durbin, screening her films "on celebratory wartime occasions". American GIs in World War II even named a bomber after her. This added to her movie images even more charm and beauty.In the Soviet Union, and today in Russia, we really love her film His Butler's Sister, where Deanna sings old Russian romances in Russian.She miraculously managed to convey the atmosphere of the Russian romance. Universal was going broke and the idea of a new star who had two very obvious advantages she had great talent and came very cheap was extremely tempting. Deanna was not only a superb actress, but as a . And it made us believe that somehow, we could achieve the same.. An unnamed caricature of Durbin also appeared in the Warner Brother's cartoon "Malibu Beach Party" (1940). They also wanted her to be a good girl in real life, which just wasnt completely realistic. The play should be subtitled Show Biz History 101. Durbin had an older sister named Edith, who recognized Deanna's musical talents at an early age and helped Deanna to take singing lessons at Ralph Thomas Academy. or redistributed. On April 30, 2013, a newsletter published by the Deanna Durbin Society reported that Durbin had died "in the past few days", quoting her son, Peter H. David, who thanked her admirers for respecting her privacy. Her major motion pictures were Three Smart Girls (1936), Mad About Music (1938) and That Certain Age (1938). They sort of adopted me as their perfect daughter., 'MUNSTERS' CHILD STAR BUTCH PATRICK EXPLAINS WHY HIT 60S SERIES CAME TO AN END, Deanna Durbin, Canadian-born singer and actress, pictured smiling with her chin resting on her right hand, circa 1935. "And her contract eventually ran out. [30], In song, Durbin's name found its way into the introduction to a song written by satirical writer Tom Lehrer in 1965. Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. But like with many child stars, Durbin eventually yearned for more. She wanted more involvement in her career. People remembered her, but they just didnt talk about her anymore.. How could anybody really think that I was going to spend the rest of my life with a man I found I didnt love, just for the sake of an image? she added. What makes Deanna Durbin's story different is that she was never comfortable with adulation. But the public did not accept her new image. Los Angeles Times 27 Sep 1949: A1. Her first two marriages had failed, and before she married her third husband, director Charles David, she set one condition: he had to promise that she could have what she yearned for - "the life of nobody". ", Anne Frank was a fan of Durbin, and pasted two photos of her on the wall in the family's hideout; the photos are still on the wall today. I have never been so frightened. Nobody knows very much about her. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Deanna left successfully, without a lot of looking back and regretting. Published: January 13, 2014 | 06:21 . Her last actingcredit was inFor The Love of Maryin 1948. Below are some excerpts: I liked the people with whom I worked and after the nervousness of the first day, I felt completely at ease in front of the camera. Durbin, who has died aged 91, was the antithesis of the Hollywood glamour girl which made her the kind of star that teachers liked to offer as an example to their students. To me, it's already a miracle that you've been with him three years. Of Neauphl-le-Chteau, and Nice Girl a wonderful body of work Miller WWII novelty song `` Peggy Pin-up! Their lives thoroughly Actresses who left Acting when they were young, just teenagers, two. That You & # x27 ; s already a miracle that You & # ;... Is an authority on both women and researched their lives thoroughly stars, Durbin attempted tackle. # x27 ; Brien & # x27 ; s mother, Gladys Flores, a... She lives in the Glenn Miller WWII novelty song `` Peggy the Girl. Song `` Peggy the Pin-up Girl '' reviewer for the boyfriend of her life out wedlock! 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