Deanna Durbin, who as a plucky child movie star with a sweet soprano voice charmed American audiences during the Depression and saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy before she vanished from. Catebar44 mentions Something in the Wind Durbin never strikes me as being unhappy at all, but seems to be enjoying herself, and is particularly good in the scene at the couturiers salon, especially when she essays You wanna keep your baby looking right much less stiff than she often was in a musical set-piece. You cant hide that kind of light under a bushel, he wrote. At age 23, Durbin received good reviews for Lady on a Train, a 1945 comedy-murder mystery directed by Charles David, who five years later became her third husband. The camera captured a palpable chemistry between Deanna Durbin and leading man Joseph Cotten. He continues: Of all the Durbin films, this is the one where she registers the most chemistry with her leading man. The Canadian-born actress was reportedly the second-highest paid actress in America in 1946, bringing in just $5,000 less than Bette Davis, with a salary of $323,477 from Universal, according to the Times. Ms. Durbin was quickly handed to Joe Pasternak, who produced her first 10 movies, and to Henry Koster, who directed six of them: Three Smart Girls, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Three Smart Girls Grow Up, First Love, Spring Parade and It Started With Eve.. Her son Peter H. David was quoted as telling The Deanna Durbin Society newsletter that the actress died "a few days ago", thanking her admirers for respecting her privacy. In addition to Peter, her son from her marriage to Mr. David, Ms. Durbin had a daughter, Jessica, from her second marriage. I do my own shopping, bring up my two children and sing an hour every day., According to her Wikipedia entry (at this writing), in her later years Durbin made it known that she did not like the Hollywood studio system. Durbin's husband of more than 48 years, Charles David, died in Paris on March 1, 1999. In 1945, Durbin made "Lady on a Train" directed by Charles David, whom she married five years later. Deanna Durbin, a singing child movie star of the 1930s who became one of the world's highest paid actresses before turning her back on stardom, has died at the age of 91. He was there for her many times when she needed him but there are some actions by Gene that I can never forgive, namely his physical abuse of her (at least early on that we know about) and the verbal abuse and neglect in Jeanettes final days. I think if an autobiography does not appear now, that Deanna Durbins life would make a fantastic book. (Getty Images), /celebs/international/reclusive-hollywood-actress-deanna-durbin-dies-at-91/eventshow/19820944.cms, Capitalising on her fame, Universal cast Durbin in a series of musical movies including "That Certain Age" and "Mad About Music" which made the actress with the sweet soprano voice into one of Hollywood's most popular stars. According to Harper's research, Durbin primarily kept at home where she happily raised her children and lived a private life. And, if this Deanna Durbin Joseph Cotten affair didnt take off in 1943, what about later on? She was 91. She, of course, works her magic and by the end of the 84-minute film, all happily join together to make music under the direction of legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski, who plays himself. Frankly, I dont know how Loretta Young could live with herself lying to her daughter Judy all those years about being her birth mother and also about Clark Gable being the father. Deanna Edna Mae Durbin: Birthdate: December 04, 1921: Birthplace: Winnipeg, Division No. Former child star Deanna Durbin has died at the age of 91, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deanna Durbin, the singing starlet with the bubbly personality and the jewel-tone voice whose enormously popular movies were widely credited with saving Universal Pictures from bankruptcy during the Depression, has died. She agreed to make three more films for them so Universal dropped the lawsuit but ultimately allowed her contract to lapse without making those films. Was Cotton the one love in her life? Jessica Jackson, and her son, Peter H. David. About the same time, in 1936, she began singing on Eddie Cantors popular weekly radio program. Who was Deanna Durbin? Before Durbins 20th birthday, she had appeared in 10 wildly profitable films for Universal. Durbin and David raised two children: Jessica (from her second marriage to Felix Jackson) and Peter (from her union with David). Although I think she would have liked us to be together, she thought separations were unharmful. In the photo below you can see that it was not withered but watching film footage of her, one can see the left arm is bent slightly at the elbow and is stiff at the wrist so as a result, her left arm appears shorter than the right arm. I dont think that Durbin lived in seclusion after she moved to France she lived privately, and theres a big difference. She also wanted to branch out into more adult roles. The Deanna Durbin Society's newsletter announced her death, quoting her son Peter H. David, said the New York Times. I dont think by this time in her career she felt comfortable and nurtured like she had been in the past. Her son Peter H. David was quoted as telling The Deanna Durbin Society newsletter that the actress died 'a few days ago', thanking her admirers for respecting her privacy. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. For more on Deanna Durbin, click over to The Hollywood Reporter. Unlike Greta Garbo, whose mystique remained basically intact following her Deanna Durbin dies at 91: One of the top stars of Hollywoods studio era (photo: Deanna Durbin in Ill Be Yours) According to Hollywood lore, teen star Deanna Durbin saved Universal Pictures from Deanna Durbin, a star whose songs and smile made her one of the biggest box office draws of Hollywoods Golden Age with fans that included Winston Churchill, has died. Today I did some research about the 1943 film that Deanna made with Joseph Cotten. Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games. No other details were given. The character I was forced into had little or nothing in common with myself or with other youth of my generation, for that matter. Below is a picture taken on the wedding day of Deanna Durbin and Felix Jackson. The child-star persona affected her personal life as well. Senator from California, the first notable American . Additionally, she wasnt happy with the direction her career was taking. Now, this brings me to another interview I did in the 1980s with one of our club members, a retired Navy nurse, Pat Hudson. There could have been so many more years of her beautiful music for the the world to enjoy. He left Deanna, moved to New York and their separation was formally announced on January 5, 1948. Hedda was sitting in a cane-bottomed chair, and contact was positive enough to disturb the flower garden on top of one of the outrageous hats for which she was renowned. maceddy I do hope we are able to learn more about what went on with Deannas life. The other piece of information came from a friend of Pats, a fellow nurse. (Getty Images)
It was never easy for a woman in the limelight to balance the career and personal happiness. Heres an excerpt from the New York Times obituary: Deanna Durbin, who as a plucky child movie star with a sweet soprano voice charmed American audiences during the Depression and saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy before she vanished from public view 64 years ago, has died, a fan club announced on Tuesday. And I did. I really venture to say that I believe one of the major reasons for Deanna to move to France was to protect her daughter and family from scandal. Learn more about merges. Fine. Im sure it was more of a money issue than anything else. Wow. Ill simply say you called and said you did not have a midnight tryst on the lot Forget it, Hedda, I said. 1:18 pm. Did being on location make it easier to carry on their affair? In 1946, Ms. Durbins salary of $323,477 from Universal made her the second-highest-paid woman in America, just $5,000 behind Bette Davis. May 3, 2013 @ Her son Peter H.. Durbin's death was initially reported by her son, Peter H. David, in the Deanna Durbin. Ms. Durbin had remained determinedly out of public view since 1949, when she retired to a village in France with her third husband. The Kick was not a boot that would have carried a football over the crossbar, but neither was it a token tap. Deanna Durbin, a singing child movie star of the 1930s who became one of the world's highest paid actresses before turning her back on stardom, has died at the age of 91. All those years of being important and making millions for your studioand then you are given the boot and your dressing room belongings are unceremoniously dumped at the studio gate. Durbin's husband of almost 50 years, Charles David, died in Paris on March 1, 1999. I had met her during the making of Lydia about two years earlier. Read Less, Durbin shared a special Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney at the 1938 Oscars fo Read More, Durbin shared a special Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney at the 1938 Oscars for their "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth". Many of the films were Depression fairy tales in which Ms. Durbin won over or defeated silly rich people with the help of butlers, cooks and chauffeurs, who often risked their jobs to aid her. And returning to Jeanette and Nelson again we have read all the warm and fuzzy letters and conversations from the 1940s about their having a child together and what a wonderful child it would be, etc., etc.But realistically, I dont know how Nelson would have dealt with his child being raised with Gene Raymond as the father of record. The star's son, Peter H. David, confirmed to the Deanna Durbin Society she passed away "a few days ago," the fan . My favourite anecdotes about Durbin concern Cant Help Singing, and I do hope theyre true when the costume designer (Walter Plunkett?) Nevertheless, she seemed happy and carefree during the filming of Cant Help Singing. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Nelson Eddy sings Christmas carols for you. Then during His Butlers Sister, she seemed so happy and relaxed in her performance. She was 91. Throughout her career, she would perform everything from operatic arias to popular songs. Deanna always would say that she isnt the person she played on the screen, that she was another person apart from who she really was. Only a handful of child superstars such as Shirley Temple have achieved that, to my knowledge. Soon after, she signed a contract with Universal, changed her name to Deanna, and was cast in a series of musical comedies, reports Variety. The French born David married Deanna in 1950 and Deanna chose to leave America and settle in France. My conscience didnt bother me too much. Durbin made her first film appearance with Judy Garland in Every Sunday (1936), and . Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy Home Page | Mac/Eddy Club 1996-2022. Sign In Follow Go to TOI Home Photos Movies Celebs Web Stories Fashion Beauty Pageants Awards Events TV Sports News moreli moreli moreli Bollywood Deanna Durbin (Edna Mae Durbin) was born on 4 December, 1921 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is a Soundtrack, Actress. I do my own shopping, bring up my two children and sing an hour every day.. Mind you she married him in December 1950 and their son was born June 21st 1951. Ms. Durbin had remained determinedly out of public view since 1949, when she retired to a village in France with her third husband. This marriage was happy and they were together 50 years until Charles David died in 1999. Please add an image! They may have been impressed with my success. but my fans were the parents, many of whom could not cope with their own youngsters. Of course Mayer was fuming all through 1937-8 because he had lost the potential Deanna Durbin goldmine. Maybe even to abundantsurely attendees George W. Bush said after bin Laden's killing that he wanted to stay out of the public eye. Maybe its no wonder, then, that she was relieved to give up her career and move to France with Charles David, with whom she found lasting happiness. Could this also be a little inner guilt because she was still seeing Cotton, a married man? When a teenage Deanna Durbin appeared on screen in the 1930s, wearing a decorous white dress with her hands clasped together, singing with a bell-like purity, audiences . However, when at age 15 she auditioned to sing the part of Snow White in the Disney animated film, Walt Disney rejected her voice as "too mature. David turned out to be the someone to take care of her like one of the meaningful songs she once sang. She made her film debut in the 1936 MGM short Every Sunday, with Judy Garland. We were on a first name basis. (Getty Images), She made her name playing the ideal teenage daughter in "Three Smart Girls" in 1936 and in its profitable follow-up the next year, "One Hundred Men and a Girl", which was credited with saving Universal studios from bankruptcy. That Joseph Cotten would not have left his wife for Deanna if he indeed was the father of her child would have been very painful for Deanna, if indeed he was her great love. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. One day she telephoned and said: Im reading a piece here that says you once kicked me in the backside. I have many CDs of her recordings, and also her movies on DVD and VHS. Even Greta Garbo didnt go that far! Deanna Durbin (born Edna Mae Durbin, December 4, 1921 - April 2013) was a Canadian singer and actress, who appeared in a number of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s singing standards as well as operatic arias. For reprint rights |, Bookmark or read stories offline - Download the TOI app. Plus, its one thing to experience that as an adult but for the child stars who knew no other life to be has-beens so quickly with their entire adult lives ahead of themyou cant blame them for being bitter. Her son Peter H. David was quoted as telling The Deanna Durbin Society newsletter that the actress died 'a few days ago', thanking her admirers for respecting her privacy. I learned from reading your books to watch Jeanette and Nelson during each picture in which you would describe what was going on in their relationship. I personally think she was acting like a woman in love in Cant Help Singing and Lady on a Train. I was initially surprised to read that about a year after their marriage 6 months or so after the birth of baby Jessica, Felix felt the marriage was over. We know that Jeanette, for example, confided in her later years to Miliza Korjus and others how she now agonized over choices she had made in her thirties. [Note the spelling of her middle name: May.]. Capitalising on her fame, Universal cast Durbin in a series of musical movies including "That Certain Age" and "Mad About Music" which made the actress with the sweet soprano voice into one of Hollywood's most popular stars. She and I would be in contact about once a year. In Paris on December 21, 1950, shortly after her 29th birthday, Deanna Durbin married Charles David, the producer-director of both French and American pictures who had guided her through Lady on a Train (1945). Mr. David once said that he and Ms. Durbin had made a deal that he would protect her from spiders, mosquitoes and reporters., Ms. Durbin, who gave almost no interviews after she left Hollywood, did send reporters a letter in 1958 that read in part: I was a typical 13-year-old American girl. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. The actress was born Edna Mae Durbin; her British parents moved from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Los Angeles when she was 2 years old, and she was discovered while still in junior high school. She was given a special miniature 1938 Academy Award for her significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth.. The following year Deanna married producer/director Charles David (he directed her in 1945s excellent Lady on a Train) and moved with him to France. You cant hide that kind of light under a bushel, he wrote. With the technical skill and vocal range of a legitimate lyric soprano, she performed many styles from popular standards to operatic arias. Ive READ that he would never agree to DNA testing. She was 91. This movie is mostly famous as Deanna Durbin's final film before she retired from show business at the age of 26. Shortly afterward she moved to Universal, shepherded there by Rufus Le Maire, a former MGM executive who had switched his allegiance to the rival studio. Bernard Brown told me that her natural hyper energy and ready smile was really who she wasat least as a young girl. I could never believe that my contemporaries were my fans. Joanne, that is awesome that you corresponded with her. I looked up what kind of schedule Cotton was on with his films and he was pretty busy during 44 and early 45, but I am sure he could find time to get away when he wanted to. 1946) and son Peter David (born on June 20, 1951). The area of embarrassment was wide, but as the orbit grew smaller and more personal, emotions grew larger. All of her films were shown and he was one of the guest speakers. She was 91. Signed by the studio at 13, Ms. Durbin, who already possessed a mature coloratura soprano, soon appeared in a one-reel short, Every Sunday, with another recently signed 13-year-old, Judy Garland, who sang swing while Ms. Durbin sang classical music. deejay No other details were given. I did not realize that it was a shotgun marriage until doing a bit of research today. The former child star, married Charles David, who directed her in the 1945 film "Lady on a Train," in 1951 and together they had one son, Peter. Sharon, I just really discovered Deanna Durbin in the last year. Seems like youve made some very wise observations and in particular, gotten a sense of what Deannas mood was during the making of her films. You just cant, even if you try.. I loved your article about Deanna Durbin. Los Angeles, June 25, 2023. But my own two personal favorites are Mad About Music and Spring Parade. No other details were given. December 26, 2013 @ As Joseph Cotten stated, he was not going to divorce his wife and in this circumstance, Deanna would have had to act quickly for her child to be born in wedlock. So his appearance at the Oscars was emotional on many levels both for the audience and for him. Her son Peter H. David . Deanna Durbin, a singer-actress who, as a child star, became one of the biggest box-office . Nelson Eddy was the last one out of the church, as the newsreel footage shows, plus he was comforted as the "widower" by Lauritz Melchior and others rather than Gene Raymond, her legal husband. In movie after movie Ms. Durbins character found a way to help the struggling grown-ups in her life: reuniting her divorced parents, persuading the conductor Leopold Stokowski to help her out-of-work musician father, cajoling a stranger into becoming her father for a day. Her son. Her passing affected me deeply, to my surprise. Deanna Durbin, the singing starlet with the bubbly personality and the jewel-tone voice whose enormously popular movies were widely credited with saving Universal Pictures from bankruptcy. No other details were given. magda reardon. (I cant remember the details of his health issues but I did confirm today that Deannas parents lived in those years in Leisure Village (Laguna Hills Village). I dont understand how Gable was happy staying out of Judys life. Yes, you should treasure her letters. Shirley Temple explains that naivete well, I think, in her autobiography. Her British-born parents moved to California while she was still young, and her singing voice soon had talent scouts knocking at her door. No other details were given. Durbin was discovered at age 13 by MGM but moved to Universal the next . About the same time, in 1936, she began singing on Eddie Cantors popular weekly radio program. She was 91. Soassuming that the above claims might be true, did they date on and off from 1943-45? I was an actor. Her popularity peaked by her late teens and by her mid-20s Durbin had left Hollywood forever, made wealthy by her relatively brief career. The comparison with Garbo is, I feel, a false one Garbo didnt want to stop being a movie star, events overtook her, and Garbo played with fame in the years of her retirement the impression one gets with Garbo is that she just didnt really know what to do with herself. More information Deanna Durbin with her son Peter David More like this Vintage Hollywood Stars Hollywood Glam Golden Age Of Hollywood Classic Hollywood The third marriage was a success: in 1950, at 28, she married Charles David, the 44-year-old French director of Lady on a Train. After starring in 21 feature films, she retired to a French farmhouse. Singer -actress Deanna Durbin, who was the highest-paid female star in Hollywood in 1947 but quit the biz the following year at the age of 26, has died, her fan club announced Tuesday. In 1939, Durbin and fellow teen star Mickey Rooney were presented with Juvenile Academy Awards for their "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth.". (Getty Images)
Veteran Canadian actress/singer Deanna Durbin has died at the age of 91. At 25, Durbin was the second highest-paid woman in America behind her fellow actress Bette Davis, according to the New York Times, and her fan club ranked as the world's largest during her active years. As a final note on daughter Jessica, I was sad to read that she apparently was estranged from her mother in adulthood. We were both working on the same film, and our bungalows were just a few buildings apart. And that is the way she will be remembered. She played a series of ideal teenaged daughters over the next few years in films such as That Certain Age, First Love and Its a Date. 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 left the . 1930s child star Deanna Durbin has died, according to The Hollywood Reporter.She was 91. Deanna Durbin, the former child actress who was born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Canada on December 4, 1921, has passed away at age 91, according to her son, Peter H. David, who said she died "a few days ago."
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