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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
December 4, 1921
Died
April 20, 2013
Place of Birth
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Also Known As
- Edna Mae Durbin
Deanna Durbin
0.3 Popularity
Biography
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
6.0
(archive footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
2009
0.0
Self (archive)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
2009
7.6
Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)
Los Angeles Plays Itself
2004
6.4
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
2002
0.0
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
2002
0.0
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood’s Children
1982
7.3
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
1974
5.8
Mary Peppertree
For the Love of Mary
1948
7.0
Rosie Moore
Up in Central Park
1948
6.3
Mary Collins
Something in the Wind
1947
Credits
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
as (archive footage)
2009
6.0
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
as Self (archive)
2009
0.0
Los Angeles Plays Itself
as Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)
2004
7.6
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2002
6.4
Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2002
0.0
Hollywood’s Children
as Self (archive footage)
1982
0.0
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage)
1974
7.3
For the Love of Mary
as Mary Peppertree
1948
5.8
Up in Central Park
as Rosie Moore
1948
7.0
Something in the Wind
as Mary Collins
1947
6.3
I'll Be Yours
as Louise Ginglebusher
1947
6.0
Because of Him
as Kim Walker
1946
6.2
Lady on a Train
as Nikki Collins / Margo Martin
1945
6.6
Can't Help Singing
as Caroline Frost
1944
5.1
Christmas Holiday
as Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin
1944
6.3
The Shining Future
as Self
1944
4.0
His Butler's Sister
as Ann Carter
1943
7.1
Hers to Hold
as Penelope “Penny” Craig
1943
6.9
Show-Business at War
as Self
1943
7.0
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
as Ruth Kirke Holliday
1943
6.4
It Started with Eve
as Anne Terry
1941
7.1
Nice Girl?
as Jane 'Pinky' Dana
1941
5.3
🎬
A Friend Indeed
as Self / Performer
1941
0.0
Angels of Mercy
as Self / Performer
1940
0.0
Spring Parade
as Ilonka Tolnay
1940
6.7
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as Self (archive footage)
1940
6.5
It's a Date
as Pamela Drake
1940
6.4
First Love
as Constance (Connie) Harding
1939
7.8
Three Smart Girls Grow Up
as Penny Craig
1939
7.1
That Certain Age
as Alice Fullerton
1938
5.1
Mad About Music
as Gloria Harkinson
1938
6.9
One Hundred Men and a Girl
as Patricia Cardwell
1937
6.4
Three Smart Girls
as Penny Craig
1936
6.3
Every Sunday
as Edna
1936
3.8