| Deanna Durbin | |
|---|---|
 Deanna Durbin on the cover of Yank Magazine, January 1945. |
|
| Born | Edna Mae Durbin December 4, 1921 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Years active | 1936 - 1949 |
| Spouse(s) | Vaughn Paul (1941-1943) Felix Jackson (1945-1949) Charles David (1950-1999) |
Deanna Durbin (born December 4, 1921) is a Canadian singer and Academy Award-winning actress from Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116 sq mi of North America The year 1936 in film involved some significant events Events Nov 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon The year 1949 in film involved some significant events Events Top grossing films (U "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be
Contents |
Early life
Born Edna Mae Durbin at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she adopted the professional name Deanna at the commencement of her career. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116 sq mi of North America Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Deanna is a female given name Meaning of the name Deanna Deanna (pronounced DEE-anna or DEE-na is a female first name of Latin and Old English origin Her parents, James and Ada Durbin, were immigrants from Lancashire, England, and she had an older sister named Edith. Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
Career
Durbin signed a contract with MGM in 1935 and made her first film appearance in a short subject Every Sunday with another contractee, Judy Garland. Every Sunday (sometimes incorrectly listed as Every Sunday Afternoon or Opera vs Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10 1922 – June 22 1969 was an American actress and singer Studio executives were questioning the wisdom of having two girl singers on the roster and the film was to serve as an extended screen test for the pair. Ultimately Louis B. Mayer decreed that both girls would be kept, but by the time that decision was made Durbin's contract option had elapsed. Louis Burt Mayer (born Lazar Meir July 4, 1884 &ndash October 29, 1957) was an early Film producer, most [1]
In Life magazine's December 21, 1936 issue, before the release of her first feature length film, a young Deanna was featured in the article "Their Music Makes News", which was about new and exceptional young musical talents, and is pictured cutting her 14th birthday cake.
Durbin was quickly signed to a contract with Universal Studios and made her first feature-length film Three Smart Girls in 1936. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Three Smart Girls ( 1936) is a musical Comedy film. The Craig sisters played by Barbara Read, Nan Grey and Deanna The huge success of her films was reported to have saved the studio from bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against [2] In 1938 she received a special Academy Juvenile Award, along with Mickey Rooney. This Academy Award, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is an honorary acting award Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr; September 23, 1920) is an American Film Actor and Entertainer whose Such was Durbin's international fame and popularity that diarist Anne Frank pasted her picture to her bedroom wall in the Achterhuis where the Frank family hid during World War II. Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank ( (12 June 1929 – early March 1945 was a Jewish girl born in the city of Frankfurt am Main in Weimar Germany World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The picture can still be seen there today, and was pointed out by Frank's friend Hannah Pick-Goslar in the documentary film Anne Frank Remembered. Anne Frank Remembered is a 1995 Documentary film by Jon Blair about the life of the diarist Anne Frank.
Durbin is perhaps best known for her singing voice—a voice described variously as light but full, sweet, unaffected and artless. With the technical skill and vocal range of a legitimate lyric soprano, she performed everything from popular standards to operatic arias. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Dame Sister Mary Leo in New Zealand was so taken with Durbin's technique that she trained all her students to sing in this way. Dame Sister Mary Leo ( Kathleen Agnes Niccol) DBE (1895–1989 is well known for training some of the world's finest Sopranos including Dames New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Sister Mary Leo produced a large number of famous sopranos including Dames Malvina Major and Kiri Te Kanawa, all of whom were said to sound like her. Dame Malvina Lorraine Major PCNZM DBE (born 28 January, 1943) was born in Hamilton New Zealand into a large musical family Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC (ˈkiri ˈtɛ ˈkɑːnəwə born
Durbin married an actor, Vaughn Paul, in 1941 and they were divorced in 1943. Her second marriage, to film producer Felix Jackson in 1945, produced a daughter, Jessica Louise Jackson, and ended in divorce in 1949.
Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper alleged that Durbin had an affair with Joseph Cotten. Hedda Hopper ( May 2, 1885 – February 1, 1966) was an American actress and Gossip columnist, whose Joseph Cheshire Cotten ( May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American Actor of stage and Film However, the slur was completely untrue as Cotten testified in his autobiography. What brought about the rumor of an affair was that both Cotten and Durbin stayed overnight at the studio without the other one knowing it, only to realize it when they met the next morning at the commissary. Cotten was so enraged by Hopper's conduct that he kicked her chair out from underneath her just as she was about to sit down at a Hollywood function. This generated a spontaneous round of applause from spectators.
In private life, the actress continued to use her given name; salary figures printed annually by the Hollywood trade publications listed the actress as "Edna Mae Durbin, player. " Her studio continued to cast her in musicals, and filmed two sequels to her original success, Three Smart Girls. The second sequel was a wartime story called Three Smart Girls Join Up, but Durbin issued a press release announcing that she was no longer inclined to participate in these team efforts and was now performing as a solo artist. The Three Smart Girls Join Up title was changed to Hers to Hold.
She made her only film in Technicolor in 1944, Can't Help Singing featuring some of the last songs written by Jerome Kern. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Can't Help Singing is a 1944 film musical in Technicolor starring Deanna Durbin. Jerome David Kern ( January 27, 1885 &ndash November 11, 1945) was an American Composer of popular music It has a distinction of being one of the few musical comedies with a Western setting, filmed mostly on location in southern Utah. The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. Her co-star was Robert Paige, who is better known for his work in television dramas in the 1950s. Robert Paige (born John Arthur Page December 2, 1911 in Indianapolis Indiana, died 1987 was a TV star and Universal Pictures Leading [3]
Durbin then tried to assume a more sophisticated film persona in such films as the film noir Christmas Holiday (1944) and the whodunit Lady on a Train (1945), but the public preferred her in light musicals. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation Christmas Holiday is a 1944 drama directed by Robert Siodmak. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lady on a Train is a 1945 Black-and-white Comedy shot in Film noir style Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar In 1947, her employers merged with two other companies to create Universal-International, and the new regime discontinued most of Universal's familiar product, including musicals, westerns, and comedies. Durbin stayed on for three more pictures before quitting the studio in 1948. Durbin's new bosses sued her for wages they had paid in advance, but Durbin settled the suit amicably by agreeing to make three more pictures, including one to be filmed on location in Paris.
Durbin did go to Paris, but not for professional reasons. She married Charles David, who had directed her in Lady on a Train. Durbin vowed that she would never return to show business, so the three films were never made.
She and her husband raised Durbin's second child, Peter David. Since then she has resisted numerous offers to perform, including several by Mario Lanza, and has granted only one brief interview in 1983, to film historian David Shipman, steadfastly asserting her right to privacy. WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Mario Lanza ( January 31, 1921 &ndash October 7 1959 Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) She maintains that privacy today, declining to be profiled on Internet websites. However, she made it known that she did not like the Hollywood studio system and decided to retire. [4]
Her husband, director Charles David, died in Paris on March 1, 1999. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar)
Deanna Durbin has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1722 Vine Street. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a Sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood Los Angeles California, USA, that
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Every Sunday | Edna | short subject (opposite Judy Garland) | |
| Three Smart Girls | Penelope "Penny" Craig | |||
| 1937 | One Hundred Men and a Girl | Patricia Cardwell | ||
| 1938 | Mad About Music | Gloria Harkinson | ||
| That Certain Age | Alice Fullerton | |||
| 1939 | Three Smart Girls Grow Up | Penny Craig | ||
| For Auld Lang Syne: No. Every Sunday (sometimes incorrectly listed as Every Sunday Afternoon or Opera vs Three Smart Girls ( 1936) is a musical Comedy film. The Craig sisters played by Barbara Read, Nan Grey and Deanna One Hundred Men and a Girl is a 1937 Musical comedy film written by Charles Kenyon, Bruce Manning and James Mulhauser Mad About Music is a 1938 Musical film about a girl at an exclusive boarding school who invents an exciting father Three Smart Girls Grow Up is a 1939 musical Comedy film starring Deanna Durbin, Nan Grey and Helen Parrish as 4 | short subject | |||
| First Love | Constance "Connie" Harding | |||
| 1940 | It's a Date | Pamela Drake | (a short subject, Gems of Song, was excerpted from this feature in 1949) | |
| Spring Parade | Ilonka Tolnay | |||
| 1941 | Nice Girl? | Jane "Pinky" Dana | ||
| A Friend Indeed | herself | short subject for the American Red Cross | ||
| It Started with Eve | Anne Terry | |||
| 1943 | The Amazing Mrs. It Started with Eve is a 1941 musical Romantic comedy film. A man's dying father wants to meet his new fiancée but she is unavailable so he Holliday | Ruth Kirke Holliday | ||
| Show Business at War | short subject | |||
| Hers to Hold | Penny Craig | |||
| His Butler's Sister | Ann Carter | |||
| 1944 | Road to Victory | Herself | short subject | |
| Christmas Holiday | Jackie Lamont/Abigail Martin | |||
| Can't Help Singing | Caroline Frost | her only film in Technicolor | ||
| 1945 | Lady on a Train | Nikki Collins/Margo Martin | ||
| 1946 | Because of Him | Kim Walker | ||
| 1947 | I'll Be Yours | Louise Ginglebusher | ||
| Something in the Wind | Mary Collins | |||
| 1948 | Up in Central Park | Rosie Moore | ||
| For the Love of Mary | Mary Peppertree | |||
| 1999 | Love is All | Snowqueen | singing voice |
References
- ^ Clarke, Gerald (2001). Show Business at War was a Short film (17 minutes made in 1943 to tout the United States Film industry 's contribution to the Christmas Holiday is a 1944 drama directed by Robert Siodmak. Can't Help Singing is a 1944 film musical in Technicolor starring Deanna Durbin. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation Lady on a Train is a 1945 Black-and-white Comedy shot in Film noir style Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375503781.
- ^ Clarke 76
- ^ Bob Dorian on American Movie Classics
- ^ San Francisco Chronicle profile
External links
- Deanna Durbin at the Internet Movie Database
- The Deanna Durbin Database
- The Deanna Durbin Page
- YouTube - Deanna Durbin "The Turntable Song" Something in the Wind - The opening scene of Something in the Wind where Deanna Durbin sings "The Turntable Song"
- Photographs of Deanna Durbin
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic