Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – c. April 20, 2013),
known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian actress and singer, who
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.
She signed a contract with MGM in 1936, at the age of 14,
which resulted in her appearance in Every Sunday (1936), a short that also
starred Judy Garland. Deanna was dropped by MGM but was immediately picked up
by Universal Pictures, which cast her in the role of Penny Craig in Three Smart
Girls (1936). While preparing for the role she was coached intensely by
director Henry Koster; it's doubtful she would have been the star she was had
it not been for Koster. The profits from this film and its follow-up, One
Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), rescued Universal from bankruptcy. The studio
quickly capitalized on these hits, casting Deanna in two successive and highly
acclaimed films, That Certain Age (1938) and Mad About Music (1938). With these
films Deanna became Hollywood's darling. She reprised her role of Penny Craig
in Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939).
Deanna was such a
hit that she shared the Academy Award's 1939 Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney
"for their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit
and personification of youth, and as juvenile players, setting high standards
of ability and achievement". Deanna's singing and acting ability had the
world talking. There was no doubt she was the most popular performer of her
day. She was, however, by nature a very private individual, never comfortable
with the glitz, glamour and publicity that came with stardom. Despite her
uneasiness, she continued to churn out hits and kept the public enthralled. In
1943 she played Penny Craig again, for the third time, in Hers to Hold (1943).
She was the number one female box office star in Britain
for the years 1939- 1942 inclusive. She was so popular that in 1942 a seven day
"Deanna Durbin Festival" was held during which her films were
screened exclusively on the Odeon Theatre Circuit throughout Britain, a feat
that has never been duplicated for any
other star. According to reports from
the BBC over the past three decades, it receives more requests from the public
for Durbin's films and recordings, than for those of any other star of
Hollywood's Golden Age.
In 1946, Durbin was the second-highest paid woman in the
United States, just behind Bette Davis, and in 1947, she was the top-salaried
woman in the United States. Her fan club ranked as the world’s largest during her
active years.
By 1948, however, her box-office clout began to diminish.
In private life, Durbin continued to use her given name, Edna; salary figures
printed annually by the Hollywood trade publications listed the actress as
"Edna Mae Durbin, player". On August 22, 1948, two months after
completing her final film, Universal-International announced a lawsuit which
sought to collect from Durbin $87,083 in wages the studio had paid her in
advance. Durbin settled the complaint by agreeing to star in three more
pictures, including one in Paris. The studio allowed Deanna's contract to
expire on August 31, 1949, so the three films were never made.
Durbin, who obtained a $200,000 ($1,992,448 in 2015),
severance payment, chose to retire from movies. Her former producer Joe
Pasternak tried to dissuade her, but she 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."
She retired from public life in 1950, after her marriage
to Charles David, who had directed her in Lady On A Train. The couple moved to
Paris, France, with Durbin vowing that she would never return to show business,
and 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.
Durbin's husband of more than 48 years, Charles David,
died in Paris on March 1, 1999. 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. No other details were given. According to a family
friend, Durbin died on or about April 20 in Neauphle-le-Château, France. (Info
edited from IMDB bio by Denny Jackson & Wikipedia)
2 comments:
For “Deanna Durbin – Can’t Help Singing” go here;
http://www1.zippyshare.com/v/vzNXGiNQ/file.html
"Can't Help Singing" (1944)
1. Can't help singing
2. Any moment now
3. More and more
4. Californ-i-ay
"Spring Parade" (1940)
5. It's foolish but it's fun
6. When April sings
7. Blue Danube dream
8. Waltzing in the clouds
"Nice Girl?" (1941)
9. Perhaps
10. Swanee River - Old folks at home
11. Love at last
12. Beneath the lights of home
"First Love" (1939)
13. Amapola
"Christmas Holiday" (1944)
14. Always
15. Spring will be a little late this year
"Three Smart Girls" (1936)
16. Someone to care for me
17. Il bacio (The kiss)
18. The old refrain
"Three Smart Girls Grow Up" (1939)
19. Invitation to the dance
"Because Of Him" (1945)
20. Lover
21. Danny boy
22. Goodbye
"Lady On A Train" (1945)
23. Gimme a little kiss, will ya, huh?
24. Night and Day
25. More and more/Can't help singing
1936 was a watershed year for Universal Pictures, for two reasons. It was the year in which the founder of the now ailing studios was swept aside, together with his family employees, and replaced by an entirely new management. It was also the year that heralded the arrival of a bright new star whose films were to be instrumental in saving the organization from complete bankruptcy. An immigrant from Germany, Carl Laemmle formed Universal in 1912 and the company flourished throughout the era of silent pictures and into the early days of the talkies. By 1935, with extravagant expenditure on too many prestige productions, some of which turned out to be box-office failures, the company was faced with financial problems. Yet, in spite of this, Laemmle and his family were paying themselves top salaries. Mortgaging all future productions, a substantial loan was sought from the investment company Standard Capital, headed by one Charles Rogers. "Show Boat" was being filmed at this time, and when production problems and delays necessitated yet more finance, the stock-holders decided they had had enough. In 1936, the whole nepotistic Laemmle regime was forced out and the studios were taken over by the investment company with Rogers himself as head of production. An immediate cut-back on budgets, particularly those for major projects, was ordered, which meant there were to be more 'B' pictures. There now enters upon the scene a new Universal signing by the name of Deanna Durbin.
My mom loved her. Thanks Bob.
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