Gall says she was tired of Hollywood, found fame tedious and wanted to live a normal life. Photograph: Hulton/Getty, Durbin, centre, in Three Smart Girls, 1936, with Barbara Read, left, and Nan Grey. [2] In 1938, she received an Academy Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney. I wonder now if there could be a demand for a biography of Deanna. Between December 15, 1936, and July 22, 1947, Deanna Durbin recorded 50 tunes for Decca Records. The problem of keeping normal in Hollywood doesn't seem so uncomplicated to Deanna Durbin, 16-year-old star of Universal Pictures. 28, Iss. TELEVISION ACADEMY and ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES are registered trademarks of ATAS. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. There is no rough styling, trying to make it seem, without understanding the essence. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! [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. An interesting interview for sure and a shame it is so short. And then she vanished from the public eye. I've had Paris. But at this point, she just had enough. Universal cast Durbin in a film called Three Smart Girls (1936), about a trio of plucky sisters determined to reunite their estranged parents. What makes Deanna Durbin's story different is that she was never comfortable with adulation. Additionally, she was no fan of interviews and other promotional elements the job called for. She simply wanted to create quality work and grow within her job. Even as a young child, she could hold her own on the screen. 30S STAR THELMA TODD WAS BECOMING' TIRED 'OF HOLLYWOOD' BEFORE HER MYSTERIOUS DEATH, BOOK CLAIMS, Judy Garland (left) with Deanna Durbin, circa 1936. 01:04. Gall, in her story, suggests that latter version, and points out that Garland thought Durbin was shortsighted in leaving the movies and wished she had remained. Her first screen kiss was described in a headline story across the continent. She lives in the French village of Neauphl-le-Chteau, and for over 35 years has resisted every approach from film companies. However, Durbin was unhappy by the role, and that Universal had not given support to the career of her first husband assistant director Vaughn Paul, whom she had married in April 1941. 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. I know Durbin has an enormous fan base but I've just never gotten into her films. If so, you are one of the few. 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. Life and career. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. She likely made lots of money during her career and didnt have to work again. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. This was a great read! (LogOut/ They put me in the town jail for safety and to avoid the mob still waiting at the station, they flagged the train down in the middle of nowhere, where I got on safely., Just once was I seriously tempted (to return to performing), by the prospect of My Fair Lady on Broadway. Durbin sang "Il Bacio" for the studio's vocal coach, who was stunned by her "mature soprano" voice. Im referring mostly to what happened in her life after she moved to France. If you ever notice that one of Deanna Durbins movies is on television, a rarity, catch it. In It's a Date (1940), Kay Francis and Durbin played mother-and-daughter actors. she became a recluse in France, shunning publicity and only granting one interview in 1983. Durbin came to Hollywood as kid, like so many others, but had a great voice and won a $100 a week contract with MGM. 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. Market data provided by Factset. 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. He's a fun guy, and he has lots of great qualities. The Metropolitan Opera was even after her to join its company. No exclamation point. She turned down his offer because she felt she needed more singing lessons. Here is the full interview of Deanna Durbin with Wallace Beery in 1935, which she concludes by singing "One Night of Love" (the other version I have posted is a digital remastering). Sight and Sound; London Vol. The New York Times's reviewer noted a "plot which leaks at every pore" but praised "the young-girlish magic which [Durbin] is able to evoke with her pretty personality and her phenomenal vocal cords". I do my own shopping, bring up my two children and sing an hour every day.. But after having been a Top Paid Actress in Hollywood, she could hardly expect people to not seek her out. Thelate Mr Shipman wrote one of my favourite books, THE GREAT FILM STARS; THE GOLDEN YEARS. 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. Dann Cahn on actress Deanna Durbin "saving" Universal Studios in the 1930s, Editorial Calendar and Production Schedule, Television Academy Throwback: Peter Potter, The Power of TV: Reshaping Breast Cancer Narratives, The Interviews: An Oral History of Television, Foundation to Present "The Power of TV: Reshaping Breast Cancer Narratives", Television Academy Taps Toni Magon as Senior Director, Talent and Industry Relations, Emerging Media Programming Peer Group Governors Elected. Mr. Chadwick can be reached [email protected]. She was young, beautiful, possessed all the glory of the world, but she preferred quietness, protection from reporters and insects. An orphaned boarding-school graduate secretly attends a prestigious ball, where she falls for the boyfriend of her snobbish cousin. INTERVIEW: DEANNA DURBIN - 1983. . Her major motion pictures were Three Smart Girls (1936), Mad About Music (1938) and That Certain Age (1938). We, HER FANS, can only hope. You can't hide that kind of light under a bushel. Most of these films had been produced by Felix Jackson, whom she married in August 1945; they welcomed their daughter, Jessica Louise, in February 1946. Ive seen a couple of unflattering photos of her, dressed in a shapeless coat with an unattractive scarf on her head. I could never believe that my contemporaries were my fans., They may have been impressed with my success, but my fans were the parents, many of whom could not cope with their own youngsters, she continued. I couldnt discover why she didnt try. Deanna married director Charles Davis when she was 28 and retired to live in a French farmhouse. Charles David directed only two films in Hollywood, both in 1945 Lady On A Train and Fairy Tale Murder (with Gloria Jean). PRODUCTION: The play, originally staged in the Fringe Festival is produced by the Soho Playhouse. I really hope people will discover Deanna again and watch her movies, he said. She and Jackson had a daughter, Jessica. 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. The whole interview can be read at DeannaDurbindevotees.com. 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. I did not succeed. She spoke of the Deanna "persona" in the third person, and considered the film character "Deanna Durbin" to be a byproduct of her youth and not her true identity. Movie mogul L.B. ", "An interesting interview for sure and a shame it is so short. She had also completed 22 films by then. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. Her second marriage, to film writer-producer-actor Felix Jackson in 1945, produced a daughter, Jessica Louise Jackson, but a divorce followed in 1949. Durbin was discovered by a casting director searching in Los Angeles singing schools for someone to play opera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink as a child. Durbin turned down several offers for a comeback, including a Broadway role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady; she later said, "I had my ticket for Paris in my pocket. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. In the late 1930s and through much of the 40s, Durbin was a top box-office attraction. Judy Garland was also featured in the film and she and Durbin sang together, but the much more gauche-looking Garland appealed more to the mogul than the prettier Durbin, who he decided was a little too womanly for what he had in mind. Her first feature-length film, Three Smart Girls (1936), was a success and established Durbin as a young star. The first time was at age 19 in 1941 to director Vaughn Paul. She is also referenced in the Glenn Miller WWII novelty song "Peggy the Pin-up Girl". I have never been so frightened. DEANNA DURBIN 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. Prior to singing "Whatever Became of Hubert? In 1941, Durbin starred in It Started with Eve (1941), her last film with Pasternak and director Henry Koster. In the days when child stars were wholesome, Durbin was everyone's idea of the perfect girl next door, and she was a huge money-spinner. Raised in California, she was signed to a contract with MGM at 13, and a year later was hired by a competing studio, Universal Pictures. [6], Durbin also continued to pursue singing projects. Deanna Durbin. 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. It would be much better as a two-character play and it should be a bit longer (its just a little over an hour). Margaret O'Brien was born Maxine O'Brien. This is the last known interview with the reclusive film star and recording artist before her death in . There, she met Garland and the two became close friends. I did find it in its entirety (with that same picture from the 1980s) at Java Journey in a 2010 article on this page: http://javabeanrush.blogspot.com/2010/11/DeannaDurbinInterview.html. She stated that the studio pushed a "childlike image" on her, but I'm not so sure about that. 16 Old Hollywood Bombshells: See Photos Then And Now, she also wanted to get out of the good girl image, Kate Hudson Has This Old School Rule For Her Kids At Dinner Time, Elvis Presley Gave This Important Advice To Elvira And Changed Her Career. The Shipman interview does suggest that the serene self-confidence of Durbin's characters was consistent with her personality off-screen. 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." . Hopper, Hedda. Two careers, two lives and two distinctly different stories. Siodmark praised Durbin's acting skills, but later recalled she was difficult as "she wanted to play a new part but flinched from looking like a tramp: she always wanted to look like nice wholesome Deanna Durbin pretending to be a tramp. I don't think Deanna Durbin will ever lose her fan base, every year more people "discover" her and her delightful personality. She tried her hand at drama, but I believe critics expected her to just make cheerful, happy films with the same character., I do believe she could have gone to MGM or any other studio, said Harper. Then suddenly, she disappeared. According to the New York Times, Durbin did shed some insight on her departure from Hollywood in a 1958 letter. (Getty Images), 30S STAR GRACIE FIELDS ENDURED PRESSURE TO LOOK GLAMOROUS, 'HAD ALL HER TEETH PULLED OUT,' BOOK CLAIMS, She was very young when she left Hollywood, Harper explained regarding why Durbins name isnt as prominent as some of her peers today. Eventually, the inevitable happened: Durbin and her bosses had different ideas about what represented the right kind of vehicle. Dann Cahn on actress Deanna Durbin "saving" Universal Studios in the 1930s. She was also referenced in Richard Brautigan's novel Trout Fishing in America (1967), when the narrator claims to have seen one of her movies seven times, but cannot recall which one. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, In 1939, Durbin, aged 17, and her fellow child star Mickey Rooney were awarded special Oscars "for their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth and, as juvenile players, setting a high standard of ability and achievement". She had one older sister, Edith (later Mrs. Heckman, born in England, died in California). In the late 1930s and 1940s, Deanna and Judy, just teenagers, were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Would someone elaborate about where in Texas was Deanna and her mother mobbed. Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images), BEWITCHED STAR ERIN MURPHY REVEALS HOW QUARANTINE HAS KEPT HER BUSY AT HOME, I was never happy making pictures, added Durbin. She used that name in 1941, when she appeared in a WWII civil defense film and made a minor appearance in her first feature film, after which she became a contract player with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which changed her first name and cast her in the title role of the film Journey for Margaret. (The other two were Ginger Rogers and Billy Wilder.). She really illuminated their lives by just answering audience questions. She simply wanted to create quality work and grow within her job. Photograph: Everett/Rex. Audiences flocked to see her musical comedies and, after she had trilled numbers such as It's Raining Sunbeams (in the film One Hundred Men and a Girl, 1937), Home Sweet Home (in First Love, 1939) and Waltzing in the Clouds (in Spring Parade, 1940), her fans queued to buy the latest record bearing her name. Great post, very interesting too! I was living in Texas when Deanna Durban passed away. 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. And there was no denying her films improved the financial difficulties her studio faced at the time, he added. Breakdown Silences KFI 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 sighed contentedly. Deanna's genius had to be unfolded, but it was hers and hers alone, always has been, always will be, and no one can take credit for discovering her. These films, produced by frequent collaborator and second husband Felix Jackson, were not as successful; she continued in musical roles until her retirement. [13] The film featured some of the last melodies written by Jerome Kern. LORETTA YOUNGS SON SAYS 40S STAR REMAINED DEVOTED TO HER FAITH DURING FINAL YEARS: SHE HAD A MORAL COMPASS, Actress Deanna Durbin her husband Charles David at Mocambo's in Los Angeles, California, circa the 1950s. A year later, she married once more. They all somehow had a happy ending. And it made us believe that somehow, we could achieve the same.. 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. Mayer did not think he needed two child stars, so he fired Durbin (the play suggests that might have been accidental and he may have wanted to boot Garland), Durbin, at her new studio, Universal, became famous right away and her first few pictures were so successful that they saved the studio (Deanna starred in21 movies in her storied career). The way he lives, it never crosses his mind to try to make himself happy or to make others happy. You just can't, no matter how hard you try! And so did film and music executives. When Durbin fled Hollywood, she not only never appeared as an entertainer again but pulled the plug on most of her American movies and you can hardly see them any more (ironically, a Durbin movie and Garland film were playing at the same time on television last week). What I did find difficult was that this acquired maturity had to be hidden under the childlike personality my films and publicity projected on me., I hated being in a goldfish bowl. Thank you for reprinting this article on such a lovely actress and singer. More than Six Decades in Retirement. INTERVIEW: DEANNA DURBIN - 1983 The following is a 1983 interview with classic movie star Deanna Durbin, conducted by David Shipman. The girl who one day would be known as "Winnipeg's Sweetheart" was born at Grace Hospital on December 4, 1921, as Edna Mae Durbin. This girl could sing! You have no idea of the smelly old movie houses I patronized to see Deanna Durbin. Try Guaranteed Income Programs, Affirmative Action Cases May Force Colleges to Rethink Everything, House GOP Invokes Church Committee, but Echoes Earlier McCarthy, Historians of Science: What Exxon Knew About Oil and the Climate, and When, Two Black GI's Deaths Show the Racism in the WWII Military, What Jill Lepore Got RightAnd WrongAbout January 6 Committee, Hamline Administrators Won't Let the Academic Freedom Controversy Die, Hillsdale College's New Strategy in the School Wars Merges Curriculum and Privatization through "Choice", "You Don't Have the Votes": The House Speaker Fight Echoes 1839, My First Trip to Russia 30 Years Ago Is a Cautionary Tale Now. I knew a little bit about Durbin, the Canadian born singer who rocketed to fame by the age of 15, but not much. Her new husband Charles David promised to give her that. "And her contract eventually ran out. Poised as a veteran, prettier than ever, she arrived for her interview clad in rosy tweed. That cant be all of it, though. 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