In 1936, she auditioned to provide the vocals for Snow White in Disney's animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but was rejected by Walt Disney, who said the 15-year-old Durbin's voice was "too old" for the part. Chanson, Comedy/Novelty Music, Educational, Field Recording, Film Score/Soundtrack, Interview/Dialogue, Minstrel, Monolog, Music Hall, Musical/Original Cast, Natural Sounds, Poetry, Prayers/Sermons, Radio Play/Show, Schlager, Special Effects . It was there, in that Q and A session, that she dropped her bombshell. She and Jackson had a daughter, Jessica. 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. 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. [4] Durbin soon became Thomas's prize pupil, and he showcased her talent at various local clubs and churches. Deanna was also Winston Churchills favorite actress. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. While often re-creating her movie songs for commercial release, Durbin also covered independent standards, like "Kiss Me Again", "My Hero", "Annie Laurie", "Poor Butterfly", "Love's Old Sweet Song" and "God Bless America". In 1936, her singing landed her a spot in Eddie Cantors weekly radio program. Durbin figures prominently in the 1963 Ray Bradbury short story "The Anthem Sprinters" (collected in The Machineries of Joy). In the late 1930s and through much of the 40s, Durbin was a top box-office attraction. Show biz buddies? She fled to Europe and completely turned her back to Hollywood.. D.J.. Edna Mae's time in Canada, however, was brief. They also wanted her to be a good girl in real life, which just wasnt completely realistic. If she did have any regrets we will probably never know because very little is written about her life, once she retired. Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com. Thank you for reprinting this article on such a lovely actress and singer. She had also completed 22 films by then. It seems that back in the early 1950s, when Durbin had been retired for a few years, that the writers of the still untested MyFair Ladywent to see her to convince her to play Eliza Doolittle. She actually grew up in the Los Angeles area, where her father, formerly a Canadian Pacific railway blacksmith, set up shop shortly after her birth. 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. And so did film and music executives. Durbin's singing is featured in Alistair MacLean's 1955 novel HMS Ulysses, being broadcast over the wartime ship's internal communication system. 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. Durbin gained popularity during the Depression and was . A nostalgic journey to the past to relive the golden days of entertainment! Whenever I complained or asked for story or director approval, the studio refused. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. In 1958 a letter she sent to the . Robert Stack was the actor chosen for the role. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Family? Her life was totally different from the one she led in Hollywood, which makes her all the more fascinating.. The strength of the play is its show biz history. Her first screen kiss was described in a headline story across the continent. 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. Deanna is a favourite on my local nostalgia radio. Legal Statement. And it seemed like the scripts she was starting to receive were pretty poor. (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Getty Images), PBS DOCUMENTARY ON 30S HOLLYWOOD STAR MAE WEST TO AIR: SHE WAS A SEXUAL GANGSTER. Poised as a veteran, prettier than ever, she arrived for her interview clad in rosy tweed. William continued, She just became displeased with Hollywood. Her parents took her to live in California when she was a baby. 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. It turns out she simply enjoyed her private life. In It's a Date (1940), Kay Francis and Durbin played mother-and-daughter actors. Deanna married director Charles Davis when she was 28 and retired to live in a French farmhouse. The way he lives, it never crosses his mind to try to make himself happy or to make others happy. Deanna married director Charles Davis when she was 28 and retired to live in a French farmhouse. They sort of adopted me as their perfect daughter., 'MUNSTERS' CHILD STAR BUTCH PATRICK EXPLAINS WHY HIT 60S SERIES CAME TO AN END, Deanna Durbin, Canadian-born singer and actress, pictured smiling with her chin resting on her right hand, circa 1935. It is Deannas story, not Judys, and she sings Deannas music and not Judys (except forSomewhere Over the Rainbow). [citation needed], In 1983, film historian David Shipman was granted a rare interview by Durbin. She flat out refused. You can't hide that kind of light under a bushel. According to Harpers research, Durbin primarily kept at home where she happily raised her children and lived a private life. 3, (Summer 1959): 180. It was the 1950s, Deanna was only 29 years old. [4] She made her first film appearance in the short Every Sunday (1936) with Judy Garland, another teenage singer-actress whose career would rival Durbin's. I do my own shopping, bring up my two children and sing an hour every day.. I also enjoyed the company of my fellow actors 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.". More than Six Decades in Retirement. Deanna left successfully, without a lot of looking back and regretting. Durbin was also able to retool her second sequel to Three Smart Girls from Three Smart Girls Join Up to Hers to Hold (1943), revolving solely around her character. It appears she had a quiet but happy life after making movies. She was young, beautiful, possessed all the glory of the world, but she preferred quietness, protection from reporters and insects. Nobody knows very much about her. ", Anne Frank was a fan of Durbin, and pasted two photos of her on the wall in the family's hideout; the photos are still on the wall today. Deanna was a Hollywood star in every way. ". 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. ARGOSY PLANNING 2 'FUGITIVE' FILMS New York Times 9 Nov 1946: 24. 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. Thank you for reprinting this article on such a lovely actress and singer. Universal announced Durbin was to star in They Lived Alone, scheduled to be directed by Koster. I tried to create the very best in my music, to try to recreate, to approach her purity. 30S STAR GRETA GARBO HAD SOCIAL ANXIETY AND A FEAR OF CROWDS BUT WAS NOT A RECLUSIVE FIGURE, AUTHOR SAYS, Actress Deanna Durbin and David Bruce in a scene from the movie 'Lady on a Train.' Andrs de Segurola, who was the vocal coach working with Universal Studioshimself a former Metropolitan Opera singerbelieved that Durbin was a potential opera star. The actress, who was born Edna Mae Durbin, married her third husband, 44-year-old French director Charles Davis, at age 28, and retired to a French farmhouse. 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). Hi, David!What a great find and such a personal and detailed interview about her private life and career highlights. The first time was at age 19 in 1941 to director Vaughn Paul. The following is a 1983 interview with classic movie star Deanna Durbin, conducted by David Shipman. I really hope people will discover Deanna again and watch her movies, he said. 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. 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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. I also enjoyed the company of my fellow actors, the leading men who were so much older, like Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas, Franchot Tone, Walter Pidgeon, Joseph Cotten, Vincent Price and Robert Cummings. Movie mogul L.B. [6], Durbin also continued to pursue singing projects. When Durbin had her first screen kiss with Robert Stack in First Love, a riff on the Cinderella plot it filled columns in the American newspapers for weeks. She granted only one interview since 1949 to film historian David Shipman in 1983. They were married from 1945 to 1949. Gall tells a fascinating and colorful story. After being launched to fame overnight with her first full-length film, Three Smart Girls, Deanna starred in over twenty-one movies before moving to France at the age of 28. Her husband has told journalists that "Mario Lanza pleaded with her for years to make a film with him. 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. 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. Staying with him can only wreck your nervous system. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents. 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. The character I was forced into had little or nothing in common with myself - or with other youth of my generation, for that matter. High quality Deanna Durbin Interview-inspired gifts and merchandise. He's a fun guy, and he has lots of great qualities. The story needs a far better explanation of why Durbin fled Hollywood. Lady on a Train (1945), another film noir, also dealt with murder, but Universal did not think that changing Durbin's personality represented good business. But I never have time to spend it." The waitress was back again. And there was no denying her films improved the financial difficulties her studio faced at the time, he added. Of course, I'm very fond of him in my own way. She sang the number again for Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to a six-month contract. 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). (Photo by Universal Pictures/De Carvalho Collection/Getty Images), MARILYN MONROE WAS DARING TO GO NUDE IN LAST FILM 'SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE' FOR THIS REASON, PHOTOGRAPHER SAYS. In 1949, she was released from her contract. Market data provided by Factset. In her early childhood there were no obvious signs that one day she would be a bigger box office attraction than Shirley Temple. The images she created on the screen were in many ways similar. Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 April 17, 2013),[1] known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. Lets hope we get a well researched biography. In Philippe Mora's film The Return of Captain Invincible (1983), Christopher Lee sings a song called "Name Your Poison", written by Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley, which has the line, "Think of young Deanna Durbin / And how she sang on rum and bourbon. She likely made lots of money during her career and didnt have to work again. Her last actingcredit was inFor The Love of Maryin 1948. She wanted to take on different materials and pick her own directors. Kino Lorber has released three films featuring Deanna Durbin, the girl who singlehandedly saved Universal studios from bankruptcy in the late 1930s. Her first screen kiss was described in a headline story across the continent. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. But one can speculate that she was eager to start a new chapter in her life. I knew a little bit about Durbin, the Canadian born singer who rocketed to fame by the age of 15, but not much. She wanted more involvement in her career. 17 Oct 1941: 27. Durbin turned down the role, and was suspended by the studio from October 16, 1941, to early February 1942. Gall, who also wrote the drama, has done a fine job. I do hope so. Deanna counted the ten pennies and put them in her purse. An engineering firm named its so-called dream home in her honor. You would think that maybe in the 60s or 70s, she could have received a lifetime achievement award or something for her work, he said. [8], The success of Durbin's films was reported to have saved Universal from bankruptcy. 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. (Photo by Universal Pictures/De Carvalho Collection/Getty Images), FORMER 40S STAR VERONICA LAKE WROTE SHE HAD TO GET OUT OF HOLLYWOOD BEFORE HER TRAGIC DEATH. [12] Durbin also dabbled in other genres, such as the romantic comedy His Butler's Sister (1943) and the musical Western Can't Help Singing (1944), her only Technicolor film, which was produced on location in southern Utah and co-starred Robert Paige. Renamed Deanna Durbin for show business purposes, by age 21 she was the most highly paid female star in the world. The life and career of the seemingly forgotten movie star are explored in a recently published biography titled Deanna Durbin A Hollywood Fairy Tale - The Legend of Edna Mae by William Harper. Edna Mae Durbin was born on December 4, 1921, at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, the younger daughter of James Allen Durbin and his wife Ada (ne Read) Durbin, who were originally from Chester, England. It may have been a shock to Deannas Fans that she left her Career so young never to return, but she wasnt in a boat by herself. 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. Are you sure you want to report this post for ? Her name is written not only in the history of world cinema, but also in the cultural code of the whole world.The latest photos of Deanna Durbin are not easy to find. Unlike Judy Garland, she seemed to be very mature in the films that she made, even as a young teenager. Renamed Deanna Durbin for show business purposes, by age 21 she was the most highly paid female star in the world. Of course I've been trying to change that and be more open to her films when they air. The film was intended as a demonstration of their talent as performers as studio executives had questioned the wisdom of casting two female singers together. Change). Below are some excerpts: Deanna Durbin was one of the famous children of Hollywood of that era.She starred in 20 films. She just wanted more say in her own films, but she couldnt. However, fans and critics didnt like it. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. And. Deanna was a Hollywood star in every way. Her seclusion is incomplete. By 1938, Hollywood launched a nationwide search to find the right young man who would give Durbin her first screen kiss in the movie First Love, the New York Times reported. 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". If so, you are one of the few. Its always a shock when hearing about such news. It would be much better as a two-character play and it should be a bit longer (its just a little over an hour). EXCLUSIVE: Deanna Durbin was a former child star who brightened up the lives of Americans during the Great Depression and helped save Universal Pictures from bankruptcy. Additionally, she was no fan of interviews and other promotional elements the job called for. Deanna Durbin (Edna Mae Durbin), singer and actor, born 4 December 1921; died April 2013, Child star with a powerful singing voice who played the perfect girl next door in Hollywood films of the 30s and 40s, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Deanna Durbin in It's a Date, 1940. , Deanna was only 29 years old her private life and career highlights fine job and Durbin played mother-and-daughter.... Dropped her bombshell lived a private life and career highlights written about her private.. Of money during her career and didnt have to work again B. Mayer, who wrote. Pennies and put them in her honor was 28 and retired to live in a French.... 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