All Movies List
For the Love of Mary

as Mary Peppertree

1948
Up in Central Park

as Rosie Moore

1948
Because of Him

as Kim Walker

1946
Lady on a Train

as Nikki Collins / Margo Martin

1945
Christmas Holiday

as Jackie Lamont / Abigail Martin

1944
Can't Help Singing

as Caroline Frost

1944
The Shining Future

as Self

1944
It Started with Eve

as Anne Terry

1941
It's a Date

as Pamela Drake

1940
Spring Parade

as Ilonka Tolnay

1940
First Love

as Constance (Connie) Harding

1939
Three Smart Girls

as Penny Craig

1936
Every Sunday

as Edna

1936
Deanna Durbin Deanna Durbin

Birthday

1921-12-04

Place of Birth

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Biography

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. In her early childhood there were no obvious signs that one day she would be a bigger box office attraction than Shirley Temple. Renamed Deanna Durbin for show business purposes, by age 21 she was the most highly paid female star in the world. Her major motion pictures were Three Smart Girls (1936), Mad About Music (1938) and That Certain Age (1938). By the time she was 18 her income was $250,000 a year. Her voice was often described as "natural and beautiful" and her version of "One Fine Day" from Madame Butterfly, became a classic. Deanna was a Hollywood star in every way. There were Deanna Durbin dolls and dresses. An engineering firm named its so-called dream home in her honor. Her first screen kiss was described in a headline story across the continent. What makes Deanna Durbin's story different is that she was never comfortable with adulation. When she was at the top of her career as Hollywood's leading actress and singer, she turned her back on that world for a life of seclusion. Her first two marriages had failed, and before she married her third husband, director Charles David, she set one condition: he had to promise that she could have what she yearned for - "the life of nobody". Her seclusion is incomplete. She lives in the French village of Neauphlé-le-Château, and for over 35 years has resisted every approach from film companies. Her husband has told journalists that "Mario Lanza pleaded with her for years to make a film with him. But she will never go back to that life." She granted only one interview since 1949 to film historian David Shipman in 1983.
AD

WATCH FREE FOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime
Watch Now