Durbin, Deanna (1921—)

Canadian-born actress and singer whose voice entertained the world through the years of World War II. Born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on December 4, 1921; second and youngest daughter of James and Ada (Read) Durbin; studied voice at Ralph Thomas' Academy in Los Angeles, California; married Vaughn Paul, in 1941 (divorced); married Felix Jackson (a movie producer), in 1945 (divorced); married Charles David (a film executive), in 1950; children: (second marriage) daughter Jessica; (third marriage) son Peter.

Films:

Every Sunday (short, 1936); Three Smart Girls (1936); Hundred Men and a Girl (1937); Mad About Music (1938); That Certain Age (1938); Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939); First Love (1939); It's a Date (1940); Spring Parade (1940); Nice Girl? (1941); It Started with Eve (1941); The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943); Hers to Hold (1943); Her Butler's Sister (1943); Christmas Holiday (1944); Can't Help Singing (1944); Lady on a Train (1945); Because of Him (1946); I'll Be Yours (1947); Something in the Wind (1947); Up in Central Park (1948); For the Love of Mary (1948).

Deanna Durbin, whose wholesome sweetness and superb singing voice saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, was one of the top box-office attractions of the late 1930s and the 1940s. Starring in 24 movies and making numerous recordings and radio appearances, she abruptly left Hollywood at age 27, saying that she hated all the trappings of stardom. Although critics and film historians remain perplexed about the popularity of her films, she is credited

with enriching America's culture by introducing its youth to classical music.

She was born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on December 4, 1921, but was raised in California from infancy. Durbin displayed an early talent for music, although it was not until her older sister Edith went to work as a schoolteacher that the family could afford singing lessons. At age 14, Durbin was recommended to MGM by a talent agent who was astounded with the maturity of her soprano voice. The studio cast her with another newcomer, Judy Garland , in the musical short Every Sunday (1936), but MGM later dropped her in favor of Garland. Picked up by Universal, Durbin proved to be a moneymaker from her first film, Three Smart Girls (1936), with Nan Grey and Barbara Reed . In this film about three young sisters trying to reconcile their battling parents, Durbin sang a number of songs, including "Someone to Care for Me," which she further popularized on Eddie Cantor's weekly NBC radio show. The success of Three Smart Girls salvaged Universal's plummeting stock and catapulted Durbin to a popularity that rivaled that of Shirley Temple (Black) . Durbin's second movie, One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), which included some classical as well as popular songs, solidified her reputation.

In 1938, Durbin was given a special Academy Award with Mickey Rooney for "bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth." She also became the first female to be sworn into the Boy Scouts. After her box-office hit Nice Girl? (1941), featuring Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home" and the patriotic "Thank You America," she was a guest at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday.

In the spring of 1941, Durbin married Vaughn Paul in a lavish Hollywood ceremony. Following It Started with Eve (1941) with Charles Laughton, she took a brief hiatus while the studio grappled with the problem of moving her into more adult roles. She stayed busy, however, singing for soldiers at USO clubs and appearing on a number of radio shows. Durbin returned to the screen with The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943), about a missionary trying to get nine Chinese orphans into the United States. Around this time, producer Felix Jackson (whom she would later marry) took over her career, starring her in the wartime drama Hers to Hold (1943). In 1944, she made her only color film, Can't Help Singing, which contained some of Jerome Kern's lesser tunes.

Also in 1944, Durbin—desperately wanting to attempt a dramatic role—pressured the studio into starring her in Somerset Maugham's Christmas Holiday, an adult story about a young woman who marries a killer and is forced to perform in a New Orleans dive. In spite of Durbin's more than adequate acting (and lovely renditions of the songs "Always" and "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year"), her loyal fans did not like the change. She grudgingly returned to her standard fare with Can't Help Singing (1944), followed by the comedy-murder Lady on a Train (1945), in which she plays a devout murder-mystery fan who observes a killing from a train window. Around 1947, when Durbin was the highest-paid female star in Hollywood, Universal began to undergo some corporate changes that led them to cut the budgets of her subsequent movies as a way to improve their profit margins. As a result, her last three films suffered in production values. The only saving grace in her final movie For the Love of Mary (1948) was her still marvelous singing voice.

Durbin, who had divorced Vaughn Paul, married film producer Felix Jackson in 1945. The couple had a daughter in 1946, shortly before they separated and subsequently divorced. In 1950, she was married for a third time to Pathé Films executive Charles David. Although Durbin appeared to have abandoned her career prematurely, she may have realized that she could not sustain the screen persona her public had grown to demand. Before she retired to France, she told her mentor and friend Eddie Cantor, "I don't want to have anything to do with show business ever." True to her word, the woman who had been Universal's bread and butter has granted few interviews and never returned to the screen.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts