Deanna Durbin

Deanna Durbin

Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She 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. In 1946, Durbin was the second-highest-paid woman in the United States, just behind Bette Davis; her fan club ranked as the world's largest during her active years. 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. She achieved success as the ideal teenaged daughter in films such as Three Smart Girls (1936), One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), and It Started with Eve (1941). Her work was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy, and led to Durbin being awarded the Academy Juvenile Award in 1938. As she matured, Durbin grew dissatisfied with the girl-next-door roles assigned to her and attempted to move into sophisticated non-musical roles with film noir Christmas Holiday (1944) and the whodunit Lady on a Train (1945). These films, produced by frequent collaborator and second husband Felix Jackson, were not as successful; she continued in musical roles until her retirement. Upon her retirement and divorce from Jackson in 1949, Durbin married producer-director Charles Henri David and moved to a farmhouse near Paris. She withdrew from public life, granting only one interview on her career in 1983.

  • Title: Deanna Durbin
  • Popularity: 0.861
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1921-12-04
  • Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Edna Mae Durbin
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Deanna Durbin Movies

  • 1945
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    Lady on a Train

    Lady on a Train

    6.5 1945 HD

    While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one...

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  • 1941
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    It Started with Eve

    It Started with Eve

    7.1 1941 HD

    A young man asks a hat check girl to pose as his fiancée in order to make his dying father's last moments happy. However, the old man's health...

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  • 1944
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    Christmas Holiday

    Christmas Holiday

    6.4 1944 HD

    Don't be fooled by the title. Christmas Holiday is a far, far cry from It's a Wonderful Life. Told in flashback, the story begins as Abigail Martin...

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  • 1941
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    Nice Girl?

    Nice Girl?

    5.3 1941 HD

    Jane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his hand-built car than in Jane. She decides to shed her "nice...

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  • 1938
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    Mad About Music

    Mad About Music

    7.2 1938 HD

    A young woman at a girl's school in Switzerland makes up stories about and writes herself letters from an imaginary explorer-adventurer father; and...

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  • 1939
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    First Love

    First Love

    7.8 1939 HD

    In this reworking of Cinderella, orphaned Connie Harding is sent to live with her rich aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. She's...

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  • 1938
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    That Certain Age

    That Certain Age

    4.8 1938 HD

    Dashing reporter Vincent Bullit has just returned from covering the Spanish Civil War. His boss, newspaper magnate Fullerton, has more plans to send...

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  • 1937
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    One Hundred Men and a Girl

    One Hundred Men and a Girl

    6.262 1937 HD

    The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed friends and through persistence, charm and a few...

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  • 1947
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    Something in the Wind

    Something in the Wind

    6.3 1947 HD

    A grandson of a recently deceased millionaire mistakes a beautiful female disc jockey for her aunt, who once dated the grandfather.

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  • 1943
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    The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

    The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

    6.4 1943 HD

    A missionary tries to outwit the U.S. government and smuggle Chinese orphans into the country.

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  • 1939
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    Three Smart Girls Grow Up

    Three Smart Girls Grow Up

    7.3 1939 HD

    Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's...

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  • 1946
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    Because of Him

    Because of Him

    6.2 1946 HD

    A young woman who wants to break into the theater schemes to become the protege of a famous Broadway star.

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  • 1936
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    Three Smart Girls

    Three Smart Girls

    6.412 1936 HD

    The three Craig sisters – Penny, Kay, and Joan – go to New York to stop their divorced father from marrying gold digger Donna Lyons and...

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  • 1943
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    His Butler's Sister

    His Butler's Sister

    7.1 1943 HD

    Aspiring singer Ann Carter visits her stepbrother in New York, hoping to make it on Broadway.

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  • 1936
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    Every Sunday

    Every Sunday

    3.8 1936 HD

    Edna's grandfather is a conductor of a small orchestra that gives concerts in the park every Sunday. Because of lack of audience the city officials...

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  • 1944
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    Can't Help Singing

    Can't Help Singing

    5.1 1944 HD

    With the California Gold Rush beginning, Senator Frost's singing daughter Caroline loves a young army officer; the Senator can't stand him, and has...

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  • 2004
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    Los Angeles Plays Itself

    Los Angeles Plays Itself

    7.6 2004 HD

    From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen...

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  • 1948
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    For the Love of Mary

    For the Love of Mary

    5.8 1948 HD

    Young girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.

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  • 1947
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    I'll Be Yours

    I'll Be Yours

    6 1947 HD

    A small-town girl tells a small fib to a wealthy businessman; complications ensue.

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  • 1940
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    It's a Date

    It's a Date

    6.4 1940 HD

    An aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more seasoned performer, expects the same part. The...

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  • 1943
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    Hers to Hold

    Hers to Hold

    6.8 1943 HD

    Deanna Durbin is all grown up in Hers to Hold, the unofficial sequel to her "Three Smart Girls" films of the 1930s. Durbin plays Penelope Craig, the...

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  • 1940
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    Spring Parade

    Spring Parade

    6.8 1940 HD

    In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller. It says that she...

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  • 1948
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    Up in Central Park

    Up in Central Park

    7 1948 HD

    A newspaper reporter and the daughter of an immigrant maintenance man help expose political corruption in New York City.

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  • 1944
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    The Shining Future

    The Shining Future

    4 1944 HD

    Documentary short film intended to drum up support for the Fifth War Loan Campaign. It shows a happy family in the future of 1960 enjoying the...

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  • 1974
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    That's Entertainment!

    That's Entertainment!

    7.2 1974 HD

    Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

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  • 2002
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    Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story

    Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story

    1 2002 HD

    The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950s when short subjects...

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  • 1943
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    Show-Business at War

    Show-Business at War

    7 1943 HD

    A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

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  • 1940
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    Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

    Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

    6.5 1940 HD

    This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance...

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  • 2002
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    Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song

    Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song

    6.4 2002 HD

    The films, affairs and struggles of the iconic star of The Blue Angel as told by Rosemary Clooney, Roger Corman, Deanna Durbin and many more.

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  • 1982
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    Hollywood’s Children

    Hollywood’s Children

    1 1982 HD

    A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell).

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  • 1941
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    A Friend Indeed

    A Friend Indeed

    1 1941 HD

    An American Red Cross fund-raising short starring Deanna Durbin.

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  • 1940
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    Angels of Mercy

    Angels of Mercy

    1 1940 HD

    Short film in support of the Red Cross showing civilian volunteers'work, radio and movie personalities at a fund-raising gala and encouraging...

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  • 2009
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    Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression

    Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression

    1 2009 HD

    A two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s.

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  • 2009
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    Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing

    Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing

    6 2009 HD

    This is a two-hour in-depth exploration into the Hollywood musicals of the 1940s.

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