Movie Starlets of the 1940's: Deanna Durbin

Day 4 of Movie Starlets of the 1940's is upon us and this time around we have a Canadian born singer/actress brought in as an extra in the short Judy Garland in Every Sunday and was scooped up into Universal providing a competition against MGM's Judy Garland.  Given she rendered the ideal teenage daughter in 1936 film The Smart Girls giving her the next 18 years a career.  This is Deanna Durbin.

Prom has strict security.

Penny Craig: I'm not spoiled headed, I'm strong minded.









A soprano and well taught vocalist sang anything from popular tunes of the day or even to the range of operatic arias.    From having gorgeous looks, deep brown eyes,  excellent comedic timing offering her next 9 films and was deemed the primary reason Universal Studios was not in bankruptcy, making her one of the highest paid female star.  Using some wise level of investment with placement in merchandise making our young actress independently wealthy by the time she was 18.

No, I will not sing the "Sound of Music".

 Durbin did tire of playing the good girl roles and demanded to get a mature woman's role such as the film noir movie Christmas Holiday and the astounding whodunit Lady on a Train, however the collection to her less than well received musical comedies and romances giving Judy Garland a leg up in the industry.    By 1949 and two divorces she retires from both acting and singing married to Charles Henri David in 1950.
 A few side notes about Durbin at this time.  In 1936, Durbin auditioned for voice overs for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but Walt Disney himself stepped up and announced her at the time 15-year-old sounding too old for the part.   She was opted to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

 Her stardom gave her some more unique fans including Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Holocaust survivor and diarist Anne Frank.   In 1941, Durbin received a letter in the official newspaper "Il Popolo d'italia" (The People of Italy)  requesting from dictator Mussolini asking to speak to President Roosevelt on behalf of America's youth to convince him to not get involved in WW2.  As you can imagine, she did not and probably was a bit baffled how America's Sweetheart could sway FDR and his war campaign.

Chef Durbin approves this quiche!