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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.

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.

Birth and Death Data: Born December 4, 1921 (Winnipeg), Died April 17, 2013 (Paris)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1936 - 1971

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 51-63 of 63 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca L 4474 6/22/1947 You wanna keep your baby lookin' right Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 4475 6/22/1947 It's only love Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15643 5/25/1971 Lover Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15644 5/25/1971 Danny boy Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15645 5/25/1971 In the spirit of the moment Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15646 5/25/1971 When you're away Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15647 5/25/1971 Russian medley Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15648 5/25/1971 Night and day Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15649 5/25/1971 Spring in my heart Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15650 5/25/1971 The prince Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15651 5/25/1971 The old refrain Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15652 5/25/1971 Moonlight bay Deanna Durbin vocalist  
Decca L 15653 5/25/1971 I'll take you home again, Kathleen Deanna Durbin vocalist  
(Results 51-63 of 63 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Durbin, Deanna," accessed May 10, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/313255.

Durbin, Deanna. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 10, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/313255.

"Durbin, Deanna." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 10 May 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/313255

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