This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
Canada: 
Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
A Winnipeg-born screen super star of the 1930s and 1940s, Deanna Durbin, has passed away at the age of 91, her son Peter H. David confirmed in a fan newsletter, asserting that she died a few days ago. Durbin was acclaimed as the highest paid star in Hollywood in 1947, when she was highly praised for movies like Three Smart Girls, Spring Parade and Mad about Music. However, she gave up her star-studded career in 1949, when she was only 27, illustrating that she was never this happy as a movie star. Soon after she married a film director, Charles David, and dodged the spotlight by living in France.
Durbin, full name Edna Mae Durbin, was born at the Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, and soon after she became better known in her early career as the “Winnipeg’s sweetheart.” She was highly praised for her attractive voice and her parents, then living in Los Angeles, trained her with a vocal coach. Soon Durbin had completely caught up on a stage name, Deana Durbin, at the time she signed a major contract with Universal Studios at age 14 in 1936.
Durbin appeared in her first movie, Every Sunday, alongside Judy Garland. After that she was involved in a long list of ideal teenaged daughter roles over the next few years in films such as That Certain Age, First Love and It’s a Date. Her sweet soprano voice made a success of many of the films, and she was credited with saving Universal from bankruptcy in the 1930s.
Be the first to comment