Deanna Durbin

Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin on the cover of Yank, in January 1945
Born	(1921-12-04)December 4, 1921 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died	April 20, 2013 (aged 91) Neauphle-le-Château, France
Occupation	Actress/singer
Years active	1936–1948
Spouse(s)	Vaughn Paul (m. 1941–1943; divorced) Felix Jackson (m. 1945–1949; divorced) Charles David (m. 1950–1999; his death)
Children	Jessica Louise Jackson (b. 1946), Peter David (b. 1951)

Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 20, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian actress and singer, who 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 made her first film appearance with Judy Garland in Every Sunday (1936), and subsequently signed a contract with Universal Studios. Her success as the ideal teenaged daughter in films such as Three Smart Girls (1936) was credited with saving the studio from bankruptcy. In 1938, at the age of 17, Durbin was awarded the Academy Juvenile Award.

As she matured, Durbin grew dissatisfied with the girl-next-door roles assigned to her, and attempted to portray a more womanly and sophisticated style. The film noir Christmas Holiday (1944) and the whodunit Lady on a Train (1945) were, however, not as well received as her musical comedies and romances had been. Durbin retired from acting and singing in 1949, and withdrew from public life. She married film producer-director Charles Henri David in 1950, and the couple moved to a farmhouse near Paris.

Edna Mae Durbin was born on December 4, 1921, at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the daughter of James Allen Durbin and his wife Ada (née Read), who were originally from Manchester, England. When she was an infant, her family moved from Winnipeg to Southern California, and her parents reportedly became United States citizens. At the age of one, Edna Mae was singing children's songs. By the time she was 10, her parents recognized that she had definite talent and enrolled her in voice lessons at the Ralph Thomas Academy. Durbin soon became Thomas's prize pupil, and he showcased her talent at various local clubs and churches.

In early 1935, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was planning a biographical film on the life of opera star Ernestine Schumann-Heink and was having difficulty finding an actress to play the young opera singer. MGM casting director Rufus LeMaire heard about a talented young soloist performing with the Ralph Thomas Academy and called her in for an audition. Durbin sang "Il Bacio" for the studio's vocal coach, who was stunned by her "mature soprano" voice. She sang the number again for Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to a six-month contract.