Born Edna Mae Durbin in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on December 4,
1921 (some sources say 1922), her family
moved to the United States when she was
two years old due to her father's
health. Durbin became an American
citizen in 1928.
Durbin was discovered by a casting
director searching in Los Angeles singing
schools for someone to play opera star
Ernestine Schumann-Heink as a child.
In 1936, her singing landed her a spot in
Eddie Cantor’s weekly radio program.
Assuming the professional name of Deanna
Durbin, she made her first film appearance
that same year in Every Sunday.
Under contract to Universal Studios, and
widely credited with saving Universal
Pictures from bankruptcy, she received the
Academy Juvenile Award in 1938 honouring
her "significant contribution in bringing
to the screen the spirit and
personification of youth". By then,
Durbin was a rising star as the singing
ingénue in such films as Mad About Music
and That Certain Age
By 1946, Durbin was the
second-highest-paid woman in the United
States, making a reported $250,000 a year,
surpassed only by Bette Davis.
Throughout her career, the star famously
played everyone’s kid sister, the
wholesome girl next door, or the can-do
all-American girl who could seemingly give
hope to anyone down on their luck.
In 1950, at the age of 28, Durbin
moved to France, settling in the village
of Neauphle-le-Chateau with her third
husband, director Charles Davis.
Durbin primarily kept at home where she
happily raised her children and lived a
private life.
Deanna Durbin successfully stayed out of
the spotlight and rarely gave interviews
before she passed away on April 17, 2013
at age 91.
