Deborah Kerr

Deborah Kerr /ˌdebrə ˈkɑr/ (Helensburgh, Scotland, September 30, 1921-Botesdale, Suffolk, October 16, 2007) was a British actress, one of the best-known faces of cinema of Hollywood in the fifties. She is also one of the female myths of the seventh art. She participated in some films considered great cinema classics, among which Quo Vadis? or From here to eternity . She holds the record for being the performer with the most Oscar nominations (6) for best leading actress, without ever winning it.

Biography and career

Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer was born in Helensburgh, a small Scottish town, on September 30, 1921. Her father was a soldier suffering from wounds sustained in World War I. As a shy young woman, he discovered acting as a means of expressing himself. Her aunt, who was an acting teacher, got her a few roles in plays while she was still a teenager.

Deborah Kerr in Quo Vadis

During one of these performances Kerr was discovered by a British film producer, who hired her for two films in 1941 (one of them the Gabriel Pascal classic Major Barbara with Rex Harrison, on the play by George Bernard Shaw). Kerr was successful and quickly became a rising star of British cinema at the hands of the Rank film company, appearing in titles such as Hatter's Castle (1942, Lance Comfort), adaptation of a novel by A. J. Cronin, in the company of James Mason, Robert Newton or Emlyn Williams; the famous Colonel Blimp (1943, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) together with Anton Walbrook, considered by critics as one of the ten best films in the history of British cinema; Dangerous Separation (1945, Alexander Korda) opposite Robert Donat, I See a Dark Stranger (1946, Frank Launder) paired with notable actor Trevor Howard; or Black Narcissus (1947, Michael Powell), in a cast completed by Jean Simmons, Flora Robson and Sabu.

Shortly after, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hires her and Kerr moves to Hollywood where a successful period of unforgettable memories for all lovers of good cinema begins. Thus, to name a few titles, If Winter stands out Comes (1947, Victor Saville), an interesting drama in which Kerr was part of a cast completed by Walter Pidgeon, Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh; The Hucksters (1947, Jack Conway), a thriller in which she shared the lead with Clark Gable, Adolphe Menjou and Ava Gardner; Edward, My Son (1949, George Cukor) with Spencer Tracy; King Solomon's Mines (1950, Andrew Marton and Compton Bennett) sharing the bill with Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson; the famous blockbuster based on the novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz Quo Vadis? (1951, Mervyn LeRoy) with Robert Taylor or the stupendous version of The Prisoner of Zenda by Richard Thorpe shot in 1952 again with Stewart Granger and with James Mason and Jane Greer.

Kerr felt, however, pigeonholed into a certain type of somewhat stereotyped female characters, which is why she agreed to work for Columbia in 1953 in From Here to Eternity, embodying a character more free and independent —despite being married to an army commander and forming an agreed marriage—, and with a passionate and, for the time, quite erotic scene with Burt Lancaster, which bordered on scandal and with which he broke his image of virginal and naive heroine. The film was very successful for its script (based on the novel by James Jones), artistic quality and cast (Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed, Ernest Borgnine,...) and Kerr She was nominated for an Oscar for Best Leading Actress.

Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

From then on, the actress began to demonstrate her enormous talent for dramatic roles rich in nuances and with suggestive emotional and/or psychological implications, applying the solidity acquired in her theatrical experiences as the basis of a method that was making its way in his way of interpreting for the cinema. She alternated all kinds of roles in such prominent films as Julius Caesar (1953, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) sharing the bill with Marlon Brando, James Mason, Greer Garson or Louis Calhern; To live a great love (1954, Edward Dmytryk) alongside Van Johnson in a story about an autobiographical novel by Graham Greene, versioned in 1999 by Neil Jordan with even greater success in The End romance; The King and I (1956, Walter Lang) with Yul Brynner and Rita Moreno, also brought to the screen numerous times (the most recognized, in 1946 with Rex Harrison and Linda Darnell, and the last one in 1999 with Jodie Foster); Tea and Sympathy (1957, Vincente Minnelli) opposite Leif Ericson and John Kerr in a high-society comedy ripped from a hit play; Only God knows (1957, John Huston), in one of her best performances opposite Robert Mitchum; the unforgettable You and I (Something to Remember) (1957, Leo McCarey) in the company of an immense Cary Grant, with whom they formed one of the best film couples in living memory; theatrical origin Separate Tables (1958, Delbert Mann) with Burt Lancaster, David Niven, Rita Hayworth and Wendy Hiller winning an Oscar; Good morning, sadness (1958, Otto Preminger), based on the famous novel by Françoise Sagan; and the excellent Days Without Life (1959, Henry King), where the actress gave her last great 1950s performance as the wife of writer Francis Scott Fitzgerald (Gregory Peck).

With Burt Lancaster in the film From here to eternity

The most moviegoers also saw her in smaller films but where the actress saved her roles with elegance, such as Tempest in the East (1951, Charles Vidor) with Charles Boyer and Alan Ladd; The Dream Wife (1953, Sidney Sheldon) opposite Cary Grant and Walter Pidgeon; The Virgin Queen (1953, George Sidney), between Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger; Heroes Cry Too (1956, George Seaton), in a cast completed by William Holden and Thelma Ritter; or Red Sunset (1959, Anatole Litvak in the middle of Anouk Aimée and Yul Brynner.

The 1960s show that, despite the quality of his performances and the commercial success of the films in which he appears, critics and film academies do not seem to take notice. Some of his best work appears in titles from this era such as: Three Wandering Lives (1960, Fred Zinnemann), again with Robert Mitchum but now in a superb adventure drama; Blank Page (1960, Stanley Donen) in an acting duel with Cary Grant, Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum; Suspense! (1961, Jack Clayton) or the best version of Henry James' famous novel Another Turn of the Screw, in the role of a mature governess in a mansion where hides a dark secret, along with the great Michael Redgrave and Pamela Franklin; Shades of Suspicion (1961, Michael Anderson), accompanying Gary Cooper in his last screen appearance; or The Night of the Iguana (1964, John Huston), based on the play by Tennessee Williams, with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Sue Lyon.

Also notable, to a lesser extent, are works such as Woman Without a Past (1964, Ronald Neame), with John Mills and his daughter Hayley; The Devil's Eye (1966, J. Lee Thompson), the failed spoof blockbuster Casino Royale (1967, John Huston, Robert Parrish, Val Guest), Daredevils Out of the Air (1969, John Frankenheimer), opposite Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman; and The Engagement (1969, Elia Kazan) with Kirk Douglas, Faye Dunaway and Hume Cronyn, this being the year he retired.

Over the course of her career, she was nominated for an Oscar six times, but never won. For this reason, the Film Academy awarded her an Oscar in 1994 in recognition of her entire career.

In the mid-80s, he reappeared on British TV, with two notable roles in the telefilm Meeting in Fairborough (his last work with Robert Mitchum) and in the well-remembered miniseries "A Woman of Substance" ("Toda una mujer"), based on the 1979 best seller written by Barbara Taylor Bradford which bears the same name that narrates the life of Emma Harte.

Kerr was first married between 1945 and 1959, and had two daughters from this marriage. She remarried in 1960 to the Hollywood writer and screenwriter Peter Viertel, author of the screenplay for The African Queen by John Huston; as well as the novel White Hunter, Black Heart, interpreted in the cinema by Clint Eastwood. The couple lived during their last stage in Switzerland, although since the 70s they used to spend long stays in Marbella.

Death

Deborah Kerr died at the age of 86 on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 in Botesdale, a rural village in Suffolk, England from complications of Parkinson's disease. Nineteen days later, on November 4, her husband Peter Viertel died of cancer, in Marbella, Spain. At the time of Viertel's death, director Michael Scheingraber was filming the documentary "Peter Viertel: Between the Lines," which included Kerr's feminism and the Academy Awards. Kerr is entombed in Alfold Cemetery, Alfold, Surrey, England.

Filmography

• Smugglers Michael Powell (1940)
• Love on the Dole John Baxter (1941)
• Barbara (Major Barbara, 1941) by Gabriel Pascal
• The Day Will Dawn (1942) by Harold French
• Hatter's Castle (1942) by Lance Comfort
• Penn of Pennsylvania (1942) by Lance Comfort
• Hazardous separation (Perfect Strangers, 1945) by Alexander Korda
• Colonel Blimp (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, 1943) by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
• I See a Dark Stranger (1946) by Frank Launder
• If Winter Comes (1947) by Victor Saville
• Goods of illusions (1947) by Jack Conway
• Black Narcissus (Black NarcissusMichael Powell
• Edward, my son (Edward, My Son, 1949) by George Cukor
• The mines of King Solomon (King Solomon's MinesAndrew Marton and Compton Bennett
• Please, Believe Me (1950) Norman Taurog
• What Vadis? (What Vadis?Mervyn LeRoy, 1951
• Tempest in the East (Thunder in the East, 1952) by Charles Vidor
• The prisoner of Zenda (The Prisoner of Zenda, 1952) by Richard Thorpe
• From here to eternity (From Here to Eternity, 1953) by Fred Zinnemann
• The dream woman (Dream Wife, 1953) of Sidney Sheldon
• Julius Caesar (Julius Caesar, 1953) by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• The virgin queen (Young BessGeorge Sidney, 1953)
• Tea and sympathy (Tea and Sympathyof Vincente Minnelli
• The king and I (The King and IWalter Lang
• Heroes also cry (The Proud and ProfaneGeorge Seaton, 1956
• Living a great love (The End of the Affair, 1955) by Edward Dmytryk
• You and me. (An Affair to Remember, 1957) by Leo McCarey
• Only God knows. (Heaven Knows, Mr. AllisonJohn Huston, 1957
• Separate tables (Separate Tables, 1958) by Delbert Mann
• Good morning, sadness (Bonjour sadsse, 1958) by Otto Preminger
• Lifeless days (Beloved InfidelHenry King, 1959
• Your husband... that stranger. (Count Your Blessings, 1959) by Jean Negulesco
• Red at sunset (The Journey, 1959) of Anatole Litvak
• Page blank (The Grass Is GreenerStanley Donen, 1960
• Three wandering lives (The Sundowners, 1960) by Fred Zinnemann
• Get off! (The InnocentsJack Clayton, 1961
• Shadows of suspicion (The Naked Edge, 1961) by Michael Anderson
• The night of the iguana (The Night of the Iguana, 1964) by John Huston
• Woman without past (The Chalk Garden, 1964) by Ronald Neame
• Divorce to the American (Marriage on the Rocks, 1965) by Jack Donohue
• The Eye of the Devil (Eye of the Devil, 1967) by J. Lee Thompson
• Casino Royale (1967) by John Huston, Val Guest, Robert Parrish,...
• Prudence! Prudence (Prudence and the Pill, 1968)
• Commitment (The Arrangementof Elia Kazan
• The fearors of the air (The Gypsy Moths, 1969) by John Frankenheimer
• Emma Harte (1984)
• The Assam Garden (1985)
• Reunion at Fairborough (1985)

Awards

Oscar Awards

BAFTA Awards

Golden Globes