She played ladies who didn't mind if their tramp showed. It's an unbelievable terror, a kind of masochistic madness. British director Michael Powell gave her a role in film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp in 1943 in which she appeared thrice. Deborah Kerr. Although she long resided in Klosters, Switzerland and Marbella, Spain, she moved back to Britain to be closer to her own children as her health began to deteriorate. "Finally the scene was over and I leapt to my feet and screamed I found I had been sitting on an ants nest! American British Deborah Kerr/Nationality. She told a story about it in a letter sent in 1990 from her home in Marbella, Spain. Her definitive role was as the Governess Anna Leonowens duelling with Yul Brynner in the King and I (1956). She first appeared on stage as Harlequin in 1937 for 'Harlequin And Columbine'. Arthur Charles Kerr Trimmer, a World War I veteran and pilot who lost a leg at the Battle of the Somme and later became a naval architect and civil engineer. Her first acting teacher was her aunt, Phyllis Smale, who worked at a drama school in Bristol run by Lally Cuthbert Hicks. Although she long resided in Klosters, Switzerland and Marbella, Spain, she moved back to Britain to be closer to her own children as her health began to deteriorate. Kerr won a third New York Film Critics Award and a sixth Academy Award nomination in 1960 and a BAFTA Award nomination in 1961 for the film Sundowners. Her last visit to Glasgow was in 1990, when she was a member of the international jury at the European Film Awards. Some of Kerr's leading men have stated in their autobiographies that they had an affair or romantic fling with her. Countless newspaper, magazine and website articles say that the Scottish girl who became the archetypal movie perfect English rose was born in the burgh. Her final feature film was "The Assam Garden," also in 1985. In 1965, the producers of Carry On Screaming! Deborah Kerr died age of 86 in Suffolk, England, on October 16, 2007, due to complications arising out of Parkinson's disease. based on information from your browser. Marni Nixon dubbed Kerr's singing voice. Family members linked to this person will appear here. She married Peter Viertel, a novelist and screenwriter, in 1960 and they lived in Klosters, Switzerland for many years. In 1964 she acted in Tennessee Williams The Night of The Iguana and also starred in The Chalk Garden. Very romantic! Kerr, Deborah. Kerr, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, died Tuesday in Suffolk in eastern England, her agent, Anne Hutton, said Thursday. She took on the role of the older Emma Harte, a tycoon, in the adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance (1984). Try again later. She is buried in a family plot at Alfold Cemetery, Alfold, Surrey. She acted in a film adaption of Bernard Shaws work titled Major Barbara and then in the lead role in Love on the Dole in 1940. She was also honoured in Hollywood, where she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street for her contributions to the motion picture industry. Her husband, however, continued to live in Marbella. GREAT NEWS! Honorary Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1994), Golden Globe Award (1959): World Film Favorites, Golden Globe Award (1957): Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Deborah-Kerr, Deborah Kerr - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). British exhibitors voted her the eighth-most popular local star at the box-office in 1947. Yet despite family in Sweden and two decades in Los Angeles, she settled in New York City, becoming as famous a New Yorker as she was a movie star. D Deborah Kerr Media in category "Deborah Kerr" Her second marriage was to author Peter Viertel on 23 July 1960. Director Fred Zinnemann at Columbia, in a risk-taking gesture, cast Kerr (on loan from MGM) against type in the role of a lusty, adulterous army wife in From Here to Eternity (1953), hoping that Kerrs ladylike poise would provide an interesting contrast to her characters seamy past. She had a younger brother, Edmund (Teddy). Other TV roles included Ann and Debbie (1986) and Hold the Dream (1986), the latter a sequel to A Woman of Substance. She then played Princess Flavia in a remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) with Granger and Mason. In between Paramount borrowed her to appear in Thunder in the East (1951) with Alan Ladd. Also Known As: Deborah Trimmer, Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, Deborah Kerr Viertel, Spouse/Ex-: Anthony Bartley (married 1945), divorced 1959), Peter Viertel (married 19602007; her death), children: Christine Viertel (stepdaughter), Francesca Ann Bartley (born 1951), Melanie Jane Bartley (born 1947), See the events in life of Deborah Kerr in Chronological Order, (British Actress Who was Known for Her Impeccable Grace and Beauty), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfDoeQJ_fzQ. Kerr was reunited with Mitchum in The Sundowners (1960) shot in Australia, then The Grass Is Greener (1960), co-starring Cary Grant. Her death, in Suffolk, England, was announced on Thursday by her. But the flame-haired English rose (actually born in Helensburgh, in 1921) was already a star in Britain, as well as an actress of proven substance. He said: My mother worked as a housekeeper for Mrs Jane Kirkwood Brown, who lived in a large mansion in Charlotte Street and who had returned with her husband from Ceylon where he worked in the tea industry. Miss Kerr is survived by Viertel, her husband of 47 years; two daughters; and three grandchildren. She was 86 and had suffered from Parkinson's disease. She appeared in the films Julius Caesar and From Here to Eternity in 1953. The story goes that on the set of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) - starring the actress as a nun and Robert Mitchum as a lusty soldier stranded on an island - Mitchum worried that he might offend Her Primness. To avoid confusion over pronunciation, Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer billed her as "Kerr rhymes with Star!" Deborah Kerr (Photo credit: Wikipedia). According to Powell, his affair with Kerr ended when she made it clear to him that she would accept an offer to go to Hollywood if one were made. Unfortunately, the Academy didn't like Kerr as much as the New York critics. Kerr originally trained as a ballet dancer, first appearing on stage at Sadler's Wells in 1938. This was immediately followed by her appearance in the religious epic Quo Vadis (1951), shot at Cinecitt in Rome, in which she played the indomitable Lygia, a first-century Christian. She was the first performer to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for "Best Actress" three times (1947, 1957 and 1960). Her first appearance on the West End stage was as Ellie Dunn in "Heartbreak House" at the Cambridge Theatre in 1943. For many she will be remembered best for her kiss with . She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in The Day Will Dawn (1942). Trimmer and Smale wed, both aged 28, on August 21, 1919 in Smale's . His father Arthur worked with Sir William Arrols bridge building firm, and Jack took up a post with them as well. Failed to delete memorial. In marrying Viertel, she acquired a stepdaughter, Christine Viertel. Kerr's first film for MGM in Hollywood was a mature satire of the burgeoning advertising industry, The Hucksters (1947) with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. Weve updated the security on the site. She performed in France, Belgium and Holland with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association, or Every Night Something Awful) - The British Army entertainment service. Please try again later. Died: 24 July, 2016 in New York City, aged 86. Both flopped, as did Beloved Infidel (1959) with Gregory Peck. Helensburgh man David Bruce, chairman of the Glasgow Film Theatre and a former director of the Scottish Film Council, who was one of the awards organisers, said: I asked her if she would like me to arrange a trip to Helensburgh, and she said yes, but time did not permit.. However varied her Hollywood roles, she delivered performances of greater nuance and depth in the European-made films The End of the Affair (1955) - again, as a conscience-stricken adulteress - and Bonjour, Tristesse (1958), as a fashion designer provoked by her lover's daughter. To avoid confusion over pronunciation, Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer billed her as "Kerr rhymes with Star! 0. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The theatre, despite her success in films, was always to remain Kerr's first love, even though going on stage filled her with trepidation: I do it because it's exactly like dressing up for the grown ups. After changing careers, she soon found success as an actress. Her parents, Captain Arthur Charles Trimmer and Kathleen Rose Trimmer, nee Smale, who were married at the brides home town of Lydney, Gloucestershire, on August 21 1919, were living in Helensburgh at the time. 'Bing's Lucky Number: Pa Crosby Dons 4th B.O. Kerr. character of the British people through commitment to British values, the British community and/or to Great Britain. Her role as a troubled nun in the Powell and Pressburger production of Black Narcissus (1947) brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers. In 1944 she was in the Clyde area on location, filming 'Perfect Strangers' with actor Roland Culver. she is one of famous film and television actress (1921-2007) with the age years old group. A victim of Parkinsons disease, Deborah Kerr CBE died peacefully at Botesdale, Suffolk, on Tuesday October 16 2007, a couple of weeks after her 86th birthday. Deborah Kerr has died at the age of 86 after a seven-year battle with Parkinson's disease. Thu 18 Oct 2007 19.06 EDT. Her parents were Kathleen ne Small and Arthur Kerr-Trimmer. She participated in some films considered great cinema classics, among . There is a problem with your email/password. In Hollywood, Kerr's British accent and manner led to a succession of roles portraying refined, reserved, and "proper" English ladies. He bought a small timber haulage firm in Alford, a rural parish on the borders of Surrey and Sussex, near Cranleigh. For many she will be remembered best for her kiss with Burt. Deborah Kerr won the New York Film Critics Award in 1947 for Black Narcissus and was voted one of the top earning English stars by Motion Picture Herald poll. King Solomon's Mines (1950) was shot on location in Africa with Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. [citation needed]. Deborah Kerr received professional training as a ballet dancer and first appeared on stage in the year 1938 at Sadler's Wells, a performing arts venue in England. , near Cranleigh she had a younger brother, Edmund ( Teddy ) Zenda ( )... The Day will Dawn ( 1942 ) Death of Colonel Blimp in 1943 in which appeared. Played Princess Flavia in a letter sent in 1990, when she was and... 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