Deborah Kerr

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Deborah Kerr
Image:Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember trailer.jpg
in An Affair to Remember (1957)
Birth name Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer
Born 30 September 1921
Helensburgh, Scotland
Died 16 October 2007 (aged 86)
Botesdale, England
Other name(s) Deborah Kerr-Trimmer
Deborah Kerr-Viertel
Years active 1940 - 1986
Spouse(s) Anthony Bartley (1945-1959)
Peter Viertel (1960-2007)

Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, CBE (30 September 1921 – 16 October 2007) was a Golden Globe Award winning Scottish actress. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance in Tea and Sympathy, which she originated on Broadway, and she was also the recipient of honorary Academy, BAFTA and Cannes Film Festival awards.

She was nominated six times for an Academy Award as Best Actress but never won. In 1994, however, she was cited by the Motion Picture Academy for a film career that always represented "Perfection, Discipline and Elegance". Amongst her most famous films were: The King and I, An Affair to Remember, From Here to Eternity, Heaven Knows, Mr Allison and Separate Tables.

Although the Scottish pronunciation of her surname usually sounds like "care," when she was being promoted as a Hollywood actress it was made clear that her surname should be pronounced the same as "car." In order to avoid confusion over pronunciation, Louis B. Mayer of MGM decided to bill her as "Kerr rhymes with Star!"[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Kerr was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland,[2] the eldest child and only daughter of Kathleen Rose (née Smale) and Capt. Arthur Charles Kerr-Trimmer, a World War I veteran pilot who later became a naval architect and civil engineer.[3] She was, however, raised in the nearby town of Helensburgh, where her parents lived at the time of her birth. Kerr had a younger brother, Edward (a.k.a. Teddy), who became a journalist and died in a road-rage incident in 2004.[4][5]

She originally trained as a ballet dancer, first appearing on stage at Sadler's Wells in 1938. After changing careers, she soon found success as an actress. Her first acting teacher was her aunt, Phyllis Smale, who ran the Hicks-Smale Drama School in Bristol.[6][7]

[edit] Career

[edit] Films

Image:Deborah Kerr in Julius Caesar trailer.jpg
Kerr in Julius Caesar (1953)

Her debut was in the British film Contraband in 1940 but her scenes were left on the cutting room floor. She followed that with a series of other films, including Hatter's Castle (1942), in which she starred opposite Robert Newton and James Mason. The following year, she played the triple role of the hero's loves in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. During the filming, according to Powell's autobiography, she and Powell became lovers.[8]

“ I realised, said Powell, that Deborah was both the ideal and the flesh-and-blood woman whom I had been searching for.[8] ”

Although Winston Churchill thought it would ruin wartime morale, and the British Army refused to extend co-operation with the producers, the film confounded critics by proving to be an artistic and commercial triumph.[8] Powell had hoped to reunite Kerr and Roger Livesey, who had played the title character, in his next film, A Canterbury Tale (1944), but her agent had sold her contract to MGM. 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 was made.[8]

It was her role as a troubled nun in Black Narcissus in 1947 which brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers. The film was a hit in the US as well as the UK, and Kerr won the New York Film Critics' Award as Actress of the Year. In Hollywood, her British accent and manners led to a succession of roles portraying a refined, reserved, and proper English lady. Nevertheless, Kerr frequently used any opportunity to discard her cool exterior. In the 1950 adventure film, King Solomon's Mines, shot on location in Africa with Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson, she impressed audiences with a sexuality and an emotional vulnerability that brought new dimensions to a male-oriented action film. This was immediately followed by her appearance in the 1951 religious epic Quo Vadis?, in which she played the indomitable Lydia, a first century Christian.

Kerr also departed from typecasting with a performance that brought out her sensuality, as Karen in From Here to Eternity (1953) for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The American Film Institute acknowledged the iconic status of the scene from that film in which she and Burt Lancaster make love on a Hawaii beach amidst the crashing waves. The organisation named it one of "AFI's top 100 Most Romantic Films" of all time.

From then on, Kerr's career choices would make her known in Hollywood for her versatility as an actress,[9][10]. She portrayed a nun (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison), a mama's girl (Separate Tables), and a governess (The Chalk Garden), but she also portrayed an earthy Australian sheep-herder's wife (The Sundowners) and lustful and beautiful screen enchantresses (Beloved Infidel, Bonjour tristesse). She also starred in comedies (The Grass is Greener).

Image:Anaffairtoremember DKerr.png
Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant in An Affair To Remember's final scene

Among her most famous roles are Anna Leonowens in the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, and opposite Cary Grant in An Affair to Remember. In 1966, the producers of Carry on Screaming offered her a fee comparable to that paid to the rest of the cast combined, but she turned it down in favour of appearing in an aborted stage version of Flowers for Algernon. In 1967, at the age of 46, she starred in Casino Royale, achieving the distinction of being the oldest Bond Girl in any James Bond film.

In 1969, pressure of competition from younger, upcoming actresses made her agree to appear nude in John Frankenheimer's The Gypsy Moths,[11] the only nude scene in Kerr's career. Concern about the parts being offered to her, as well as the increasing amount of nudity in films in general, led her to abandon film work at the end of the 1960s in favour of television and theatre work.[11]

[edit] Theatre

As a stage actress, Deborah Kerr made her Broadway debut in 1953 in Robert Anderson's Tea and Sympathy, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Kerr repeated her role along with her stage partner John Kerr (no relation) in Vincente Minnelli's film adaptation of the drama. In 1955, Kerr won the Sarah Siddons Award for her performance in Chicago during a national tour of the play. In 1975, she returned to Broadway, originating the role of Nancy in Edward Albee's Pulitzer-winning play Seascape.

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. I don't mean to belittle acting but I'm like a child when I'm out there performing – shocking the grownups, enchanting them, making them laugh or cry. It's an unbelievable terror, a kind of masochistic madness. The older you get, the easier it should be but it isn't.[6] ”

[edit] Television

Deborah Kerr experienced a career resurgence in the early 1980s on television, when she played the role of the nurse (played by Elsa Lanchester in the 1957 film version) in Witness for the Prosecution. Later, Kerr re-teamed with screen partner Robert Mitchum in Reunion at Fairborough. This period also saw Kerr take on the role as the older version of the female tycoon, Emma Harte, in the adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance. For this performance, Kerr was nominated for an Emmy Award.

[edit] Personal life

Kerr's first marriage was to Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Anthony Bartley on November 29 1945. They had two daughters, Melanie Jane, born on December 27, 1947, and Francesca Ann, the wife of the actor John Shrapnel.

The marriage was troubled, due to Bartley's jealousy of his wife's fame and financial success [11]. Her career meant she was often away from home and the marriage came under strain. Actor Stewart Granger had claimed in his autobiography [12] that Kerr sought relief in him and seduced him in the back of a London cab in 1950. Kerr also was romantically involved with Burt Lancaster [13] during the filming of From Here to Eternity in 1953. Kerr and Bartley divorced in 1959.

Her second marriage was to writer Peter Viertel on July 23 1960 and lasted until her death. By this marriage, she acquired a stepdaughter, Christine Viertel. Although she long resided in Klosters, Switzerland and Marbella, Spain [14], she moved back to Britain to be closer to her own children, due to her deteriorating health [14]. Her husband, however, continued to live in Marbella. He died of cancer on 4 November 2007, only three weeks after her death. [15]

Kerr was the patron of the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (NSCA) from 1992 until her death from the effects of Parkinson's disease on October 16 2007 at the age of 86 in the village of Botesdale, Suffolk.[16]

[edit] Honours

Deborah Kerr was appointed a Commander of the Order the British Empire in 1998, but was unable to accept the honour in person due to ill health.[17] She was also honoured in Hollywood where, for her contributions to the motion picture industry, she was granted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1709 Vine Street.

Although she never won a BAFTA, Oscar or Cannes Film Festival award in a competitive category, all three academies gave her honorary awards:

In 1984, she was awarded a Cannes Film Festival Tribute.[18] In 1991, she received a BAFTA Special Award[6] and in 1994, she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance".[19]

[edit] Award nominations

Deborah Kerr was nominated six times for Best Actress: Edward, My Son (1949), From Here to Eternity (1953), The King and I (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958) and The Sundowners (1960). She equalled Thelma Ritter for the distinction of the most nominations for an actress for an acting Academy Award without ever winning, her nominations were all for Best Actress, whilst Ritter's were all for Best Supporting Actress.

She was also nominated four times for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress: The End of the Affair (1955), Tea and Sympathy (1956), The Sundowners (1961) and The Chalk Garden (1964)

She received one Emmy Awards nomination in 1985 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for A Woman of Substance. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for The King and I in 1957, and a Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite - Female. She was also nominated for the Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama for Edward, My Son (1949), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) and Separate Tables (1958)

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television credits

[edit] References

  1. ^ New York Times. Deborah Kerr Obituary. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  2. ^ The Herald. Deborah Kerr Obituary. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
  3. ^ Filmreference.com. Deborah Kerr Biography (1921-2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  4. ^ "'Road rage' killer's appeal win", BBC News, 2006-03-30. 
  5. ^ "Killer's term cut", Worcester News, 2006-04-05. 
  6. ^ a b c Deborah Kerr Obituary in the Daily Telegraph 19 October 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
  7. ^ Kerr, Deborah. International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers. FindArticles.com (2000).
  8. ^ a b c d A Life In Movies - autobiography (Part I), Powell, Michael, Heinemann, 1986, ISBN 0-434-59945-X
  9. ^ Herald Tribune - Deborah Kerr, versatile British actress, dies at 86 Retrieved on 2007-November 11
  10. ^ NY Times - Deborah Kerr, Actress Known for Genteel Grace and a Sexy Beach Kiss, Dies at 86 Retrieved on 2007-November 11
  11. ^ a b c Deborah Kerr, Braun, Eric, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-18895-1, 1978
  12. ^ Sparks fly upward, Granger, Stewart, Putnam; 1st American edition (1981), ISBN 0-399-12674-0
  13. ^ Burt Lancaster: An American Life, Buford, Kate, Knopf; (2001), ISBN 0-679-44603-6
  14. ^ a b Showbuzz. Deborah Kerr Obituary. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  15. ^ Peter Viertel Obituary. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
  16. ^ "Actress Deborah Kerr has died", Detroit Free Press, 2007-10-18. Retrieved on 2007-10-18. 
  17. ^ Baxter, Brian. "Deborah Kerr" (obituary), Guardian Unlimited, 2007-10-18. 
  18. ^ Festival International de Cannes. Cannes Film Festival Tribute (In French). Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  19. ^ BBC NEWS - British actress Kerr dies at 86Retrieved on 2007-November 11

[edit] External links

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Deborah Kerr
Awards
Preceded by
Celia Johnson
for Brief Encounter 		NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1947
for Black Narcissus 		Succeeded by
Olivia de Havilland
for The Snake Pit
Preceded by
Ingrid Bergman
for Anastasia 		NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1957
for Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison 		Succeeded by
Susan Hayward
for I Want to Live!
Preceded by
Jean Simmons
for Guys and Dolls 		Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1957
for The King and I 		Succeeded by
Kay Kendall
for Les Girls
Preceded by
Audrey Hepburn
for The Nun's Story 		NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1960
for The Sundowners 		Succeeded by
Sophia Loren
for Two Women
Preceded by
Federico Fellini 		Academy Honorary Award
1994 		Succeeded by
Michelangelo Antonioni
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Persondata
NAME Kerr, Deborah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kerr-Trimmer, Deborah Jane
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress
DATE OF BIRTH 30 September 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Helensburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH 16 October 2007
PLACE OF DEATH Botesdale, England, United Kingdom
cy:Deborah Kerr

da:Deborah Kerr de:Deborah Kerr el:Ντέμπορα Κερ es:Deborah Kerr eo:Deborah Kerr eu:Deborah Kerr fr:Deborah Kerr ko:데버러 커 it:Deborah Kerr he:דבורה קר lb:Deborah Kerr nl:Deborah Kerr ja:デボラ・カー no:Deborah Kerr pl:Deborah Kerr pt:Deborah Kerr fi:Deborah Kerr sv:Deborah Kerr tr:Deborah Kerr zh:狄波拉·嘉

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