1935–1941: Early career

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.^[4] She made her first film appearance in the short Every Sunday (1936) with Judy Garland, another teenage singer-actress whose career would rival Durbin's. The film was intended as a demonstration of their talent as performers as studio executives had questioned the wisdom of casting two female singers together. Louis B. Mayer decided to sign both, but by then, Durbin's contract option had lapsed.^[2]

Universal Pictures producer Joe Pasternak wished to borrow Garland from MGM, but she was unavailable. When Pasternak learned that Durbin was no longer with MGM, he instead cast her in the film. At 14 years old, Durbin signed with Universal, giving her the professional name Deanna. Her first feature-length film, Three Smart Girls (1936), was a success and established Durbin as a young star. With Pasternak producing for Universal, Durbin starred in a succession of successful musical films, including One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937),^[5] Mad About Music (1938), That Certain Age (1938), Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), and First Love (1939)—most of which were directed by Henry Koster.^[6]

Durbin also continued to pursue singing projects. In 1936, she auditioned to provide the vocals for Snow White in Disney's animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but was rejected by Walt Disney, who said the 15-year-old Durbin's voice was "too old" for the part.^[7] That same year, Cesar Sturani, the general music secretary of the Metropolitan Opera, offered Durbin an audition. She turned down his offer because she felt she needed more singing lessons. Andrés de Segurola, who was the vocal coach working with Universal Studios—himself a former Metropolitan Opera singer—believed that Durbin was a potential opera star. De Segurola was commissioned to advise the Metropolitan Opera on her progress. Also in 1936, Durbin began a radio collaboration with Eddie Cantor which lasted until 1938, when her heavy workload for Universal forced her to quit her weekly appearances.^[8]

The success of Durbin's films was reported to have saved Universal from bankruptcy.^[2] In 1938, she received an Academy Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney. Producer Joe Pasternak said:

Deanna's genius had to be unfolded, but it was hers and hers alone, always has been, always will be, and no one can take credit for discovering her. You can't hide that kind of light under a bushel. You just can't, no matter how hard you try!

Durbin continued her success with It's a Date (1940), Spring Parade (1940), and Nice Girl? (1941).

1941–1945: Attempts to expand

Durbin on the cover of Yank (1945)

In 1941, Durbin starred in It Started with Eve (1941), her last film with Pasternak and director Henry Koster. Pasternak moved from Universal to MGM. Universal announced Durbin was to star in They Lived Alone, scheduled to be directed by Koster. However, Durbin was unhappy by the role, and that Universal had not given support to the career of her first husband, assistant director Vaughn Paul, whom she had married in April 1941. Durbin turned down the role, and was suspended by the studio from October 16, 1941, to early February 1942.^[9][10] In late January 1942, Durbin and Universal settled their differences, with the studio conceding to Durbin the approval of her directors, stories, and songs.^[11]

Wishing to move into more sophisticated material, They Lived Alone was retooled into The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943), the World War II story of refugee children from China. The film was initially conceived without musical numbers, but Durbin finally relented to Universal's demand to include some. Durbin was also able to retool her second sequel to Three Smart Girls from Three Smart Girls Grow Up to Hers to Hold (1943), revolving solely around her character. Her co-star Joseph Cotten would later speak highly of her integrity and character.^[12] Durbin also dabbled in other genres, such as the romantic comedy His Butler's Sister (1943) and the musical Western Can't Help Singing (1944), her only Technicolor film, which was produced on location in southern Utah and co-starred Robert Paige.^[13] The film featured some of the last melodies written by Jerome Kern.

Durbin continued her push to establish herself as a more dramatic actress with the film noir Christmas Holiday (1944), directed by Robert Siodmak and co-starring Gene Kelly. Siodmark praised Durbin's acting skills, but later recalled she was difficult as "she wanted to play a new part but flinched from looking like a tramp: she always wanted to look like nice wholesome Deanna Durbin pretending to be a tramp."^[14] Although the film received mixed reviews, Durbin later called it her "only really good film".^[15] The whodunit Lady on a Train (1945) also received mixed critical reviews. Most of these films had been produced by Felix Jackson, whom she married in August 1945; they welcomed their daughter, Jessica Louise, in February 1946.

1946–1949: Decline and retirement

Durbin and cinematographer William H. Daniels on set of For the Love of Mary (1948)

In 1946, Durbin was the second-highest-paid woman in the United States, just behind Bette Davis,;^[6] her fan club ranked as the world's largest during her active years.^[16] However, while her adult dramatic roles may have been more satisfying for Durbin, it was clear her fans preferred her in light musical confections.

In 1946, Universal merged with two other companies to create Universal-International. The new regime discontinued much of Universal's familiar product and scheduled only a few musicals. Jackson left Universal in November 1946;^[17] he also left Durbin in January 1947, although their separation was not announced until the following year.^[18][19][20]

Durbin's final four pictures — I'll Be Yours (1947), Something in the Wind (1947), Up in Central Park (1948), and For the Love of Mary (1948) — all reverted to her previous musical-comedy structure. On August 22, 1948, Universal-International announced a lawsuit which sought to collect wages the studio had paid Durbin in advance.^[21] Durbin settled the complaint by agreeing to star in three more pictures, including one in Paris; this did not materialize before Durbin's contract expired. She received a $200,000 ($2,500,000 in 2022) ^[22] severance payment.^[23]

1949–2013: Retirement

Unsatisfied by her career options, Durbin chose to retire and move to Paris. When her former producer Joe Pasternak tried to dissuade her, she told him, "I can't run around being a Little Miss Fix-It who bursts into song—the highest-paid star with the poorest material."^[24] In September 1949, Durbin filed for divorce from Jackson, which was finalized in November.^[19][20]

On December 21, 1950, Durbin married French director-producer Charles Henri David, who had previously directed her in Lady on a Train. Durbin and David raised a son, Peter David (born in June 1951), as well as Durbin's daughter Jessica, on a farm outside of Paris. Durbin turned down several offers for a comeback, including a Broadway role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady; she later said, "I had my ticket for Paris in my pocket."^[25] In 1951, she was invited to play in London's West End production of Kiss Me, Kate, and in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version of the same in 1953, and Sigmund Romberg's operetta The Student Prince in 1954.

In 1983, film historian David Shipman was granted a rare interview by Durbin. Durbin acknowledged her dislike of the Hollywood studio system, emphasizing that she never identified herself with the public image that the media created around her. She spoke of the Deanna "persona" in the third person, and considered the film character "Deanna Durbin" to be a byproduct of her youth and not her true identity.^[26] In private life, Durbin had continued to use her given name, Edna; salary figures printed annually by the Hollywood trade publications listed the actress as "Edna Mae Durbin, player". Also in the interview, she steadfastly asserted her right to privacy, something she maintained until the end of her life, declining to be profiled on websites.^[27]

Durbin's husband of almost 50 years, Charles David, died in Paris on March 1, 1999. On April 30, 2013, a newsletter published by the Deanna Durbin Society reported that Durbin had died "in the past few days", quoting her son, Peter H. David, who thanked her admirers for respecting her privacy. No other details were given.^[6] According to the Social Security Death Index (under the name Edna M. David), she died on April 17, 2013^[1][28] in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.^[29]

Box office ranking