Jean Hatton (born 1922) was an Australian singer and actor who was under contract to

Cinesound Productions Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...

in the 1930s. She was discovered in a

Deanna Durbin Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With t ...

talent quest and cast as

Cecil Kellaway Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinne ...

's daughter in ''

Mr. Chedworth Steps Out ''Mr. Chedworth Steps Out'' is a 1939 Australian comedy film directed by Ken G. Hall starring Cecil Kellaway. Kellaway returned to Australia from Hollywood to make the film, which features an early screen appearance by Peter Finch. It was the fi ...

'' (1939), singing several songs. She was subsequently cast in ''

Come Up Smiling ''Come Up Smiling'' (also known as ''Ants in His Pants'') is a 1939 Australian comedy film starring popular American stage comedian Will Mahoney and his wife Evie Hayes. It was the only feature from Cinesound Productions not directed by Ken G. H ...

'' (1939). During filming she fell down two flights of stairs and was injured, causing filming to be delayed, but she recovered. She later performed in concerts and radio and was generally advertised as "Australia's Deanna Durbin". Hatton later married Keith White, and resided in

Turramurra, New South Wales Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. It shares the postc ...

. Together they had two sons. In April 1971, it was reported that Hatton was retired from show business and "a happy middle-aged woman". In May 1987, Hatton was interviewed and spoke of her distaste in being dubbed "Australia's Deanna Durbin", stating "It upset me greatly: it always has done and it always will".

Filmography

*''

'' (1939) *''

'' (1939)

References

External links

Jean Hatton
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

* 1922 births Possibly living people Australian film actresses {{Australia-actor-stub