Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer CBE (/kɑːr/; 30 September 1921 – 16 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr, was a Scottish-born film, theatre and television actress. During her career, she won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for her performance as Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens in the musical film The King and I (1956) and a Sarah Siddons Award for her performance as Laura Reynolds in the play Tea and Sympathy (a role she originated on Broadway). She was also a three-time winner of the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Kerr was nominated six times for the Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress, more than any other actress without ever winning. In 1994, however, having already received honorary awards from the Cannes Film Festival and BAFTA, she received an Academy Honorary Award with a citation recognising her as "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance".[1] As well as The King and I (1956), her films include An Affair to Remember, From Here to Eternity, Quo Vadis, The Innocents, Black Narcissus, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, King Solomon's Mines, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Sundowners, and Separate Tables.

Contents

1 Early life 2 Career

2.1 Theatre 2.2 Films 2.3 Television

3 Personal life 4 Death 5 Honours 6 Award nominations 7 Filmography 8 Radio appearances 9 References 10 Works cited 11 External links

Early life[edit] Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer was born in Glasgow,[2][3] the only daughter of Kathleen Rose (née Smale) and Capt. Arthur Charles Kerr-Trimmer, a World War I veteran who lost a leg at the Battle of the Somme
Battle of the Somme and later became a naval architect and civil engineer;[4] She spent the first three years of her life in the nearby town of Helensburgh, where her parents lived with Deborah's grandparents in a house on West King Street. Kerr had a younger brother, Edmund ("Teddy"), who became a journalist. He was killed in a road rage incident in 2004.[5][6] Kerr was educated at the independent Northumberland House School, Henleaze
Henleaze in Bristol, and at Rossholme School, Weston-super-Mare. Kerr 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.[7][8] She adopted the name Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr on becoming a film actress ("Kerr" was a family name going back to the maternal grandmother of her grandfather Arthur Kerr-Trimmer).[9] Career[edit] Theatre[edit] Kerr's first stage appearance was at Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare in 1937, as "Harlequin" in the mime play Harlequin and Columbine. She then went to the Sadler's Wells ballet school and in 1938 made her début in the corps de ballet in Prometheus. After various walk-on parts in Shakespeare productions at the Open-Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London, she joined the Oxford Playhouse repertory company in 1940, playing, inter alia, "Margaret" in Dear Brutus and "Patty Moss" in The Two Bouquets.[7] In 1943, aged 21, Kerr made her West End début as "Ellie Dunn" in a revival of Heartbreak House at the Cambridge Theatre, stealing attention from stalwarts such as Edith Evans
Edith Evans and Isabel Jeans. "She has the rare gift", wrote critic Beverley Baxter, "of thinking her lines, not merely remembering them. The process of development from a romantic, silly girl to a hard, disillusioned woman in three hours was moving and convincing".[7] Kerr returned to the London stage 29 years later, in many productions including the old-fashioned, The Day After the Fair (Lyric, 1972), a Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov comedy, Overheard (Haymarket, 1981) and a revival of Emlyn Williams's The Corn is Green.[7] After her first London success in 1943, she toured England and Scotland in Heartbreak House. Near the end of the Second World War, she also toured Holland, France, and Belgium for ENSA
ENSA as "Mrs Manningham" in Angel Street, and Britain (with Stewart Granger) in Gaslight. Having established herself as a film actress in the meantime, she made her Broadway debut in 1953, appearing in Robert Anderson's Tea and Sympathy, for which she received a Tony Award
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. After her Broadway début in 1953, she toured the United States with Tea and Sympathy. In 1975, she returned to Broadway, creating the role of Nancy in Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Seascape. In 1977, she came back to the West End, playing the title role in a production of George Bernard Shaw's Candida. 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.[7]

Films[edit]

Kerr in Young Bess
Young Bess (1953)

Kerr in An Affair to Remember
An Affair to Remember (1957)

Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr in The Sundowners (1960)

Kerr's first film role was in the British production Contraband in 1940, but her scenes were edited out. With her next two British films— Major Barbara
Major Barbara and Love on the Dole (both 1941)—her screen future seemed assured and her performance, said James Agate of Love on the Dole, "is not within a mile of Wendy Hiller's in the theatre, but it is a charming piece of work by a very pretty and promising beginner, so pretty and so promising that there is the usual yapping about a new star".[7] She went on to make Hatter's Castle (1942), in which she starred opposite Robert Newton
Robert Newton and James Mason, and then played a Norwegian resistance fighter in The Day Will Dawn
The Day Will Dawn (1942). She was an immediate hit with the public: British exhibitors voted her the most popular local female star at the box office.[10] In 1943, she played three women in Michael Powell
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. During the filming, according to Powell's autobiography, Powell and she became lovers:[11] "I realised that Deborah was both the ideal and the flesh-and-blood woman whom I had been searching for".[11] Kerr made clear that her surname should be pronounced the same as "car". To avoid confusion over pronunciation, Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer of MGM
MGM billed her as "Kerr rhymes with Star!"[12] Although the British Army
British Army refused to co-operate with the producers—and Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill thought the film would ruin wartime morale—Colonel Blimp confounded critics when it proved to be an artistic and commercial success.[11] Powell hoped to reunite Kerr and lead actor Roger Livesey
Roger Livesey in his next film, A Canterbury Tale
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 were made.[11] Her role as a troubled nun in the Powell and Pressburger production of Black Narcissus
Black Narcissus in 1947 did indeed bring 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. British exhibitors voted her the eighth-most popular local star at the box office.[13] Soon she received the first of her Academy Award nominations for Edward, My Son, a 1949 drama set in England that co-starred Spencer Tracy. In Hollywood, Kerr's British accent and manner led to a succession of roles portraying refined, reserved, and "proper" English ladies. Kerr, nevertheless, used any opportunity to discard her cool exterior. She starred in the 1950 adventure film King Solomon's Mines, shot on location in Africa with Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. This was immediately followed by her appearance in the religious epic Quo Vadis? (1951), shot at Cinecittà
Cinecittà in Rome, in which she played the indomitable Lygia, a first-century Christian. She then played Princess Flavia in a remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1952). In 1953, Kerr "showed her theatrical mettle" as Portia in Joseph Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar.[7] She then departed from typecasting with a performance that brought out her sensuality, as "Karen Holmes", the embittered military wife in Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity
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 Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster and she romped illicitly and passionately amidst crashing waves on a Hawaiian beach. The organisation ranked it 20th in its list of the 100 most romantic films of all time.[citation needed]

With Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)

Thereafter, Kerr's career choices would make her known in Hollywood for her versatility as an actress.[12][14] She played the repressed wife in The End of the Affair (1955), with Van Johnson; a nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) opposite her long-time friend Robert Mitchum; a mama's girl in Separate Tables (1958) opposite David Niven; and a governess in both The Chalk Garden
The Chalk Garden (1964) and The Innocents (1961) where she plays a governess tormented by apparitions. She also portrayed an earthy Australian sheep-herder's wife in The Sundowners (1960) and appeared as lustful and beautiful screen enchantresses in both Beloved Infidel
Beloved Infidel (1959) and Bonjour Tristesse (1958). Among her most famous roles were Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens in the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I (1956); and opposite Cary Grant
Cary Grant as his shipboard romantic interest Terry McKay in the bittersweet love story An Affair to Remember
An Affair to Remember (1957). She reunited with Grant and Mitchum for a sophisticated comedy, The Grass Is Greener (1960), and then joined Dean Martin
Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra in a love triangle for a romantic comedy, Marriage on the Rocks (1965). In 1966, the producers of Carry On Screaming!
Carry On Screaming! offered her a fee comparable to that paid to the rest of the cast combined, but she turned it down in favor of appearing in an aborted stage version of Flowers for Algernon. In 1967, Kerr appeared in the comedy Casino Royale, achieving the distinction of being, at 46, the oldest "Bond Girl" in any James Bond film, until Monica Bellucci, at the age of 50, in Spectre (2015). In 1969, pressure of competition from younger, upcoming actresses made her agree to appear nude in John Frankenheimer's The Gypsy Moths, the only nude scene in her career. Concern about the parts being offered to her, as well as the increasing amount of nudity included in films, led her to abandon the medium at the end of the 1960s in favour of television and theatre work.[9] Television[edit] Kerr experienced a career resurgence on television in the early 1980s when she played the role of the nurse—played by Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester in the 1957 movie—in Witness for the Prosecution. Later, Kerr rejoined screen partner Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum in Reunion at Fairborough. She also took on the role of the older Emma Harte, a tycoon, in the adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance. For this performance, Kerr was nominated for an Emmy Award. Personal life[edit] Kerr's first marriage was to Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader Anthony Bartley RAF on 29 November 1945. They had two daughters, Melanie Jane (born 27 December 1947) and Francesca Ann (born 20 December 1951 and subsequently married to the actor John Shrapnel). The marriage was troubled, owing to Bartley's jealousy of his wife's fame and financial success,[9] and because her career often took her away from home. They divorced in 1959. Her second marriage was to author Peter Viertel on 23 July 1960. In marrying Viertel, she became stepmother to Viertel's daughter, Christine Viertel. 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. Her husband, however, continued to live in Marbella.[citation needed] Death[edit] Kerr died aged 86 on 16 October 2007 at Botesdale, a village in county of Suffolk, England, from the effects of Parkinson's disease.[15][16][17] Less than three weeks later on 4 November, her husband Peter Viertel died of cancer.[18] At the time of Viertel's death, director Michael Scheingraber was filming the documentary Peter Viertel: Between the Lines, which would include reminiscences concerning Kerr and the Academy Awards.[19] Kerr's body was buried in the graveyard of St. Mary's Church, Redgrave.[20] Honours[edit]

Deborah Kerr's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street

Kerr was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1998, but was unable to accept the honour in person because of ill health.[21] She was also honoured in Hollywood, where she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street for her contributions to the motion picture industry. Kerr won a Golden Globe Award
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 the first performer to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for "Best Actress" three times (1947, 1957 and 1960). Although she never won a BAFTA, Oscar or Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival award in a competitive category, all three organisations gave Kerr honorary awards: a Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival Tribute in 1984;[22] a BAFTA
BAFTA Special Award in 1991;[7] and an Academy Honorary Award in 1994.[1] In September and October 2010, Josephine Botting of the British Film Institute curated the " Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr Season", which included around twenty of her feature films and an exhibition of posters, memorabilia and personal items loaned by her family. Award nominations[edit] Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr was nominated six times for the Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress: Edward, My Son
Edward, My Son (1949), From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity (1953), The King and I (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958) and The Sundowners (1960). She received one Academy Honorary Award for her career in 1994. She was also nominated four times for the BAFTA
BAFTA Award for Best British Actress: The End of the Affair (1955), Tea and Sympathy (1956), The Sundowners (1961) and The Chalk Garden
The Chalk Garden (1964). She received one Emmy Award
Emmy Award nomination in 1985 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
Special for A Woman of Substance. She was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama for Edward, My Son
Edward, My Son (1949), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) and Separate Tables (1958). Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes

1940 Contraband Cigarette Girl (scenes deleted)

1941 Major Barbara Jenny Hill

Love on the Dole Sally Hardcastle

1942 Penn of Pennsylvania Gulielma Maria Springett

Hatter's Castle Mary Brodie

The Day Will Dawn Kari Alstad

A Battle for a Bottle Linda (voice) (animated short)

1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Edith Hunter Barbara Wynne Johnny Cannon

1945 Perfect Strangers Catherine Wilson

1946 I See a Dark Stranger Bridie Quilty New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (also for Black Narcissus)

1947 Black Narcissus Sister Clodagh New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (also for I See a Dark Stranger)

The Hucksters Kay Dorrance

If Winter Comes Nona Tybar

1949 Edward, My Son Evelyn Boult Nominated— Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated— Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

1950 Please Believe Me Alison Kirbe

King Solomon's Mines Elizabeth Curtis

1951 Quo Vadis Lygia

1952 Thunder in the East Joan Willoughby

The Prisoner of Zenda Princess Flavia

1953 Julius Caesar Portia

Young Bess Catherine Parr

Dream Wife Effie

From Here to Eternity Karen Holmes Nominated— Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress

1955 The End of the Affair Sarah Miles Nominated— BAFTA
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

1956 The Proud and Profane Lee Ashley

The King and I Anna Leonowens singing dubbed by Marni Nixon Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated— Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated— New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (2nd place, also for Tea and Sympathy)

Tea and Sympathy Laura Reynolds Nominated— BAFTA
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated— New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (2nd place, also for The King and I)

1957 Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison Sister Angela New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated— Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated— Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

An Affair to Remember Terry McKay

Kiss Them for Me Gwinneth Livingston Uncredited (dubbed voice of Suzy Parker
Suzy Parker in a few scenes)

1958 Bonjour Tristesse Anne Larson

Separate Tables Sibyl Railton-Bell David di Donatello
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress Nominated— Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated— Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated— Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance

1959 The Journey Diana Ashmore

Count Your Blessings Grace Allingham

Beloved Infidel Sheilah Graham

1960 The Sundowners Ida Carmody New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated— Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated— BAFTA
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated— Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance

The Grass Is Greener Lady Hilary Rhyall

1961 The Naked Edge Martha Radcliffe

The Innocents Miss Giddens

1964 On the Trail of the Iguana Herself UK promotional short

The Chalk Garden Miss Madrigal Nominated— BAFTA
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Night of the Iguana Hannah Jelkes Nominated— Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance

1965 Marriage on the Rocks Valerie Edwards

1966 Eye of the Devil Catherine de Montfaucon

1967 Casino Royale Agent Mimi (aka Lady Fiona McTarry)

1968 Prudence and the Pill Prudence Hardcastle

1969 The Gypsy Moths Elizabeth Brandon

The Arrangement Florence Anderson

1982 "BBC2 Playhouse" Carlotta Gray episode: A Song at Twilight

Witness for the Prosecution Nurse Plimsoll

1984 A Woman of Substance Emma Harte Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special

1985 The Assam Garden Helen Nominated— David di Donatello
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress

Reunion at Fairborough Sally Wells Grant

1986 Hold the Dream Emma Harte (final film role)

Radio appearances[edit]

Year Program Episode/Source

1944 A Date with Nurse Dugdale BBC Home Service, 19 May 1944. Kerr was the guest star in the penultimate episode of this short-lived comedy series.

1949 Hallmark Playhouse Anna and the King of Siam[23]

1952 Lux Radio Theatre King Solomon's Mines[24]

1952 Hallmark Playhouse The Pleasant Lea[25]

1952 Hollywood Sound Stage Michael and Mary[26]

1952 Suspense The Colonel's Lady[27]

1952 Hollywood Star Playhouse Companion Wanted[26]

References[edit]

^ a b "British actress Kerr dies at 86". BBC News. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2010.  ^ The Herald. " Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr profile". Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.  ^ Donald Fullarton. " Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr and Helensburgh". Retrieved 14 January 2011.  ^ Filmreference.com. " Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr biography (1921–2007)". Retrieved 29 October 2007.  ^ "'Road rage' killer's appeal win". BBC News. 30 March 2006.  ^ "Killer's term cut". Worcester News. 5 April 2006. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009.  ^ a b c d e f g h " Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr profile in". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 October 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.  ^ Sater, Richard (2000). " Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr profile". International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers. FindArticles.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007.  ^ a b c Braun, Eric. Deborah Kerr. St. Martin's Press, 1978. ISBN 0-312-18895-1. ^ "FILM NOTES". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 7 December 1945. p. 13. Retrieved 9 July 2012.  ^ a b c d Powell, Michael (1986). A Life in Movies. Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-59945-X.  ^ a b New York Times (19 October 2007). "Deborah Kerr, Actress Known for Genteel Grace and a Sexy Beach Kiss, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2007.  ^ 'Bing's Lucky Number: Pa Crosby Dons 4th B.O. Crown', The Washington Post (1923–1954) [Washington, D.C] 3 January 1948: 12. ^ "Deborah Kerr, versatile British actress, dies at 86." International Herald Tribune, 18 October 2007. Retrieved on 11 November 2007. ^ Clark, Mike. "Actress Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr dies at age 86". USA Today. 18 October 2007. ^ " From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity actress Kerr dies." Archived 30 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. CNN. 18 October 2007 ^ "Actress Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr has died". Detroit Free Press. 18 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2007.  ^ "Peter Viertel, writer and scriptwriter, passed away yesterday in Marbella
Marbella at 86 years." Archived 25 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine. La Tribuna de Marbella. (c/o — Erik E. Weems — translated and paraphrased from Spanish). 6 November 2007. Retrieved: 19 November 2007. ^ "Between The Lines A film by Michael Scheingraber". eeweems.com. Retrieved 10 May 2010.  ^ Grave entry for Deborah Kerr, Findagrave. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22285687 ^ Baxter, Brian (18 October 2007). "Deborah Kerr" (obituary). London: Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 10 May 2010.  ^ Festival International de Cannes. " Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival Tribute" (in French). Retrieved 24 November 2007.  ^ "Those Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. 41 (2): 32–41. Spring 2015.  ^ Kirby, Walter (November 30, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 48. Retrieved June 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  ^ Kirby, Walter (March 9, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved May 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  ^ a b Kirby, Walter (March 16, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 44. Retrieved May 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  ^ Kirby, Walter (March 30, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 46. Retrieved May 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. 

Works cited[edit]

Braun, Eric. Deborah Kerr. St. Martin's Press, 1978. ISBN 0-312-18895-1. Powell, Michael. A Life in Movies. Heinemann, 1986. ISBN 0-434-59945-X. Andrew, Penelope. "Deborah Kerr: An Actress in Search of an Author". Bright Lights Film Journal, May 2011, Issue #72. http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/72/72kerr_andrew.php, (c) Penelope Andrew, 2011.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deborah Kerr.

Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr at the Internet Broadway Database
Internet Broadway Database Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr on IMDb Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr at the TCM Movie Database Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr at the British Film Institute's Screenonline Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr "Rhymes with Star" tribute site Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr at Helensburgh
Helensburgh Heroes. The Enigma of Deborah Kerr, ephemera, media files and essay at cinemagraphe.com. "From Kerr To Eternity", 55th Sydney Film Festival Deborah Kerr retrospective (2008). Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr Rhymes With Star, and What a Star She Was: She Deserves to be Remembered, Too, Huffington Post, 7 April 2008. Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr tribute by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, whose script for his film Broken Embraces
Broken Embraces was influenced by his reflections on her at the time of her death. Extensive collection of press articles from the 1940s to 2000s, photo galleries and other information at deborahkerr.es (April 2009). Photographs and literature at virtual-history.com.

Awards for Deborah Kerr

v t e

Academy Honorary Award

1928–1950

Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. / Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin (1928) Walt Disney
Walt Disney (1932) Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple (1934) D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith (1935) The March of Time
The March of Time / W. Howard Greene and Harold Rosson (1936) Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen / W. Howard Greene / Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art Film Library / Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (1937) J. Arthur Ball / Walt Disney
Walt Disney / Deanna Durbin
Deanna Durbin and Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney / Gordon Jennings, Jan Domela, Devereaux Jennings, Irmin Roberts, Art Smith, Farciot Edouart, Loyal Griggs, Loren L. Ryder, Harry D. Mills, Louis Mesenkop, Walter Oberst / Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey / Harry Warner
Harry Warner (1938) Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks / Judy Garland
Judy Garland / William Cameron Menzies / Motion Picture Relief Fund (Jean Hersholt, Ralph Morgan, Ralph Block, Conrad Nagel)/ Technicolor Company (1939) Bob Hope
Bob Hope / Nathan Levinson (1940) Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins, and the RCA Manufacturing Company / Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski and his associates / Rey Scott / British Ministry of Information (1941) Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer / Noël Coward
Noël Coward / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1942) George Pal
George Pal (1943) Bob Hope
Bob Hope / Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien (1944) Republic Studio, Daniel J. Bloomberg, and the Republic Studio Sound Department / Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger / The House I Live In / Peggy Ann Garner (1945) Harold Russell
Harold Russell / Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier / Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch / Claude Jarman Jr. (1946) James Baskett
James Baskett / Thomas Armat, William Nicholas Selig, Albert E. Smith, and George Kirke Spoor
George Kirke Spoor / Bill and Coo / Shoeshine (1947) Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger / Monsieur Vincent
Monsieur Vincent / Sid Grauman
Sid Grauman / Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor (1948) Jean Hersholt
Jean Hersholt / Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire / Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille / The Bicycle Thief (1949) Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer / George Murphy
George Murphy / The Walls of Malapaga (1950)

1951–1975

Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly / Rashomon
Rashomon (1951) Merian C. Cooper
Merian C. Cooper / Bob Hope
Bob Hope / Harold Lloyd
Harold Lloyd / George Mitchell / Joseph M. Schenck / Forbidden Games
Forbidden Games (1952) 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation / Bell & Howell Company / Joseph Breen / Pete Smith (1953) Bausch & Lomb Optical Company / Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye / Kemp Niver / Greta Garbo / Jon Whiteley
Jon Whiteley / Vincent Winter / Gate of Hell (1954) Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1955) Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor (1956) Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers / Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson / Charles Brackett / B. B. Kahane (1957) Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier (1958) Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton / Lee de Forest
Lee de Forest (1959) Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper / Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel / Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills (1960) William L. Hendricks / Fred L. Metzler / Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (1961) William J. Tuttle
William J. Tuttle (1964) Bob Hope
Bob Hope (1965) Yakima Canutt
Yakima Canutt / Y. Frank Freeman
Y. Frank Freeman (1966) Arthur Freed (1967) John Chambers / Onna White (1968) Cary Grant
Cary Grant (1969) Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish / Orson Welles
Orson Welles (1970) Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin (1971) Charles S. Boren / Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson (1972) Henri Langlois
Henri Langlois / Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx (1973) Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks / Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (1974) Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford (1975)

1976–2000

Margaret Booth (1977) Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz / Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier / King Vidor
King Vidor / Museum of Modern Art Department of Film (1978) Hal Elias / Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness (1979) Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda (1980) Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (1981) Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (1982) Hal Roach
Hal Roach (1983) James Stewart
James Stewart / National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts (1984) Paul Newman
Paul Newman / Alex North (1985) Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy (1986) Eastman Kodak
Kodak Company / National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada (1988) Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa (1989) Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren / Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (1990) Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray (1991) Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1992) Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (1993) Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni (1994) Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas / Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones (1995) Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd (1996) Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen (1997) Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan (1998) Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda (1999) Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff / Ernest Lehman (2000)

2001–present

Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier / Robert Redford
Robert Redford (2001) Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole (2002) Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards (2003) Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet (2004) Robert Altman
Robert Altman (2005) Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone (2006) Robert F. Boyle (2007) Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall / Roger Corman
Roger Corman / Gordon Willis
Gordon Willis (2009) Kevin Brownlow / Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard / Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach (2010) James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones / Dick Smith (2011) D. A. Pennebaker
D. A. Pennebaker / Hal Needham
Hal Needham / George Stevens Jr.
George Stevens Jr. (2012) Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury / Steve Martin
Steve Martin / Piero Tosi (2013) Jean-Claude Carrière
Jean-Claude Carrière / Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki / Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara (2014) Spike Lee
Spike Lee / Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands (2015) Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan / Lynn Stalmaster / Anne V. Coates / Frederick Wiseman (2016) Charles Burnett / Owen Roizman / Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland / Agnès Varda (2017)

v t e

David di Donatello
David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress

Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1957) Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (1959) Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1960) Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot (1961) Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1962) Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page (1963) Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1964) Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1965) Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews (1966) Julie Christie
Julie Christie / Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor (1967) Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway / Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn (1968) Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow / Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand (1969) Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli (1970) Ali MacGraw
Ali MacGraw (1971) Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor (1972) Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli (1973) Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand / Tatum O'Neal
Tatum O'Neal (1974) Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (1975) Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani / Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson (1976) Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway / Annie Girardot
Annie Girardot (1977) Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda / Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret (1978) Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman / Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (1979) Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert (1980) Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve (1981) Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton (1982) Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews (1983) Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1984) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1985) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1986) Norma Aleandro
Norma Aleandro (1987) Cher
Cher (1988) Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster (1989) Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy (1990) Anne Parillaud
Anne Parillaud (1991) Geena Davis
Geena Davis / Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon (1992) Emmanuelle Béart
Emmanuelle Béart / Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton / Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson (1993) Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson (1994) Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster (1995) Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon (1996)

v t e

Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday (1950) June Allyson
June Allyson (1951) Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (1952) Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (1953) Judy Garland
Judy Garland (1954) Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons (1955) Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (1956) Kay Kendall
Kay Kendall / Taina Elg
Taina Elg (1957) Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell (1958) Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (1959) Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1960) Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell (1961) Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell (1962) Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1963) Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews (1964) Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews (1965) Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave (1966) Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft (1967) Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand (1968) Patty Duke
Patty Duke (1969) Carrie Snodgress (1970) Twiggy
Twiggy (1971) Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli (1972) Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson (1973) Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch (1974) Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret (1975) Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand (1976) Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton / Marsha Mason
Marsha Mason (1977) Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn / Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith (1978) Bette Midler
Bette Midler (1979) Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek (1980) Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters (1981) Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews (1982) Julie Walters
Julie Walters (1983) Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner (1984) Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner (1985) Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek (1986) Cher
Cher (1987) Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith (1988) Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy (1989) Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts (1990) Bette Midler
Bette Midler (1991) Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson (1992) Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett (1993) Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (1994) Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman (1995) Madonna (1996) Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt (1997) Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow (1998) Janet McTeer
Janet McTeer (1999) Renée Zellweger
Renée Zellweger (2000) Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman (2001) Renée Zellweger
Renée Zellweger (2002) Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton (2003) Annette Bening
Annette Bening (2004) Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon (2005) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (2006) Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard (2007) Sally Hawkins
Sally Hawkins (2008) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (2009) Annette Bening
Annette Bening (2010) Michelle Williams (2011) Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence (2012) Amy Adams
Amy Adams (2013) Amy Adams
Amy Adams (2014) Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence (2015) Emma Stone
Emma Stone (2016) Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan (2017)

v t e

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (1935) Luise Rainer
Luise Rainer (1936) Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (1937) Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Sullavan (1938) Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh (1939) Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn (1940) Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine (1941) Agnes Moorehead
Agnes Moorehead (1942) Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino (1943) Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead (1944) Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1945) Celia Johnson
Celia Johnson (1946) Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (1947) Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland (1948) Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland (1949) Bette Davis
Bette Davis (1950) Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh (1951) Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth (1952) Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1953) Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly (1954) Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani (1955) Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1956) Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (1957) Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (1958) Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1959) Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (1960) Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren (1961) No Award (1962) Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (1963) Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley (1964) Julie Christie
Julie Christie (1965) Elizabeth Taylor/ Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave (1966) Edith Evans
Edith Evans (1967) Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward (1968) Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1969) Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson (1970) Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1971) Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (1972) Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward (1973) Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (1974) Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani (1975) Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (1976) Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton (1977) Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1978) Sally Field
Sally Field (1979) Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek (1980) Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson (1981) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1982) Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1983) Peggy Ashcroft
Peggy Ashcroft (1984) Norma Aleandro
Norma Aleandro (1985) Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek (1986) Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter (1987) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1988) Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer (1989) Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward (1990) Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster (1991) Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson (1992) Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter (1993) Linda Fiorentino (1994) Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh (1995) Emily Watson
Emily Watson (1996) Julie Christie
Julie Christie (1997) Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz (1998) Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank (1999) Laura Linney
Laura Linney (2000) Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek (2001) Diane Lane
Diane Lane (2002) Hope Davis
Hope Davis (2003) Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton (2004) Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon (2005) Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren (2006) Julie Christie
Julie Christie (2007) Sally Hawkins
Sally Hawkins (2008) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (2009) Annette Bening
Annette Bening (2010) Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (2011) Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz (2012) Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett (2013) Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard (2014) Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan (2015) Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert (2016) Saoirse Ronan
Saoirse Ronan (2017)

Authority control

WorldCat Identities VIAF: 5191352 LCCN: n86143681 ISNI: 0000 0001 1588 5233 GND: 134823745 SUDOC: 052196615 BNF: cb14655642k (data) BIBSYS: 98056052 MusicBrainz: 2d37144d-24f7-4f44-9d5b-d0da45bf360a BNE: XX1053