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: XX1053011 SN