Deborah, who died at home in Suffolk of Parkinson's disease, was born in Helensburgh, near Glasgow, an engineer's daughter. She also made her Broadway debut in 1953 in a lead role in Tea and Sympathy. She appeared in the films Julius Caesar and From Here to Eternity in 1953. Scottish film and television actress (1921-2007) - Deborah Kerr was born in Helensburgh (town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK) on September 30th, 1921 and died in Suffolk (county of England) on October 16th, 2007 at the age of 86. In 1975, she returned to Broadway, creating the role of Nancy in Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Seascape. Both flopped, as did Beloved Infidel (1959) with Gregory Peck. In 1994, Glenn Close presented Kerr with the Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement 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".[34]. There is a problem with your email/password. Deborah wrote: "We were sitting on top of a hill overlooking the Clyde, filming a scene. After moving south with her parents when she was just a few years old, Kerr was educated in Bristol and. But despite her illustrious future, her childhood was not a walk in the park. She won the Golden Globe Award and her third Academy Award nomination for the film The King and I in 1956. Her parents first met in Lydney early in 1914 and in due course became engaged, but were parted by the First World War. During her international film career, Kerr won a Golden Globe Award for her performance as Anna Leonowens in the musical film The King and I (1956). Deborah wrote: "We were sitting on top of a hill overlooking the Clyde, filming a scene. She also performed with the Oxford Repertory Company. Deborah Jane Trimmer was born on 30 September 1921 in Hillhead, Glasgow, the only daughter of Kathleen Rose (ne Smale) and Capt. Full Real Name. Kerr performed the same role in Vincente Minnelli's film adaptation released in 1956; her stage partner John Kerr (no relation) also appeared. Actress. In 1998 she was awarded the CBE, but speaking from her home in Switzerland said that she felt too frail to travel to London to receive it personally. Deborah Jane Trimmer was born on 30 September 1921 in Hillhead, Glasgow, the only daughter of Kathleen Rose (ne Smale) and Capt. Other TV roles included Ann and Debbie (1986) and Hold the Dream (1986), the latter a sequel to A Woman of Substance. Discovering an interest in acting, Kerr began playing bit parts in various Shakespeare productions. In between Paramount borrowed her to appear in Thunder in the East (1951) with Alan Ladd. Although she long resided in Klosters, Switzerland, and Marbella, Spain, Kerr moved back to Britain to be closer to her own children as her health began to deteriorate. She received six Academy Award nominations for best actress and was awarded an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 1993. British exhibitors voted her the eighth-most popular local star at the box-office in 1947. Deborah Kerr was born on 30 September 1921 in Glasgow, Scotland. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. 1959) Peter Viertel (m. 1960) Children 2 Melanie and Francesca. Kerr 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 (1953), for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. In marrying Viertel, she became stepmother to Viertel's daughter, Christine Viertel. Also Known As Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer Birth Place Helensburgh, Scotland Born September 30, 1921 Died October 16, 2007 Cause of Death Parkinson's Disease Biography Read More Known as "The English Rose," lovely, red-haired Deborah Kerr - "It Rhymes with Star!" She had the lead in a comedy Please Believe Me (1950). [4] It's an unbelievable terror, a kind of masochistic madness. She participated in some films considered great cinema classics, among . She joined Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra in a love triangle for a romantic comedy, Marriage on the Rocks (1965). [8], She was the female lead in Penn of Pennsylvania (1941) which was little seen; however Hatter's Castle (1942), in which she starred with Robert Newton and James Mason, was very successful. In 1964 she acted in Tennessee Williams The Night of The Iguana and also starred in The Chalk Garden. In a trembling voice at what would be her last public appearance, she said to the assembled: "Thank you for giving me a happy life.". Kerr was reunited with Mitchum in The Sundowners (1960) shot in Australia, then The Grass Is Greener (1960), co-starring Cary Grant. Kerr appeared in two huge hits for MGM in a row. In 1955, Kerr won the Sarah Siddons Award for her performance in Chicago during a national tour of the play. Not even the promise of another coin when they got home could stem the tears. She acted on London stage in The Corn Is Green in 1985. Her other films include The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), From Here to Eternity (1953), Tea and Sympathy (1956), An Affair to Remember (1957), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958), The Sundowners (1960), The Innocents (1961), The Grass is Greener (1960), and The Night of the Iguana (1964). She made her TV screen debut for CBS with Witness for the Prosecution in 1982. In Hollywood, Kerr's British accent and manner led to a succession of roles portraying refined, reserved, and "proper" English ladies. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time winner of the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. She married a war hero Anthony Bartley in 1945 but divorced him in 1959. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In 45 films, in as many years, she seldom, if . Botesdale, Mid Suffolk District, Suffolk, England. [25], Within three weeks of her death, her husband Peter Viertel died of cancer on 4 November. However in December 2011 a former burgh man, Andrew Rook (69), who lives in Bedfordshire, contacted the Trust to say that she had in fact come back twice. Today Deborah Kerr would be 100 years old. Deborah Jane Trimmer was born on 30 September 1921 in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Captain Arthur Kerr Trimmer. Also in 1953 Kerr made an acclaimed debut on Broadway in Tea and Sympathy with her sensitive portrayal of a schoolteachers wife who has an affair with a young student insecure about his sexuality. Her professional experience included working in education and as a superintendent. "[13] Although the British Army refused to co-operate with the producersand Winston Churchill thought the film would ruin wartime moraleColonel Blimp confounded critics when it proved to be an artistic and commercial success. Kerr was educated at the independent Northumberland House School, Henleaze in Bristol, and at Rossholme School, Weston-super-Mare. So too was the spy comedy drama I See a Dark Stranger (1946), in which she gave a breezy, amusing performance that dominated the action and overshadowed her co-star Trevor Howard. She made The Arrangement (1969) with Elia Kazan, her director from the stage production of Tea and Sympathy. Kerr. Browse 472 deborah kerr actress stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Kerr became known in Britain playing the lead role in the film of Love on the Dole (1941). Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Her husband, however, continued to live in Marbella. She returned to the cinema one more time in 1985's The Assam Garden. The process of development from a romantic, silly girl to a hard, disillusioned woman in three hours was moving and convincing". The organisation ranked it 20th in its list of the 100 most romantic films of all time.[17]. . . . In 1959 she portrayed writer Sheilah Graham in the film Beloved Infidel. In An Affair to Remember, an improbably effective romance that is the basis for Sleepless in Seattle, she convinced the world that the Empire State Building was the closest place New York had to heaven. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. She won her Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1948 for Edward, My Son. Thereafter, Kerr's career choices would make her known in Hollywood for her versatility as an actress. Honorary Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1994), Golden Globe Award (1959): World Film Favorites, Golden Globe Award (1957): Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Deborah-Kerr, Deborah Kerr - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). In September and October 2010, Josephine Botting of the British Film Institute curated the "Deborah Kerr Season", which included around twenty of her feature films and an exhibition of posters, memorabilia and personal items loaned by her family. WASHINGTON - Deborah Kerr, 86, a Scottish-born actress who set the standard for white-gloved elegance in such 1950s films as "The King and I . 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. Age (2022) Update Soon. Kerr appeared in two huge hits for MGM in a row. Film, TV, Theatre - Actors and Originators, Sir John Gielgud - "the best Hamlet of our time", Jason Statham - Fast and Furious For Sure, Peter Ustinov - "He could make anyone laugh. GREAT NEWS! A victim of Parkinsons disease, Deborah Kerr CBE died peacefully at Botesdale, Suffolk, on Tuesday October 16 2007, a couple of weeks after her 86th birthday. She adopted the name Deborah Kerr on becoming a film actress ("Kerr" was a family name going back to the maternal grandmother of her grandfather Arthur Kerr Trimmer). Within three weeks after her death, her husband Peter Viertel died of cancer on 4 November. She reprised her role in the 1956 film adaptation. She also did A Song at Twilight (1982). There is no independent corroboration of either actor's claims. During her career, she won a Golden Globe for her performance as Anna Leonowens in the motion picture The King and I (1956) and the Sarah Siddons Award for her performance as Laura Reynolds in the . He bought a small timber haulage firm in Alford, a rural parish on the borders of Surrey and Sussex, near Cranleigh. Less than three weeks . She was the superintendent for Brown . She received the first of her Oscar nominations for Edward, My Son (1949), a drama set and filmed in England co-starring Spencer Tracy. and whose actions, in addition to their achievements, embody the [18], Stewart Granger claimed in his autobiography that in 1945 she had approached him romantically in the back of his chauffeur-driven car at the time he was making Caesar and Cleopatra. Not long after marrying former RAF squadron leader Anthony Bartley in 1945, Miss Kerr was imported to MGM Studios, where mogul Louis B. Mayer molded her in the Jeanette MacDonald/Greer Garson form of great lady. The theatre would become her first love, despite her enormous movie success, and she returned to it time and again. Kerr made her British TV debut in "Three Roads to Rome" (1963). , died Tuesday in Suffolk, England. Deborah Kerr, original name Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer, (born September 30, 1921, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scotlanddied October 16, 2007, Suffolk, England), British film and stage actress known for the poise and serenity she exhibited in portraying complex characters. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. 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