The serene beauty and talent of Deborah Kerr graced the silver screen from classics to poor materials, never losing her composure and refinement. The pleasantly lovely Deborah Kerr (30th Septemb
er 1921 - 16th October 2007) was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland, the daughter of Captain Arthur Kerr-Trimmer, who had been gassed in World War I.
er 1921 - 16th October 2007) was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland, the daughter of Captain Arthur Kerr-Trimmer, who had been gassed in World War I. She was educated at Northumberland House, Clifton, Bristol. Deborah studied ballet while as a youngster but sw
itched her interest to acting and had her theatrical training at her aunt's drama school in Bristol. She first performed at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London. She subsequently performed with the Oxford Repertory Company 1939-40. Her first appearance on the West End stage was as Ellie Dunn in "Heartbreak House" at the Cambridge Theatre in 1943. She performed in France, Belgium and Holland with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association, or Every Night Something Awful) - The British Army entertainment service.
She first appeared in the movie "Contraband", but her role was cut from the final print, hence she made her official debut in George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara" in 1941, produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal, with whom she signed a long term contract. Other important assignments that follows are, as Robert Newton's daughter in "Hatter's
Castle" (1942) and portraying three different women in "The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp" (1943).
itched her interest to acting and had her theatrical training at her aunt's drama school in Bristol. She first performed at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London. She subsequently performed with the Oxford Repertory Company 1939-40. Her first appearance on the West End stage was as Ellie Dunn in "Heartbreak House" at the Cambridge Theatre in 1943. She performed in France, Belgium and Holland with ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association, or Every Night Something Awful) - The British Army entertainment service.
She first appeared in the movie "Contraband", but her role was cut from the final print, hence she made her official debut in George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara" in 1941, produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal, with whom she signed a long term contract. Other important assignments that follows are, as Robert Newton's daughter in "Hatter's
Castle" (1942) and portraying three different women in "The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp" (1943). She was promoted to leading lady in the wartime "Perfect Strangers" (1945) opposite Robert Donat. In US, the film was released under the title "Vacation From Marriage". That same year, she was seen as a British hating Irish girl in "I See A Dark Stranger"(1946) and released in US as "The Adventuress". The next year, she played a nun in the mystical drama "Black Narcissus".
When MGM bought her contract from Pascal, they put her in the role of a nice lady who
entices Clark Gable away from bad girl Ava Gardner in a witty look at the world of advertising, "The Hucksters" (1947). She was the married Walter Pidgeon's ex girlfriend in "If Winter Comes" (1947 - the delightful Angela Lansbury is the wife) and the comedy that did not make it, "Please Believe Me" (1950). In between these two, she was nominated for both an Oscar for Best Actress and Golden Globe for her role of a tolerating wife in Spencer Tracy's d
rama "Edward, My Son" (1949). This marked her first of six Oscar nominations in the leading female category without a win.
entices Clark Gable away from bad girl Ava Gardner in a witty look at the world of advertising, "The Hucksters" (1947). She was the married Walter Pidgeon's ex girlfriend in "If Winter Comes" (1947 - the delightful Angela Lansbury is the wife) and the comedy that did not make it, "Please Believe Me" (1950). In between these two, she was nominated for both an Oscar for Best Actress and Golden Globe for her role of a tolerating wife in Spencer Tracy's d
rama "Edward, My Son" (1949). This marked her first of six Oscar nominations in the leading female category without a win. Great fortune came pounding at her door when MGM cast her in two of the biggest blockbusters - the great outdoor a
dventure "King Solomon's Mines" (1950 with Stewart Granger) and biblical epic, "Quo Vadis" (1951 with Robert Taylor, where at one point she was tied to a p
ole to be attacked by a bull). There was also a colourful remake of "The Prisoner Of Zenda" (1952) where Kerr was given the role played by Madeleine Carroll in the earlier version. She was Catherine Parr in "Young Bess" (1953) andPortia in the prestigious "Julius Cesar". She then made a minor comedy that marked her first team
ing with Cary Grant, "Dream Wife" (1953).
In 1953, she got a chance to shatter her genteel image when she replaced Joan Crawfords the adulterous officer's wife in "From Here To Eternity". The picture won the Best Picture 
Oscar and Deborah Kerr won another nomination for playing the sexy, bored and flirtatious with bite and conviction. She also entered the realms of motion picture iconography when she and Burt Lancaster embraced and tumbled in the beach as the tide gushed about them, in one of the most unforgettable of all movie images.
Oscar and Deborah Kerr won another nomination for playing the sexy, bored and flirtatious with bite and conviction. She also entered the realms of motion picture iconography when she and Burt Lancaster embraced and tumbled in the beach as the tide gushed about them, in one of the most unforgettable of all movie images. She was in both Broadway and the movie for "Tea And Sympathy" (1956 both with John Kerr - no relation). There were two mediocre romantic war dramas 
- "The End Of 
The Affair (1955 with Van Johnson) and "The Proud And Profane" (1956 with William Holden). Kerr was the strong-willed, levelheaded English school teacher sent to Siam and who instills a conscience in Yul Brynner in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical - "The King And I" (1956). She was Oscar nominated again although her singing voice belongs to Marni Nixon (who later famously dubbed for Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady").
Oscar nomination number four came with the splendid role of a nun who must keep her reserve
while stranded in a remote island with soldier Robert Mitchum in "Heaven Knows,
Mr. Allison" (1957), sharing almost the entire screen time with only Mitchum. This was followed by her most famous movies, "An Affair To Remember" (1957) remake of the superior "Love Affair", meeting and falling in love with Cary Grant.
Kerr received her fifth Oscar nod, as a pathetically repressed spinster attracted to a phony major David Niven, in "Seperate Tables"(1958). She reteamed with Yul Brynner for "The Journey" (1959), notable in that she married one of its writers, Peter Viertel in 1960. Next came a flop with Gregory Peck as Sheilah Graham and F.Scott Fitzgerald respectively in "Beloved Infidel". She played a strong and loving Australian wife of sheep dover Robert Mitchum in "The Sun
downers" (1960) and won her final Oscar recognition.
Two "nothing special" movies - talky drawingroom comedy, "The Grass Is Greener" (1960 - with Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum and Jean Si
mmons) and a thriller "The Naked Edge (1961 - with Gary Cooper). Her next movie was a horror, as a governess driven to her brink by a pair of odd children "The Innocents". "The Chalk Garden"(1964), again as a governess was commendable. She had Ava Garder to contend with again for defrocked priest Richard Burton in "The Night Of The Iguana" (1964). After that, she had some bad luck with the marriage mixed up comedy, "Marriage On The Rocks" (1965) with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin; another horror "Eye Of The Devil" (1966), dicovering husband 
David Niven engaging in some rituals; "Casino Royale" (1967), doing some slapstickas a horny Scottish heiress and the comedy "Prudence And The Pill" (1968) again with Niven.
- "The End Of 
The Affair (1955 with Van Johnson) and "The Proud And Profane" (1956 with William Holden). Kerr was the strong-willed, levelheaded English school teacher sent to Siam and who instills a conscience in Yul Brynner in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical - "The King And I" (1956). She was Oscar nominated again although her singing voice belongs to Marni Nixon (who later famously dubbed for Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady").Oscar nomination number four came with the splendid role of a nun who must keep her reserve
while stranded in a remote island with soldier Robert Mitchum in "Heaven Knows,
Mr. Allison" (1957), sharing almost the entire screen time with only Mitchum. This was followed by her most famous movies, "An Affair To Remember" (1957) remake of the superior "Love Affair", meeting and falling in love with Cary Grant.
Kerr received her fifth Oscar nod, as a pathetically repressed spinster attracted to a phony major David Niven, in "Seperate Tables"(1958). She reteamed with Yul Brynner for "The Journey" (1959), notable in that she married one of its writers, Peter Viertel in 1960. Next came a flop with Gregory Peck as Sheilah Graham and F.Scott Fitzgerald respectively in "Beloved Infidel". She played a strong and loving Australian wife of sheep dover Robert Mitchum in "The Sun
downers" (1960) and won her final Oscar recognition.Two "nothing special" movies - talky drawingroom comedy, "The Grass Is Greener" (1960 - with Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum and Jean Si
mmons) and a thriller "The Naked Edge (1961 - with Gary Cooper). Her next movie was a horror, as a governess driven to her brink by a pair of odd children "The Innocents". "The Chalk Garden"(1964), again as a governess was commendable. She had Ava Garder to contend with again for defrocked priest Richard Burton in "The Night Of The Iguana" (1964). After that, she had some bad luck with the marriage mixed up comedy, "Marriage On The Rocks" (1965) with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin; another horror "Eye Of The Devil" (1966), dicovering husband 
David Niven engaging in some rituals; "Casino Royale" (1967), doing some slapstickas a horny Scottish heiress and the comedy "Prudence And The Pill" (1968) again with Niven. She bedded skydiver Burt Lancaster in "The Gypsy Moths" (1969) and stood by husband Kirk Douglas while he had a fling with a younger woman in "The Arrangement" (1969). What work she did accept after that was mostly for television - a remake of "Witness For The Prosecution" (1982) playing Nurse Plimsoll; TV miniseries "A Woman Of Substance" (1984); "Reunion At Fairborough" (1985), rekindling old flame with Robert Mitchum and "Hold That Dream" (1986), 
a follow up to "A Woman Of Substance". Her last movie was the drama "The Assam Garden" (1985).
a follow up to "A Woman Of Substance". Her last movie was the drama "The Assam Garden" (1985). Her last public appearance was in 1994 when she was awarded an honorary Oscar after six failed nominations over the years. On Oscar evening, Glenn Close presented a special tribute to her work, the Oscar audience watched clips of her films to music. Miss Kerr then appeared from behind the screen, obviously frail, in a blue pastel trouser suit and received a standing ovation from her peers. A life-long shy woman, Miss Kerr said, "I have never been so terrified in my life, but I feel better now because I know that I am among friends. Thank you for giving me a happy life." Following this, there was another standing ovation and Miss Kerr left the stage, which was to become
her last official goodbye to Holl
ywood.
her last official goodbye to Holl
ywood.
Deborah Kerr lived in Switzerland and Spain after retiring from acting, but returned to England to be with her family when her Parkinson's disease worsened and was a patron of the National Society of Clean Air and Enviromental Protection in Britain from 1992 until her death in 2007. Deborah Kerr, her husband Peter Viertel and her biographer Eric Braun all died within the space of five weeks in the fall of 2007. All were aged 86.
To Miss Deborah Kerr - we missed you!!!
(Scanned autographed photo - property of author)
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