Who is Deborah Kerr

Deborah Kerr at a Glance 

Early life
She was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland, by the Firth of Clyde, and 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.

Career


Films
Her debut in the British film Contraband in 1940; her scenes were left on the cutting room floor. She followed that with a series of other films, including Hatter's Castle (1942), in which she starred opposite Robert Newton and James Mason. The following year, she played the triple role of the hero's loves in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. It was her role as a troubled nun in Black Narcissus in 1947 which brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers.

Kerr played Karen in 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 she and Burt Lancaster make love on a Hawaii beach amidst the crashing waves. The organization named it one of "AFI's top 100 Most Romantic Films" of all time.

From then on Kerr's career choices afforded her one of the most versatile screen personas in Hollywood, ranging from nuns (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison) and mama's girls (Separate Tables) to an earthy sheepherder's wife (The Sundowners) to lustful and beautiful screen enchantresses (Beloved Infidel, Bonjour tristesse) and comedy (The Grass is Greener).

Her roles include Anna Leonowens in the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I and opposite Cary Grant in An Affair to Remember.

In 1967, at the age of 46, she achieved the distinction of appearing as a Bond Girl in Casino Royale.

Deborah Kerr in Julius Caesar. (1953)In 1969, pressure of competition from younger, upcoming actresses persuaded her to appear nude in John Frankenheimer's The Gypsy Moths. This would be the only nude scene in Kerr's career.

She abandoned film work in the late 1960s in favour of television and theatre work.

Theatre
As a stage actress, Deborah Kerr made her Broadway debut in 1953 in Robert Anderson's Tea and Sympathy, for which she received a 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. In 1975, she returned to Broadway, originating the role of Nancy in Edward Albee's Pulitzer-winning play Seascape.

Television
She experienced a career resurgence in the early 1980s on television, when she played the role originally played by Elsa Lanchester, in Witness for The Prosecution. Later, Kerr re-teamed with multiple screen partner Robert Mitchum in Reunion at Fairborough. This period also saw Kerr take on the role as the older version of the female tycoon, Emma Harte, in the adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance. For this performance, Kerr was nominated for an Emmy award.

Death
Passed way at the age of 86 from Parkinson's disease.

Date of Birth: 09/30/1921
Date of Death: 10/16/2007