Deborah Kerr

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September 30, 1921

16 October 2007 (aged 86) in Botesdale, Suffolk, England from the effects of Parkinson's disease

Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer

Anthony Bartley (1945–59) (divorced) 2 children

Peter Viertel (1960–2007) (her death)

Actress

1986 Hold the Dream (TV movie)

1985 The Assam Garden

1985 Reunion at Fairborough (TV movie)

1985 A Woman of Substance (TV mini-series)

1982 Hallmark Hall of Fame (TV series)

1982 BBC2 Playhouse (TV series)

1969 The Arrangement

1969 The Gypsy Moths

1968 Prudence and the Pill

1967 Casino Royale

1966 Eye of the Devil

1965 Marriage on the Rocks

1964 The Night of the Iguana

1964 The Chalk Garden

1963 ITV Play of the Week (TV series)

1961 The Innocents

1961 The Naked Edge

1960 The Grass Is Greener

1960 The Sundowners

1959 Beloved Infidel

1959 Count Your Blessings

1959 The Journey

1958 Separate Tables

1958 Bonjour tristesse

1957 Kiss Them for Me (voice) (uncredited)

1957 An Affair to Remember

1957 Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

1956 Tea and Sympathy

1956 The King and I

1956 The Proud and Profane

1955 The End of the Affair

1953 From Here to Eternity

1953 Dream Wife

1953 Julius Caesar

1953 Young Bess

1952 Thunder in the East

1952 The Prisoner of Zenda

1951 Quo Vadis

1950 King Solomon's Mines

1950 Please Believe Me

1949 Edward, My Son

1947 If Winter Comes

1947 The Hucksters

1947 Black Narcissus

1946 I See a Dark Stranger

1945 Perfect Strangers

1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

1942 The Day Will Dawn

1942 A Battle for a Bottle (short) (voice) (uncredited)

1942 Hatter's Castle

1942 Penn of Pennsylvania

1941 Love on the Dole

1941 Major Barbara

1940 Contraband (scenes deleted)

Appearances

2006 Greatest Movie Love Scenes (TV documentary)

2001 Backstory (TV series documentary)

1994 The 66th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

1991 Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (documentary)

1990 The European Film Awards (TV movie)

1988 Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man (TV documentary)

1982 Night of 100 Stars (TV special)

1978 Good Morning America (TV series)

1975 Dinah! (TV series)

1971-1975 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV series)

1971-1972 The David Frost Show (TV series)

1972 The 26th Annual Tony Awards (TV special)

1971 V.I.P.-Schaukel (TV series documentary)

1970-1971 The Dick Cavett Show (TV series)

1969 The Sky Divers (documentary short)

1965 The 37th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

1964 On the Trail of the Iguana (documentary short)

1958 The Steve Allen Show (TV series)

1957 The 29th Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

1956 The Ed Sullivan Show (TV series)

1954 Person to Person (TV series documentary)

1953-1954 What's My Line? (TV series)

Academy Awards

1994 Won Honorary Award An artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance.

1961 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role
for: The Sundowners (1960).

1959 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role
for: Separate Tables (1958).

1958 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role
for: Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957).

1957 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role
for: The King and I (1956).

1954 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role
for: From Here to Eternity (1953).

1950 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role
for: Edward, My Son (1949).

BAFTA Awards

1991 Won Special Award

1965 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best British Actress
for: The Chalk Garden (1964).

1962 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best British Actress
for: The Sundowners (1960).

1958 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best British Actress
for: Tea and Sympathy (1956).

1956 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best British Actress
for: The End of the Affair (1955).

Cannes Film Festival

1984 Won Festival Trophy For her body of work.

David di Donatello Awards

1987 Nominated David Best Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniera) for: The Assam Garden (1985).

1959 Won David Best Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniera) for: Separate Tables (1958).

Emmy Awards

1985 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for: "A Woman of Substance" (1984).

Golden Apple Awards

1956 Won Golden Apple Most Cooperative Actress

Golden Globes

1959 Won Henrietta Award World Film Favorite - Female

1959 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama for: Separate Tables (1958).

1958 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama for: Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957).

1957 Won Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actress - Comedy/Musical for: The King and I (1956).

1950 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actress for: Edward, My Son (1949).

Laurel Awards

1965 Nominated Golden Laurel Dramatic Performance, Female for: The Night of the Iguana (1964). 5th place.

1965 Nominated Golden Laurel Female Star 10th place.

1964 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Female Star 12th place.

1961 Nominated Golden Laurel Female Dramatic Performance for: The Sundowners (1960). 5th place.

1961 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Female Star 11th place.

1960 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Female Star 11th place.

1959 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Female Dramatic Performance for: Separate Tables (1958). 5th place.

1959 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Female Star 11th place.

1958 Nominated Golden Laurel Top Female Star
8th place.

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

1960 Won NYFCC Award Best Actress for: The Sundowners (1960).

1957 Won NYFCC Award Best Actress for: Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957).

1947 Won NYFCC Award Best Actress for: Black Narcissus (1947) and I See a Dark Stranger (1946).

Photoplay Awards

1957 Won Most Popular Female Star

Walk of Fame

1960 Won Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture
On 8 February 1960. At 1709 Vine Street.

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Deborah Kerr was the daughter of a soldier, Captain Arthur Kerr-Trimmer. She enjoyed acting from a young age, but trained first in ballet. Soon realizing that she was too tall to be a professional ballerina, Kerr made her stage debut in her teens. Her first appearance on London's West End stage was as Ellie Dunn in Heartbreak House in 1943. During World War II she performed in France, Belgium, and Holland with the British army's entertainment service, the Entertainments National Service Association (dubbed "Every Night Something Awful").

She made her screen debut in Michael Powell's Contraband (1940). After supporting roles in Major Barbara (1941) and Love on the Dole (1941), she reunited with Powell to play three incarnations of the love interest in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943). Ravishing in Technicolor, she worked surprisingly little in the next few years: as the spirited Irish girl who offers to fight the English for Hitler in I See a Dark Stranger (1946), and as the lead nun in Powell's Black Narcissus (1947).

In Hollywood, Kerr became a prim presence in such movies as King Solomon's Mines (1950) and Julius Caesar (1953). Tiring of propriety, she went blonde and tramplike in the adulterous surf clinch with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953). A run of significant leads followed in The King and I (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), and The Night of the Iguana (1964). After a funny Scots cameo in Casino Royale (1967) and performances in such late 1960s oddities as Eye of the Devil (1967), she retired, returning only briefly for a few movies including The Assam Garden (1985). Kerr received an Academy Award in 1993 for Lifetime Achievement. She is the only actress to have had six nominations for Best Actress, and not to have won an Oscar.

"I am...like a beautiful Jersey cow; I have the same pathetic droop to the corners of my eyes."

When she was a young girl, she had a strict "Victorian" grandmother who made her lie on her back, on the floor, for long periods of time, in order to "straighten her back" and ensure good posture.

Salary

The Night of the Iguana (1964) $250,000

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) £ 5,000