Deborah Kerr Biography (British actress) 1921–2007

Full Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer. British actress (born Sept. 30, 1921, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scot.—died Oct. 16, 2007, Suffolk, Eng.) was known for the poise and serenity she exhibited in portraying complex characters. Kerr trained as a ballet dancer but discovered an interest in acting. In 1941 she made her British film debut in a supporting role as a Salvation Army volunteer in the film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara. She developed her acting skills enough to be hired as a leading lady and portrayed the major role of Sister Clodagh in Black Narcissus (1947), for which she won her first New York Film Critics' Circle Award (her subsequent awards were for Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison [1957] and The Sundowners [1960]). Black Narcissus became an international hit and led to an MGM contract and the opportunity to play opposite Clark Gable in The Hucksters later that year. After 1947 Kerr established herself in Hollywood, typecast by MGM—in what Kerr referred to as “tiara roles”—as a well-bred young British matron. Kerr (on loan from MGM) was cast against type in the role of a lusty adulterous army wife in From Here to Eternity (1953). The scene from that film of Kerr and her costar Burt Lancaster making love on the beach as waves crash against them became a classic Hollywood image. Also in 1953, Kerr made an acclaimed debut on Broadway in Tea and Sympathy, and she reprised her role in the 1956 film adaptation. While she continued to play prim-and-proper, cultured, or virtuous women, such as the governess Anna in the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's hit musical The King and I (1956) and a spirited unmarried artist in Tennessee Williams's Night of the Iguana (1964), she demonstrated her versatility with such passionate portrayals as her romantic role in the tearjerker An Affair to Remember (1957). Kerr announced her retirement in 1969, though she continued to take occasional roles. She received six Academy Award nominations for best actress and was awarded an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 1994. She was created CBE in 1997.