Deborah Kerr Overview:

Legendary actress, Deborah Kerr, was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer on Sep 30, 1921 in Helensburgh, UK. Kerr died at the age of 86 on Oct 16, 2007 in Botesdale, Suffolk .

MINI BIO:

Lovely red-haired Scottish-born leading lady whose angular beauty got her cast in gentle, ladylike roles. A star of the British cinema in only her third film, she went to Hollywood in 1947, where her struggle to break the well-bred image was unsuccessful, despite her torrid love scenes in From Here to Eternity; the vivacious, fun-loving lady of real life remained a suppressed image for the screen, although she did make some extremely good films within that restriction between 1956 and 1961. Nominated six times for the best actress Oscar but never won; perhaps her unluckiest losing performance was in The Sundowners. Special Oscar, though, in 1994.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Although Kerr was nominated for six Oscars, she never won a competitive Academy Award. However she won one Honorary Oscar Award in 1993 in appreciation for a full career's worth of elegant and beautifully crafted performances .

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1949Best ActressEdward, My Son (1949)Evelyn BoultNominated
1953Best ActressFrom Here to Eternity (1953)Karen HolmesNominated
1956Best ActressThe King and I (1956)AnnaNominated
1957Best ActressHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)Sister AngelaNominated
1958Best ActressSeparate Tables (1958)Sibyl Railton-BellNominated
1960Best ActressThe Sundowners (1960)Ida CarmodyNominated

Academy Awards (Honorary Oscars)

YearAwardDescription
1993Honorary Awardin appreciation for a full career's worth of elegant and beautifully crafted performances

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She was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures. Deborah Kerr's handprints and footprints were 'set in stone' at Grauman's Chinese Theater during imprint ceremony #112 on Mar 22, 1956.

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10 Things You May Not Know About (1921 – 2007) is perhaps best remembered as portraying proper British ladies on the screen, but she had quite a range as an actress. She appeared in comedies, dramas, and musicals with ease. 1. Kerr first trained to be a ballet d... Read full article


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Deborah Kerr Quotes:

[Bridie's thoughts as she sizes up her compartment-mate on a train.]
Bridie Quilty: His hair is going grey, but it looks very nice the way he has it brushed. He's a faraway look in his eyes... a poet maybe. No, he's much too clean. And he puts his trousers under the mattress like Terence Delaney. Hasn't he the lovely nails? He's a gentleman, I think. I don't like being alone with a strange man at this time of night. He doesn't look that sort of man, of course, but how can you tell? Mr. McGee didn't look that sort of man, and Mr. Clogherty... was a terrible shock to me. Hmm, he's a traveller from abroad. Miller, Miller, that can't be an Irish name... he's English! Of all of the compartments of this train, I have to get into one with an Englishman. Why, I might have known it! Will you look at him, will you look at the cruel set of his jaw! You could mistake him for Cromwell!


Mother Dorothea: [the Reverend Mother and Sister Clodagh survey the sisters of the Order, determining who will go to Mopu] Remember, a community is not a class of girls. The sisters won't be easy to manage or to impress. Now, let me see. I'll give you Sister Briony. You'll need her strength.
Sister Clodagh: Thank you, Reverend Mother.
Mother Dorothea: Sister Philippa for the garden... Sister Blanche.
Sister Clodagh: Sister Blanche?
Mother Dorothea: You know what the other girls call her?
Sister Clodagh: Sister Honey.
Mother Dorothea: Yes, Honey. I think you'll need Sister Honey. She's popular. And you'll need to be popular... And Sister Ruth.
Sister Clodagh: [Surprised] But Sister Ruth is ill.
Mother Dorothea: That is why I want her to go.
Sister Clodagh: Forgive me for saying so, Reverend Mother, but do you think our vocation is her vocation?
Mother Dorothea: [Nodding knowingly] Yes, she's a problem. I'm afraid she'll be a problem for you, too. With a smaller community, she may be better. Give her responsibility, Sister. She badly wants importance.
Sister Clodagh: Do you think it's a good thing to let her feel important?
Mother Dorothea: Spare her some of your own importance... if you can.
Sister Clodagh: Mother, are you sorry that I have been appointed to take charge of St. Faith?
Mother Dorothea: Yes. I don't think you're ready for it, and I think you'll be lonely. Never forget: we're an order of workers. Work them hard. And remember... the superior of all is the servant of all.
Sister Clodagh: I understand.


King: You are very difficult woman!
Anna: Perhaps so, Your Majesty.


read more quotes from Deborah Kerr...



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Deborah Kerr Facts
Is one of four Scottish actors to have received an Academy Award nomination. The others in chronological order are Mary Ure, Tom Conti and Sean Connery. As of 2011 Sean Connery is the only one to have won an Academy Award (for his performance in The Untouchables (1987)).

Her last public appearance was in 1994 when she was awarded an honorary Oscar after six failed nominations over the years. Miss Kerr, along with Thelma Ritter, is one of the few actresses to have received six nominations and not to have won an Oscar. 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 Hollywood.

Born to Arthur Charles Kerr-Trimmer, a World War I veteran pilot who became a naval architect and civil engineer, and his wife Kathleen Rose Smale, she was originally trained to be a ballet dancer.

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