Deborah Kerr

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Birthday:

30 September 1921, Helensburgh, Scotland, UK

Birth Name:

Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer

Height:

168 cm

Deborah Kerr was born on 30 September 1921 in Helensburgh, Scotland, the daughter of Captain Arthur Kerr-Trimmer. She was educated at Northumberland House, Clifton, 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 has appeared in many films from her first appearance in Major Barbara (1941). Show less «

All the most successful people these days seem to be neurotic. Perhaps we should stop being sorry for them and start being sorry for me - fo...Show more »

All the most successful people these days seem to be neurotic. Perhaps we should stop being sorry for them and start being sorry for me - for being so confounded normal. Show less «

I came over here [Hollywood] to act, but it turned out all I had to do was to be high-minded, long suffering, white-gloved and decorative.

I am really rather like a beautiful Jersey cow, I have the same pathetic droop to the corners of my eyes.

[speaking in 1969] When I was under contract to MGM, with people like poor Robert Taylor and so many others, the cinema's job was solely ent...Show more »

[speaking in 1969] When I was under contract to MGM, with people like poor Robert Taylor and so many others, the cinema's job was solely entertainment. It filled a public need then. Now the cinema serves so many other purposes; it functions as psychiatrist, politician, message-maker, money maker and, incidentally, entertainer. But it's no good regretting that things are different. Times have to change. Show less «

When you're young, you just go banging about, but you're more sensitive as you grow older. You have higher standards of what's really good; ...Show more »

When you're young, you just go banging about, but you're more sensitive as you grow older. You have higher standards of what's really good; you're fearful that you wont live up to what's expected of you. Show less «

[on John Wayne] He's a warm, kind-hearted, loving, generous, intellectual genius.

[on Alan Ladd] He was awfully good in putting across what he had, in looks and in manner; he had something very attractive -- a definite fil...Show more »

[on Alan Ladd] He was awfully good in putting across what he had, in looks and in manner; he had something very attractive -- a definite film personality which he had worked very hard to perfect. Show less «

I'm almost hysterical at the thought of making people cry with joy 30-odd years after [Cary Grant] and I did our stuff. I've certainly shed ...Show more »

I'm almost hysterical at the thought of making people cry with joy 30-odd years after [Cary Grant] and I did our stuff. I've certainly shed tears at An Affair to Remember (1957), even though I know all the tricks of movie magic that went into it. Believe me, Cary and I knew how to kiss. When we did a love scene, we may not have been trying to swallow each other but, for those brief moments, we just loved each other. Show less «

I was mad about ballet, but I grew too tall, and when I eventually realized I'd never become the second Margot Fonteyn, I auditioned for a p...Show more »

I was mad about ballet, but I grew too tall, and when I eventually realized I'd never become the second Margot Fonteyn, I auditioned for a play instead and got the part. Show less «

[about her famous romantic beach scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)] It had to have rocks in the distance, so the wat...Show more »

[about her famous romantic beach scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity (1953)] It had to have rocks in the distance, so the water could strike the boulders and shoot upward -- all very symbolic. The scene turned out to be deeply affecting on film, but, God, it was no fun to shoot. We had to time it for the waves, so that at just the right moment a big one would come up and wash over us. Most of the waves came up only to our feet, but we needed one that would come up all the way. We were like surfers, waiting for the perfect waves. Between each take, we had to do a total cleanup. When it was all over, we had four tons of grit in our mouths--and other places. Show less «

[about her work in From Here to Eternity (1953)] I don't think anyone knew I could act until I put on a bathing suit.

[on Elia Kazan] As you know, people will give their right arm, literally, and most of their blood to work with him. He's got a kind of incre...Show more »

[on Elia Kazan] As you know, people will give their right arm, literally, and most of their blood to work with him. He's got a kind of incredible instinct with people. He's so in sympathy with all the fears and frights of actors, through having done it himself. And he's got a personal magic that gets within your very being. Show less «

I'd rather drop dead in my tracks one day than end up in a wheelchair in some nursing home watching interminable replays of The King and I (...Show more »

I'd rather drop dead in my tracks one day than end up in a wheelchair in some nursing home watching interminable replays of The King and I (1956). Show less «

[after completing her first Hollywood film, "The Hucksters"] I always wondered what it would be like. You come 6,000 miles and then, suddenl...Show more »

[after completing her first Hollywood film, "The Hucksters"] I always wondered what it would be like. You come 6,000 miles and then, suddenly, you've done it. It's like having a tooth out. Show less «

[on why she keeps returning to the stage] It depend on what one wants from life. If you want to make lots of money, you keep making films. B...Show more »

[on why she keeps returning to the stage] It depend on what one wants from life. If you want to make lots of money, you keep making films. But if you want to exercise your talent, you look for the challenge of the stage where you are completely exposed, with no technicians, clever cameramen, or film editors to help you. Show less «

[on her marriage] We are in perfect balance. Peter is very compulsive about sports and I couldn't care less. It's his fantastic humor that I...Show more »

[on her marriage] We are in perfect balance. Peter is very compulsive about sports and I couldn't care less. It's his fantastic humor that I love most. Show less «

[on the lack of good roles for women and of good films in general] It's all economics now. With movies it's always been a tricky business co...Show more »

[on the lack of good roles for women and of good films in general] It's all economics now. With movies it's always been a tricky business combining art and finances, but when they spend 30 million dollars on ONE movie, the mind boggles. It's just absolutely ridiculous! Alost everyone seems to desire more real, more decent, more believable movies. That's why most people watch old movies on television. At the moment the sure-fire things are disaster, pornography, and violence; I suppose men fit into those categories better than women. Show less «

[on Robert Mitchum] I admire Mitchum very much for the simple reason that he happens to be a super actor and contrary to public opinion, he ...Show more »

[on Robert Mitchum] I admire Mitchum very much for the simple reason that he happens to be a super actor and contrary to public opinion, he is the most amazingly sensitive and poetic man. Show less «