Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Deanna Durbin

Actress/singer

Born - 4 December 1921, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died - 20 April 2013

Auburn-haired soprano of fresh, infectious appeal, a child prodigy (born Edna Mae Durbin), but dropped by MGM after a debut alongside Judy Garland in the musical short Every Sunday (1936) - in which the MC can clearly be heard calling her Edna although she was already being billed as Deanna. Universal swooped and signed her up and she proved an absolute goldmine, restoring the studio's fortunes in a series of films starring her as do-gooders of puppydog charm who triumphed over the odds, winning everyone's hearts along the way. Her freshness began to fade with the war years but, in her prime, she was adorable in Three Smart Girls (1936), One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), That Certain Age (1938), Mad About Music (1938), Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), It's a Date (1940), It Started with Eve (1941) and His Butler's Sister (1943). Her last film was For the Love of Mary in 1948. She married French director Charles David (her third husband) in 1950, and retired to live in France, where she died from natural causes.