Deanna Durbin, Plucky Movie Star of the Depression Era, Is Dead at 91

[joeybee12]

Deanna Durbin, who as a plucky child movie star with a sweet soprano voice charmed American audiences during the Depression and saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy before she vanished from public view 64 years ago, has died, a fan club announced on Tuesday. She was 91.

In a newsletter, the Deanna Durbin Society said Ms. Durbin died “a few days ago,” quoting her son, Peter H. David, who thanked her admirers for respecting her privacy. No other details were given.

Ms. Durbin had remained determinedly out of public view since 1949, when she retired to a village in France with her third husband.

From 1936 to 1942, Ms. Durbin was everyone’s intrepid kid sister or spunky daughter, a wholesome, radiant, can-do girl who in a series of wildly popular films was always fixing the problems of unhappy adults.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/movies/deanna-durbin-1930s-star-of-universal-pictures-dies-at-91.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

She was a huge star back then...RIP

[blm]

1. Always loved her. Worth catching on TCM or AMC if you've never seen her work.

.

[joeybee12]

3. Saw a special on Judy Garland and they were both under contract with MGM...

And MGM decide two kid singers was one too many, so they didn't renew Deanna's contract...worked out for her, though.

[niyad]

2. requiescat in pacem, dear lady

[UTUSN]

4. Admirable those like her who opt out of the game of so-called fame. n/t