A Scottish actor, born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in 1921, in
Helensburgh. Her first success was in a filming of Shaw's
Major Barbara in 1941. She starred in
Black Narcissus in 1946,
The Prisoner of Zenda in 1952 (with
Stewart Grainger),
From Here to Eternity in 1953,
The King And I in 1956, and
An Affair to Remember in 1957, in
Powell and
Pressburger's
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, and in
Young Bess,
King Solomon's Mines (also with
Stewart Grainger),
Quo Vadis, and
The Sundowners.
Although a memorable actor, there was always something slightly hammy about her, and she never won the top award though often got close. (She was nominated most for Best Actress without winning.) And although good looking and very appealing, she is not an overpowering beauty. Yet there is something utterly commanding in the presence of Deborah Kerr. She is a class act. She got an Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 1993.