Trivia of Deanna Durbin

Trivia of Deanna Durbin (4 December 1921 - 17 April 2013)

*At the age of 10, her parents recognized that she had definite talent of singing and enrolled her in voice lessons at the Ralph Thomas Academy. Durbin soon became Thomas's prize pupil, and he showcased her talent at various local clubs and churches.MGM casting director Rufus LeMaire heard about a talented young soloist performing with the Ralph Thomas Academy and called her in for an audition. Durbin sang "Il Bacio" for the studio's vocal coach, who was stunned by her "mature soprano" voice. She sang the number again for Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to a six-month contract.

*In the mid-1930s, MGM had both Durbin and fellow adolescent singer Judy Garland under contract. To test which of them had greater popular appeal, the studio cast them side-by-side in the musical short Every Sunday (1936). When studio head Louis B. Mayer saw the short, he insisted one of them would need to be dropped. When Durbin was dismissed, she signed with Universal and instantly became a star when her first feature film Three Smart Girls (1936) proved to be a huge hit, while Judy struggled to find her footing and arguably didn't achieve stardom until 1939. "We let the wrong girl go." was the lamentation of many MGM executives in the years 1936-1939.

*She was UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill's favorite movie star. He reportedly insisted that he be permitted to screen her films privately before they were released to the public in Britain, and would often screen her film One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) to celebrate British victories during World War II. He considered her "a formidable talent".

*Received a special Oscar in 1938, along with actor Mickey Rooney, for setting a high standard of ability and achievement as juvenile players.

*By 21, she was the highest-paid woman in the United States and the highest-paid female movie star in the world where she was paid $400,000 per film. She is reported as the star who saved the Universal company.

*In 1941, Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini published an open letter to Durbin in his official newspaper, "Il Popolo", asking her to intercede with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of American youth to dissuade him from becoming involved in World War II. She didn't.

*Retired from acting in 1948, following dissatisfaction with the Hollywood studio system and falling box-office returns.A year later, she married producer-director Charles Henri David and moved to a farmhouse near Paris. She withdrew from public life, granting only one interview on her career in 1983.