Deanna Durbin Not Interested In More Films (1952)

San Mateo Times (California); 18 Dec 1952

Deanna Durbin Not Interested In More Films
By BOB THOMAS

HOLLYWOOD (AP) - The film town can't believe it. Deanna Durbin is back in Hollywood, but she says she's not interested in doing movies.
I didn't believe it either until I paid her a visit at her Hollywood hilltop home, which affords a view of Catalina on a clear day. She told me she was interested in no other career except her family. It consists of her husband, writer-director Charles David, their son, Peter, 1 1/2, and her daughter by a previous marriage, Jessica, 7.
"I can't seem to make people believe that I don't care about doing any more pictures," she smiled. "Mr. Pasternak is a fellow who won't take no for an answer."
Successful Films
She referred to Joe Pasternak, who produced her fabulously successful films at Universal and is now a big man in MGM. He has long been after her for a return to films. It would possibly be for a costarring opus with Mario Lanza, who has expressed an eagerness to appear with Miss Durbin.
"I'm not a ham," she commented. "I never have been, although I could never get people to believe it. Some people love to perform; it's their life. My daughter Jessica seems to be like that. She could probably start now and be happy to continue acting until she's 90."
"But not me. I started when I was 12 [sic], doing a short at MGM with Judy Garland. I did 'Three Smart Girls' when I was 13 [sic]. I was caught in the whirl until I quit three years ago at 27. That's a big chunk out of my life. Sure, I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed things I otherwise wouldn't have had. But I also missed out on a lot of the joys of girls who lead normal lives."
Deanna indicated that her young son has a great deal to do with her decision.
Means Much to Son
"I can see how much it means to Peter to have a mother who is always there when he needs her." she observed. "And I can see how much Jessica missed by not having the same care. When she was a baby, I was at the studio from 6 in the morning until 8 at night. During that time, she was in the care of a nurse, and heaven knows what would happen to her while I was at the studio."
Her future plans? They are concerned only with travel.
"We own a home here and another in France," she said. "They will be our bases. We'll spend as much time as possible seeing new places. I find that very exciting. Before I quit pictures, I couldn't even go to Toledo without a corps of escorts from the studio."
She mentioned that she still keeps her singing voice in training, but strictly for her own amusement.
"I sing because I like to," she said. "Because of that, I'm finding out how many songs there are. I don't have to sing 'The Blue Danube' every other song any more."

Weds Tonight (1941)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Oh); 18 Apr 1941

WEDS TONIGHT
------------------

Deanna Durbin Takes Vows In Hollywood Church
HOLLYWOOD - (INS) - In the presence of 900 guests, Deanna Durbin, the 19-year-old singing film star, will be married tonight in Hollywood to Vaughn Paul, young film executive.
There will be several thousand uninvited guests outside the Willshire Boulevard Methodist Episcopal church, however, all eager to get a glimpse of the pretty young actress and the scores of film celebrities expected to attend the wedding.
Paul and the young star first met when he was assistant director on her first film, "Three Smart Girls," in 1936.

All's Well That Ends Well (1941)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Oh); 8 Mar 1941

All's Well That Ends Well

Deanna Durbin, youthful screen actress, is pictured in Hollywood as she presented Private Everett Scott with a six-week-old airedale puppy to replace - in a measure - his faithful old dog Laddi who died of a broken heart after Scott joined the Army. Scott became the nation's most famous private during the life-and-death drama of Laddi who was flown to his mater's barracks in an effort to save his life.

Deanna Durbin to Wed (1950)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio); 6 Dec 1950

DEANNA DURBIN TO WED

PARIS --, (AP) -- Film actress Deanna Durbin and director Charles David posted notice today that they plan to marry Dec. 16.

Deanna Engaged (1940)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio); Friday, 6 Dec 1940

Deanna Engaged

On her 19th birthday Wednesday, Deanna Durbin, singing star of the movies, received a ring from the youthful director Vaughn Paul - an engagement ring. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Durbin, announced the wedding would occur next Summer.

Deanna Durbin Highest Paid Woman (1947)

The Independent (Long Beach, CA); 8 Jan 1947

Deanna Durbin Highest Paid Woman
WASHINGTON. Jan 7. (INS) The treasury disclosed today that screen star Deanna Durbin has moved into first place as the highest paid United States woman in 1945 with a salary of $310,728.93.
With her husband, Felix Jackson, who received $114,875, the Hollywood pair earned nearly a half million dollars, according to a supplemental list of 122 United States salaries above $75,000 in the 1945 fiscal year.
Movie director Leo McCarey, with $1,113,035, however, retained No. 1 spot among all United States salaries on the basis of the first treasury list issued last June. But Miss Durbin nosed out Carmen Miranda, Brazilian actress-singer, who was in front with $201,458.
Treasury officials said another supplementary list may be released later. They noted that the salary of Louis B. Mayer, president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who topped the 1944 list with $908, 069, has not been announced for 1945.
Officials also pointed out that present taxes take a sizeable chunk out of upper bracket salaries.

Deanna to Take Time Out to Have Baby (1945)

The Independent (Long Beach, CA); 6 Nov 1945

Deanna to Take Time Out to Have Baby

HOLLYWOOD, Nov. 5, (CNS) - Deanna Durbin announced today her retirement from the screen until next July, during which time she will await the stork, due in March.
The film actress has just finished "Because of Him," costarring Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone.

Asks for Divorce (1949)

The Independent (Long Beach, CA); 27 Sept 1949

Asks for Divorce
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DEANNA TO SHED MATE

HOLLYWOOD - (INS). After a separation of two years, Deanna Durbin is asking for a divorce from Felix Jackson.
The papers filed late Monday by her attorney, Laurence W. Beilenson, charged desertion and mental cruelty.
Deanna, who at one time was the most popular teen-age girl on the screen, married Jackson in LAs Vegas June 13, 1945. They separated Jan. 6, 1947. Jackson went to New York, where he has made his home for the past two years. He is in television and, according to Deanna, doing very well.
She waited until she was financially secure before she filed for divorce.
Deanna said today that there is no other man in her life, and she plans to take her daughter, Jessica, 3 1/2, for a trip to Europe. She will also ask custody of the child.
Jackson, who is many years older than she, directed some of her pictures and wrote the stories, turning the youthful singing star into a sophisticated actress. Fans preferred Deanna as she was in earlier pictures.
The first trouble between the Jacksons happened over these motion pictures, which were made at Universal-International.
Jackson had been married three times before his marriage to Deanna. She was first married to Vaughn Paul when she was 18 and was at the height of her fame. She is now 27.

Tales of Europe (1954)

The Independent (Long Beach, CA); 24 July 1954
"Tales of Europe" Column by Leonard Lyons

"In the village of Neauphie Le Chateau, outside of Versailles, lives a young lady with her husband and two children. She goes shopping each day, with the other villagers, who look upon her as one of their own and address her as "Madame David." They know only that "Madame David" is a respected, happy member of the small community and that she once lived in America. They don't know that she was a child movie star, nor that her name was Deanna Durbin.

Deanna, 'Nowhere for Past 3 Yrs.,' Sets Europe Jaunt (1950)

The Independent (Long Beach, CA); Sunday, 5 Mar 1950

Deanna, 'Nowhere for Past 3 Yrs.,' Sets Europe Jaunt

HOLLYWOOD - (INS), Deanna Durbin, the golden voiced singer whose films as a child star pulled a studio out of the red before the war, announced Saturday that she will leave for Europe "to get a new approach" before attempting a screen-comeback.
The twice-married and divorced 28-year-old actress said that she will enjoy an extended vacation in Europe and maybe top it off by making a film in England.
Deanna's career waned when she outgrew child parts and the studio put her in a series of films which enjoyed little success at the box office.
She has not made a picture since 1948. During the last two years of her contract with Universal Studio, the company she helped save from bankruptcy with musical pictures, she received a weekly four-figure paycheck but made no films during the time.
The one-time child star declared:
"Within the next two weeks will leave for Europe with my daughter, Jessica, 4. We'll see all the sights over there. I may accept a concert tour engagement over there and I'll probably end my vacation by making a picture in England."
"I need a new approach. I've been nowhere for the past three years and I've done no work at all. I was getting stale."
Deanna formerly was married to Vaughn Paul, an assistant director, and to Felix Jackson, a movie producer.

Deanna Durbin To Try Again (1950)

Dunkirk Evening Observer (New York); 26 May 1950

DEANNA DURBIN TO TRY AGAIN

PARIS, - (UP) - Movie singer Deanna Durbin said today she plans to marry French-born Hollywood director Charles David when her divorce from producer Felix Jackson becomes final, probably next October.
Miss Durbin is staying at a country hotel some 35 miles from Paris with her four-year-old daughter, Jessica Louise. She registered as Edna Jackson.

Weds In France (1950)

Mansfield News Journal (Ohio); 28 Dec 1950

WEDS IN FRANCE - Deanna Durbin of Hollywood and the movies in Sarreguemines, France, to French film director Charles Henri David. The marriage was the third for the American actress. (International)

Son Born in Paris to Actress Deanna Durbin (1951)

California Daily Review; 21 June 1951

Son Born in Paris to Actress Deanna Durbin

PARIS, (U.P.) -- Actress Deanna Durbin gave birth yesterday to a nine-and-a-half pound son, her husband Charles David announces today.
The boy was named "Peter Henry".
The French-born, U.S. naturalized movie producer said he and Miss Durbin were married Dec. 21 in a "quiet ceremony" at Sarreguemines, France.

Three Minutes of Music (1940)

(This article is from an unknown music magazine.)

"In her newest starring vehicle, "IT'S A DATE" (Universal), Deanna Durbin sings Musetta's Song from "La Boheme"; Loch Lomand; Schubert's Ave Maria; and Love Is All, by P. Tomlin and H. Tobias. A scientifically minded film fan, holding a stop watch on the average Durbin song, would discover that he was getting three minutes of melody. What he could not discover is that he is also getting the benefit of several pieces of chalk, five hundred fifty feet of celluloid, and seven hundred seventy-six work hours of ninety-seven experts. The singing itself, which seems no more complicated than allowing Miss Durbin to send out her tones, is in reality a very involved piece of work.

Take, for instance, the rendition of Musetta's Song. The aria is first sung into a microphone in a sound room, to the accompaniment of a fifty piece orchestra, under the direction of Charles Previn. The chalk was used to write the words of the song in large letters on a blackboard high on the wall facing Miss Durbin, as is the custom in all screen singing. In the action of the picture, Miss Durbin sang the aria again, in a Hawaiian ballroom scene. This time it was photographed but not recorded, her silently filmed lip movements being later synchronized to the previously recorded song. For her gown in this scene, used once and then discarded, the services of one designer and six seamstresses were needed. Also, active in the "shooting" were one make-up man, one hairdresser, one script girl, two camera men, one assistant director, one dialogue director, and an orchestra of fifteen musicians, whose accompaniment, like the photographed song, were filmed but not recorded. An average eight hour work day was expended by each of these experts, either in filming or recording; and other specialists in the cutting room, the library, and various departments, complement the full count of ninety-seven experts needed to bring a single song to the public."