Deborah Kerr
Highest Rated: 100% Black Narcissus (1947)
Lowest Rated: 8% The Arrangement (1969)
Birthday: Sep 30, 1921
Birthplace: Helensburgh, Scotland, UK
Known as "The English Rose," lovely, red-haired Deborah Kerr - "It Rhymes with Star!" as MGM memorably proclaimed in her introduction to American audiences - was the distinguished Scotland native who perfectly embodied the attributes of genteel grace and beauty for generations of moviegoers. Following a brief career in ballet and some repertory work in various productions of Shakespeare, she first gained attention in "Major Barbara" (1941) and demonstrated the screen presence of a natural star in Michael Powell's Technicolor masterpieces "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" (1943) and "Black Narcissus" (1947). Lured to Hollywood, Kerr graced event movies like "King Solomon's Mines" (1950) and "Quo Vadis" (1951), but it was her dramatic work in "Julius Caesar" (1953) and unexpected display of anger and sensuality in "From Here to Eternity" (1953) that confirmed her full range as a performer. While she sometimes bristled at being cast so often as the prim and proper lady, audiences loved her as those characters, never more so than in the musical "The King and I" (1956), one of her most enduringly popular vehicles, along with the romance perennial "An Affair to Remember" (1957). Admired in the industry for her talent and professionalism, and able to excel at playing everything from nuns to slaves, Kerr emerged as one of the finest and classiest leading ladies of her day.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Assam Garden | Helen (Character) | - | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Reunion at Fairborough | Sally Wells Grant (Character) | - | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | 64% | Witness for the Prosecution | Nurse Plimsoll (Character) | - | 1982 |
| No Score Yet | 45% | The Gypsy Moths | Elizabeth Brandon (Character) | - | 1969 |
| 8% | 65% | The Arrangement | Florence Anderson (Character) | - | 1969 |
| No Score Yet | 46% | Prudence and the Pill | Prudence Hardcastle (Character) | - | 1968 |
| No Score Yet | 60% | Eye of the Devil | Catherine de Montfaucon (Character) | - | 1967 |
| 25% | 34% | Casino Royale |
Agent Mimi/ |
- | 1967 |
| No Score Yet | 51% | Marriage on the Rocks | Valerie Edwards (Character) | - | 1965 |
| 67% | 76% | The Chalk Garden | Miss Madrigal (Character) | - | 1964 |
| 71% | 85% | The Night of the Iguana | Hannah Jelkes (Character) | - | 1964 |
| 94% | 86% | The Innocents | Miss Giddens (Character) | - | 1961 |
| No Score Yet | 60% | The Naked Edge | Martha Radcliffe (Character) | - | 1961 |
| 75% | 62% | The Sundowners | Ida Carmody (Character) | - | 1960 |
| 88% | 64% | The Grass Is Greener | Hilary Rhyall (Character) | - | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | 56% | Beloved Infidel | Sheilah Graham (Character) | - | 1959 |
| No Score Yet | 78% | The Journey | Diana Ashmore (Character) | - | 1959 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Count Your Blessings | Grace Allingham (Character) | - | 1959 |
| 69% | 76% | Separate Tables | Sibyl Railton-Bell (Character) | - | 1958 |
| 86% | 68% | Bonjour Tristesse | Anne Larson (Character) | - | 1958 |
| 88% | 81% | Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison | Sister Angela (Character) | - | 1957 |
| 65% | 87% | An Affair to Remember | Terry McKay (Character) | - | 1957 |
| 96% | 83% | The King and I | Anna Leonowens (Character) | - | 1956 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Proud and Profane | Lee Ashley (Character) | - | 1956 |
| 80% | 76% | Tea and Sympathy | Laura Reynolds (Character) | - | 1956 |
| 80% | 58% | The End of the Affair | Sarah Miles (Character) | - | 1955 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Thunder in the East | Joan Willoughby (Character) | - | 1953 |
| 92% | 84% | From Here to Eternity | Karen Holmes (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 59% | Dream Wife | Effie (Character) | - | 1953 |
| 95% | 81% | Julius Caesar | Portia (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 53% | Young Bess | Catherine Parr (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 61% | The Prisoner of Zenda | Princess Flavia (Character) | - | 1952 |
| 88% | 73% | Quo Vadis? | Lygia (Character) | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Please Believe Me | Alison Kirbe (Character) | - | 1950 |
| 92% | 59% | King Solomon's Mines | Elizabeth Curtis (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | 42% | Edward, My Son | Evelyn Boult (Character) | - | 1949 |
| No Score Yet | 53% | If Winter Comes | Nona Tybar (Character) | - | 1948 |
| No Score Yet | 52% | The Hucksters | Kay Dorrance (Character) | - | 1947 |
| 100% | 88% | Black Narcissus | Sister Clodagh (Character) | - | 1947 |
| 80% | 77% | The Adventuress | Bridie Quilty (Character) | - | 1946 |
| No Score Yet | 65% | Vacation From Marriage | Catherine Wilson (Character) | - | 1945 |
| 96% | 91% | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp |
Edith Hunter/ |
- | 1943 |
| No Score Yet | 40% | The Day Will Dawn | Kari Alstad (Character) | - | 1942 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hatters Castle | Mary Brodie (Character) | - | 1941 |
| 93% | 55% | Major Barbara | Jenny Hill (Character) | - | 1941 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Courageous Mr. Penn | Gulielma Maria Springett (Character) | - | 1941 |
| No Score Yet | 67% | Love on the Dole | Sally (Character) | - | 1941 |
TV
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Talking Pictures | Guest | 2014 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Woman of Substance | Unknown (Character) | 1985 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | What's My Line? | Guest | 1953 |
QUOTES FROM Deborah Kerr CHARACTERS
Anna Leonowens says: How do you explain the fact, Your Majesty, that many men remain faithful to one wife?
King Mongkut of Siam says: They're sick.
Sister Clodagh says: We all need discipline. You said it yourself they're like children. Without discipline we should all behave like children.
Mr. Dean says: Don't you like children, sister?
Sister Clodagh says: [to Mr. Dean] You are objectionable when you are sober and abominable when drunk!
Alain de Montfaucon says: I want to see Papa. I miss him.
Catherine de Montfaucon says: I don't get it. He's never done this before.
Jean-Claude Ibert says: He must be asleep. Shh! Don't wake him.
Miss Madrigal says: Do you usually interview applicants at the door?
Laura Reynolds says: Years from now, when you talk about this -- and you will -- be kind.
Terry McKay says: Oh, it was nobody's fault but my own. I was looking up. It was the nearest thing to heaven. You were there.