Deanna Durbin  December 4, 1921 – April 2013
HelenParrish.com would like to take the opportunity to remember Helen's friend and co-star Deanna Durbin.

                       

Hearing that Deanna Durbin died is sad and strange at the same time.  I don’t think I have to say why it is sad. It is strange because it seems like Deanna as we knew her died over sixty years ago.  And now it is Edna Mae Durbin-David that is gone.

Nevertheless, we loved her whether or not she herself knew it. She is quoted as saying “The character I was forced into had little or nothing in common with myself or with other youth of my generation, for that matter”. I cannot speak for how she felt about herself but as for her generation she was one of the great ideals that made at least someone like me want to be a part of that generation and not my own.

 She possessed a kind of screen magic that even some of the biggest stars of her day failed to possess.

Whenever she smiled or sang or even spoke, you were immediately put at ease.  No matter what was going on it seemed at least for the moment that all was right with the world.

I always found it odd that she chose to move to France to get away from it all for it seemed that she was more popular in Western Europe than she even was here.  It is a well known fact that Anne Frank had her picture on her wall in the secret annex in Amsterdam.

This isn’t to say she wasn’t big here in the United States for in 1939 when Robert Stack gave her first on-screen kiss in First Love; it took the war in Europe right out of the headlines.

And in her day, Deanna was even bigger than Judy Garland!

I know there will be many stories and rumors about Deanna Durbin, but let us remember her for the angelic girl we saw in the movies.

Now The Three Smart Girls are finally reunited, and the choirs of angels are even greater for they are being led by our Deanna.