Editing Deborah Kerr (section)

==Hollywood==
===Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer===
[[File:Betta St. John-Deborah Kerr in Dream Wife.jpg|thumb|Kerr with [[Betta St. John]] (left) in ''[[Dream Wife]]'' (1953)]]
Kerr's first film for MGM in Hollywood was a mature satire of the burgeoning advertising industry, ''[[The Hucksters]]'' (1947) with [[Clark Gable]] and [[Ava Gardner]]. She and [[Walter Pidgeon]] were cast in ''[[If Winter Comes]]'' (1947). She received the first of her [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations for ''[[Edward, My Son]]'' (1949), a drama set and filmed in England co-starring [[Spencer Tracy]].<ref name="McLellan 2007 Deborah Kerr">{{cite web | last=McLellan | first=Dennis | title=Deborah Kerr, 86; 'Eternity' star | website=Los Angeles Times | date=2007-10-19 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-19-me-kerr19-story.html | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

In Hollywood, Kerr's British accent and manner led to a succession of roles portraying refined, reserved, and "proper" English ladies. Kerr, nevertheless, used any opportunity to discard her cool exterior. She had the lead in a comedy ''[[Please Believe Me]]'' (1950).<ref name="WarnerBros 1950 Please Believe Me">{{cite web | title=Please Believe Me | website=WarnerBros.com | date=1950-05-12 | url=https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/please-believe-me | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

Kerr appeared in two huge hits for MGM in a row. ''[[King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)|King Solomon's Mines]]'' (1950) was shot on location in Africa with [[Stewart Granger]] and [[Richard Carlson (actor)|Richard Carlson]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Thomas F Brady |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 July 1949 |title=Deborah Kerr Gets Metro Movie Lead|id={{ProQuest|105803181}} }}</ref> This was immediately followed by her appearance in the religious epic ''[[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|Quo Vadis]]'' (1951), shot at [[Cinecittà]] in Rome, in which she played the indomitable Lygia, a first-century Christian.

She then played Princess Flavia in a remake of ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1952 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]'' (1952) with Granger and Mason. In between Paramount borrowed her to appear in ''[[Thunder in the East (1951 film)|Thunder in the East]]'' (1951) with [[Alan Ladd]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}
 
In 1953, Kerr "showed her theatrical mettle" as Portia in [[Joseph Mankiewicz]]'s ''[[Julius Caesar (1953 film)|Julius Caesar]]''.<ref name="Telegraph"/> She made ''[[Young Bess]]'' (1953) with Granger and [[Jean Simmons]], then appeared alongside [[Cary Grant]] in ''[[Dream Wife]]'' (1953), a flop comedy.

===''From Here to Eternity'' and Broadway===
[[File:Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity trailer.jpg|thumb|left|Kerr with [[Burt Lancaster]] in the iconic scene of ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'' (1953)]]
Kerr departed from [[typecasting]] with a performance that brought out her sensuality, as Karen Holmes, the embittered American military wife in [[Fred Zinnemann]]'s ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'' (1953), for which she received an Oscar nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]. The [[American Film Institute]] acknowledged the iconic status of the scene from that film in which she and [[Burt Lancaster]] romped illicitly and passionately amidst crashing waves on a Hawaiian beach. The organisation ranked it 20th in its [[AFI's 100 Years…100 Passions|list of the 100 most romantic films of all time]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.afi.com/100Years/passions.aspx| title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions| website=American Film Institute| access-date=15 February 2019}}</ref>

Having established herself as a film actress in the meantime, she made her Broadway debut in 1953, appearing in [[Robert Anderson (playwright)|Robert Anderson]]'s ''[[Tea and Sympathy (play)|Tea and Sympathy]]'', for which she received a [[Tony Award]] nomination. Kerr performed the same role in [[Vincente Minnelli]]'s film adaptation [[Tea and Sympathy (film)|released in 1956]]; her stage partner [[John Kerr (actor)|John Kerr]] (no relation) also appeared. In 1955, Kerr won the [[Sarah Siddons Award]] for her performance in Chicago during a national tour of the play. After her Broadway début in 1953, she toured the United States with ''Tea and Sympathy''.<ref name="McLellan 2007 Deborah Kerr"/>

===Peak years of stardom===
[[File:Deborah Kerr The King and I.jpg|thumb|right|Kerr in ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' (1956)]]
Thereafter, Kerr's career choices would make her known in Hollywood for her versatility as an actress.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="car"/> She played the repressed wife in ''[[The End of the Affair (1955 film)|The End of the Affair]]'' (1955), shot in England with [[Van Johnson]]. She was a widow in love with [[William Holden]] in ''[[The Proud and Profane]]'' (1956), directed by [[George Seaton]]. Neither film was much of a hit. However Kerr then played [[Anna Leonowens]] in the film version of the [[Richard Rodgers|Rodgers]] and [[Oscar Hammerstein II|Hammerstein]] musical ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' (1956); with [[Yul Brynner]] in the lead; it was a huge hit. [[Marni Nixon]] dubbed Kerr's singing voice.

She played a nun in ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'' (1957) opposite her long-time friend [[Robert Mitchum]], directed by [[John Huston]]. It was very popular as was ''[[An Affair to Remember]]'' (1957) opposite [[Cary Grant]].<ref name="McLellan 2007 Deborah Kerr"/>

Kerr starred in three films with [[David Niven]]: ''[[Bonjour Tristesse (1958 film)|Bonjour Tristesse]]'' (1958), directed by [[Otto Preminger]], ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'' (1958), directed by [[Delbert Mann]], which was particularly well received,<ref name="Variety 1958 Separate Tables">{{cite web | title=Separate Tables | website=Variety | date=1958-01-01 | url=https://variety.com/1957/film/reviews/separate-tables-2-1117794749/ | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref> and ''[[Eye of the Devil]]'' (1966), directed by [[J. Lee Thompson]].

She made two films at MGM: ''[[The Journey (1959 film)|The Journey]]'' (1959) reunited her with Brynner; ''[[Count Your Blessings (1959 film)|Count Your Blessings]]'' (1959), was a comedy. Both flopped, as did ''[[Beloved Infidel]]'' (1959) with [[Gregory Peck]].<ref name="NYT 1959 Beloved Infidel">{{cite web | title=Screen: Fitzgerald on the Way Down; 'Beloved Infidel' Opens at the Paramount Gregory Peck, Deborah Kerr Head Cast | website=The New York Times | date=1959-11-18 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/11/18/archives/screen-fitzgerald-on-the-way-down-beloved-infidel-opens-at-the.html | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>