Editing Deborah Kerr

{{Short description|British film and television actress (1921–2007)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Deborah Kerr
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]]
| image            = Deborah Kerr press photo (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Kerr in 1958
| birth_name       = Deborah Jane Trimmer
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1921|09|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Hillhead]], [[Glasgow]], Scotland
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2007|10|16|1921|09|30|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Botesdale]], [[Suffolk]], England
| resting_place    = Alfold Cemetery, [[Alfold]], near [[Guildford]], Surrey, England
| awards           = [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]
| occupation       = Actress
| known for        = ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]''<br />''[[From Here to Eternity]]''<br />''[[An Affair to Remember]]''<br />''[[Tea and Sympathy (film)|Tea and Sympathy]]''<br />''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]''<br />''[[Black Narcissus]]'' <br />''[[The Innocents (1961 film)|The Innocents]]'' <br />''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]''<br />''[[The Night of the Iguana (film)|The Night of the Iguana]]''
| years_active     = 1937–1986
| children         = 2 including [[Melanie Bartley]]
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Tony Bartley]]|1945|1959|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Peter Viertel]]|1960}}
}}
| relatives        = [[Lex Shrapnel]] (grandson)
| signature        = Deborah Kerr signature.svg
}}

'''Deborah Jane Trimmer''' [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] (30 September 1921{{spaced ndash}}16 October 2007), known professionally as '''Deborah Kerr''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɑr}}), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]], becoming the first person from [[Scotland]] to be nominated for any acting Oscar.

During her international film career, Kerr won a [[Golden Globe Award]] for her performance as [[Anna Leonowens]] in the musical film ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' (1956). Her other major and best known films and performances are ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' (1943), ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947), ''[[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|Quo Vadis]]'' (1951), ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'' (1953), ''[[Tea and Sympathy (film)|Tea and Sympathy]]'' (1956), ''[[An Affair to Remember]]'' (1957), ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'' (1957), ''[[Bonjour Tristesse (1958 film)|Bonjour Tristesse]]'' (1958), ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'' (1958), ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' (1960), ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'' (1960), ''[[The Innocents (1961 film)|The Innocents]]'' (1961), and ''[[The Night of the Iguana (film)|The Night of the Iguana]]'' (1964).

In 1994, having already received honorary awards from the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]], Kerr received an [[Academy Honorary Award]] with a citation recognizing her as "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance".<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7051206.stm |title=British actress Kerr dies at 86 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=18 October 2007 |access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Deborah Jane Trimmer<ref name="auto">{{cite news| url=https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13300950.the-king-and-i-actress-deborah-kerr-is-glasgows-star-and-there-is-a-birth-certificate-to-prove-it/| title=The King and I actress Deborah Kerr is Glasgow's star - and there is a birth certificate to prove it| newspaper=[[Glasgow Times]]| first=Russell| last=Leadbetter| date=20 January 2015| access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> was born on 30 September 1921 in [[Hillhead, Glasgow]],<ref name="herald">{{cite web| url=http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.1771494.0.0.php |title=Deborah Kerr profile |access-date=19 October 2007 |newspaper=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |location=Glasgow |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021045411/http://theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.1771494.0.0.php |archive-date=21 October 2007 }}</ref> the only daughter of Kathleen Rose ([[née]] Smale) and Capt. Arthur Charles Kerr Trimmer, a World War I veteran and pilot who lost a leg at the [[Battle of the Somme]] and later became a [[naval architect]] and [[civil engineer]]. Trimmer and Smale married, both aged 28, on 21 August 1919 in Smale's hometown of [[Lydney]], [[Gloucestershire]].<ref name=OUP>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbGcAQAAQBAJ&q=Deborah+Kerr| title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008| last=Goldman| first=Lawrence| date=7 March 2013| publisher=Oxford Univ Press| location=Oxford| isbn=978-0199671540| page=642}}</ref>

Young Deborah spent the first three years of her life in the Scottish west coast town of [[Helensburgh]], where her parents lived with Deborah's grandparents in a house on West King Street. Kerr had a younger brother, Edmund Charles (born 31 May 1926), who became a journalist. He died, aged 78, in a [[road rage]] incident in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |title='Road rage' killer's appeal win |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4861328.stm |work=BBC News |date=30 March 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Killer's term cut |url=http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2006/4/5/408116.html |newspaper=[[Worcester News]] |date=5 April 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722210505/http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2006/4/5/408116.html |archive-date=22 July 2009}}</ref>

Kerr was educated at the independent Northumberland House School, [[Henleaze]] in [[Bristol, England]], and at Rossholme School, [[Weston-super-Mare]]. Kerr originally trained as a ballet dancer, first appearing on stage at [[Sadler's Wells Theatre|Sadler's Wells]] in 1938. After changing careers, she soon found success as an actress. Her first acting teacher was her aunt, Phyllis Smale, who worked at a drama school in Bristol run by Lally Cuthbert Hicks.<ref name="Telegraph"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5212/is_2000/ai_n19128627 |title=Deborah Kerr |year=2000 |work=International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers |publisher=St. James Press |location=Detroit |first1=Richard |last1=Sater |first2=Robert |last2=Pardi |isbn=978-1558624498 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020185730/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5212/is_2000/ai_n19128627 |archive-date=20 October 2007}}</ref> She adopted the name Deborah Kerr on becoming a film actress ("Kerr" was a family name going back to the maternal grandmother of her grandfather Arthur Kerr Trimmer).<ref name="Deborah">Braun, Eric. ''Deborah Kerr''. St. Martin's Press, 1978. {{ISBN|0-312-18895-1}}.</ref>

== Early career ==
===Early theatre and film===
Kerr's first stage appearance was at Weston-super-Mare in 1937, as "Harlequin" in the mime play ''Harlequin and Columbine''. She then went to the Sadler's Wells ballet school and in 1938 made her début in the corps de ballet in ''Prometheus''. After various walk-on parts in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] productions at the [[Regent's Park Open Air Theatre|Open Air Theatre]] in [[Regent's Park]], London, she joined the [[Oxford Playhouse]] repertory company in 1940, playing, ''inter alia'', "Margaret" in ''[[Dear Brutus]]'' and "Patty Moss" in ''The Two Bouquets''.<ref name="Telegraph" />

Kerr's first film role was in the British production ''[[Contraband (1940 film)|Contraband]]'' (US: ''Blackout'', 1940), aged 18 or 19, but her scenes were cut. She had a strong support role in ''[[Major Barbara (film)|Major Barbara]]'' (1941) directed by [[Gabriel Pascal]].<ref name="Time Out 2012 Major Barbara">{{cite web | title=Major Barbara | website=Time Out Worldwide | date=2012-09-10 | url=https://www.timeout.com/movies/major-barbara | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

===Film stardom===
[[File:Deborah Kerr (SAYRE 4880) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Kerr in 1942]]
Kerr became known playing the lead role in the film of ''[[Love on the Dole (film)|Love on the Dole]]'' (1941). Critic [[James Agate]] wrote that ''Love on the Dole'' "is not within a mile of [[Wendy Hiller]]'s in the theatre, but it is a charming piece of work by a very pretty and promising beginner, so pretty and so promising that there is the usual yapping about a new star".<ref name="Telegraph"/>

She was the female lead in ''[[Penn of Pennsylvania]]'' (1941) which was little seen; however ''[[Hatter's Castle (film)|Hatter's Castle]]'' (1942), in which she starred with [[Robert Newton]] and [[James Mason]], was very successful. She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in ''[[The Day Will Dawn]]'' (1942). She was an immediate hit with the public: an American film trade paper reported in 1942 that she was the most popular British actress with Americans.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44833626 |title=FILM NOTES. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=7 December 1945 |access-date=9 July 2012 |page=13 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Kerr played three women in [[Michael Powell]] and [[Emeric Pressburger]]'s ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' (1943). During the filming, according to Powell's autobiography, Powell and she became lovers:<ref name="Powell">{{cite book |last=Powell |first=Michael |title=A Life in Movies |publisher=Faber |edition=reprint |year=2000 |isbn=978-0571204311}}</ref> "I realised that Deborah was both the ideal and the flesh-and-blood woman whom I had been searching for".<ref name="Powell"/> Kerr made clear that her surname should be pronounced the same as "car". To avoid confusion over pronunciation, [[Louis B. Mayer]], head of [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] billed her as "Kerr rhymes with Star!"<ref name="car">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/movies/19kerr.html |title=Deborah Kerr, Actress Known for Genteel Grace and a Sexy Beach Kiss, Dies at 86 |date=19 October 2007 |access-date=20 October 2007 |first=Douglas |last=Martin |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Although the [[British Army]] refused to co-operate with the producers—and [[Winston Churchill]] thought the film would ruin wartime morale—''Colonel Blimp'' confounded critics when it proved to be an artistic and commercial success.<ref name="Powell"/>
{{multiple image|perrow = 1|width = 220px
| image1 = Deborah Kerr 3.jpg
| image2 = Deborah Kerr.jpg
| footer = Kerr in ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947)
}}
Powell hoped to reunite Kerr and lead actor [[Roger Livesey]] in his next film, ''[[A Canterbury Tale]]'' (1944), but her agent had sold her contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. According to Powell, his affair with Kerr ended when she made it clear to him that she would accept an offer to go to Hollywood if one were made.<ref name="Powell"/>

In 1943, aged 21, Kerr made her West End début as Ellie Dunn in a revival of ''[[Heartbreak House]]'' at the [[Cambridge Theatre]], stealing attention from stalwarts such as [[Edith Evans]] and [[Isabel Jeans]]. "She has the rare gift", wrote critic <!-- Not knighted until 1954. -->[[Beverley Baxter]], "of thinking her lines, not merely remembering them. The process of development from a romantic, silly girl to a hard, disillusioned woman in three hours was moving and convincing".<ref name="Telegraph"/>

Near the end of the Second World War, she also toured Holland, France, and Belgium for [[ENSA]] as Mrs Manningham in ''Gaslight'' (retitled ''Angel Street''), and Britain (with [[Stewart Granger]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keene |first=Ann T. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1803828 |title=Kerr, Deborah (1921-2007), actress |date=March 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=American National Biography Online|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1803828 }}</ref>

[[Alexander Korda]] cast her opposite [[Robert Donat]] in ''[[Perfect Strangers (1945 film)|Perfect Strangers]]'' (1945). The film was a big hit in Britain. So too was the spy comedy drama ''[[I See a Dark Stranger]]'' (1946), in which she gave a breezy, amusing performance that dominated the action and overshadowed her co-star [[Trevor Howard]]. This film was a production of the team of [[Frank Launder]] and [[Sidney Gilliat]].

Her role as a troubled nun in the Powell and Pressburger production of ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947) brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers. The film was a hit in the US, as well as the UK, and Kerr won the [[New York Film Critics Award]] as Actress of the Year. British exhibitors voted her the eighth-most popular local star at the box-office in 1947.<ref>'Bing's Lucky Number: Pa Crosby Dons 4th B.O. Crown', ''The Washington Post'' 3 January 1948: p. 12.</ref> She relocated to Hollywood and was under contract to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]].

==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>

==Later films==
[[File:Deborah Kerr 4.jpg|thumb|left|Kerr in ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' (1960)]]
Kerr was reunited with Mitchum in ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' (1960) shot in Australia, then ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'' (1960), co-starring [[Cary Grant]]. She appeared in [[Gary Cooper]]'s last film ''[[The Naked Edge]]'' (1961) and starred in ''[[The Innocents (1961 film)|The Innocents]]'' (1961) where she plays a governess tormented by apparitions.<ref name="Pulver 2010 Innocents">{{cite web | last=Pulver | first=Andrew | title=The Innocents: No 11 best horror film of all time | website=the Guardian | date=2010-10-22 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/22/innocents-clayton-horror | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

Kerr made her British TV debut in "Three Roads to Rome" (1963). She was another governess in ''[[The Chalk Garden (film)|The Chalk Garden]]'' (1964) and worked with John Huston again in ''[[The Night of the Iguana (film)|The Night of the Iguana]]'' (1964).<ref name="Variety 1964 Iguana">{{cite web | title=The Night of the Iguana | website=Variety | date=1964-01-01 | url=https://variety.com/1963/film/reviews/the-night-of-the-iguana-1200420509/ | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

She joined [[Dean Martin]] and [[Frank Sinatra]] in a love triangle for a romantic comedy, ''[[Marriage on the Rocks]]'' (1965).

In 1965, the producers of ''[[Carry On Screaming!]]'' offered her a fee comparable to that paid to the rest of the cast combined, but she turned it down in favour of appearing in an aborted stage version of ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]''. She replaced [[Kim Novak]] in ''[[Eye of the Devil]]'' (1966) with Niven, and was reteamed with Niven in the comedy ''[[Casino Royale (1967 film)|Casino Royale]]'' (1967), achieving the distinction of being, at 45, the oldest "[[Bond girl]]" in any [[James Bond]] film, until [[Monica Bellucci]], at the age of 50, in ''[[Spectre (2015 film)|Spectre]]'' (2015). ''Casino Royale'' was a hit as was another movie she made with Niven, ''[[Prudence and the Pill]]'' (1968).<ref name="Ebert 1968 Prudence">{{cite web | last=Ebert | first=Roger | title=Prudence and the Pill movie review (1968) | website=RogerEbert.com | date=1968-09-10 | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/prudence-and-the-pill-1968 | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref> She made ''[[The Arrangement (film)|The Arrangement]]'' (1969) with [[Elia Kazan]], her director from the stage production of ''Tea and Sympathy''. She returned to the cinema one more time in 1985's ''[[The Assam Garden]]''.<ref name="NYT 1986 ASSAM GARDEN">{{cite web | title=FILM: 'ASSAM GARDEN,' WITH DEBORAH KERR | website=The New York Times | date=1986-07-30 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/30/movies/film-assam-garden-with-deborah-kerr.html | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

==Theatre==
[[File:Deborah Kerr in colour Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|right|Kerr in 1973, by [[Allan Warren]]]]
Concern about parts offered her made her abandon film at the end of the 1960s, with one exception in 1985, in favour of television and theatre work.<ref name="Deborah"/>

Kerr returned to the London stage in many productions, including the old-fashioned, ''The Day After the Fair'' (Lyric, 1972), a [[Peter Ustinov]] comedy, ''Overheard'' (Haymarket, 1981) and a revival of [[Emlyn Williams]]'s ''The Corn is Green''.<ref name="Telegraph"/> After her first London success in 1943, she toured England and Scotland in ''Heartbreak House''.<ref name="Baxter 2007 Deborah Kerr obituary"/>

In 1975, she returned to Broadway, creating the role of Nancy in [[Edward Albee]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning play ''[[Seascape (play)|Seascape]]''.

In 1977, she came back to the West End, playing the title role in a production of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Candida (play)|Candida]]''.

The theatre, despite her success in films, was always to remain Kerr's first love, even though going on stage filled her with trepidation:
{{blockquote|I do it because it's exactly like dressing up for the grown ups. I don't mean to belittle acting but I'm like a child when I'm out there performing—shocking the grownups, enchanting them, making them laugh or cry. It's an unbelievable terror, a kind of masochistic madness. The older you get, the easier it should be but it isn't.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1566509/Deborah-Kerr.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1566509/Deborah-Kerr.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Obituaries: Deborah Kerr |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=19 October 2007 |access-date=20 June 2020 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>}}

==Television==
Kerr experienced a career resurgence on television in the early 1980s when she played the role of the nurse (played by [[Elsa Lanchester]] in the 1957 film of the same name) in ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1982 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'', with Sir [[Ralph Richardson]]. She also did ''A Song at Twilight'' (1982).<ref>{{Cite web |title=BFI Screenonline: Woman of Substance, A (1984) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1294335/index.html |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

She took on the role of the older Emma Harte, a [[tycoon]], in the adaptation of [[Barbara Taylor Bradford]]'s ''[[A Woman of Substance (TV series)|A Woman of Substance]]'' (1985). For this performance, Kerr was nominated for an [[Emmy Award]].<ref name="Television Academy Woman of Substance">{{cite web | title=Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance | website=Television Academy | url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/barbara-taylor-bradfords-woman-substance | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

Kerr rejoined old screen partner Mitchum in ''[[Reunion at Fairborough]]'' (1985). Other TV roles included ''Ann and Debbie'' (1986) and ''[[Hold the Dream]]'' (1986), the latter a sequel to ''A Woman of Substance''.<ref name="NYT 1986 Substance sequel">{{cite web | title=Sequel to 'A Woman of Substance' | website=The New York Times | date=1986-10-27 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/27/arts/sequel-to-a-woman-of-substance.html | access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Deborah Kerr, Tony Bartley, and daughter (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Kerr with her daughter [[Melanie Bartley|Melanie]] and her first husband [[Tony Bartley]] at the premiere of ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'']]
Kerr's first marriage was to [[Squadron Leader]] [[Tony Bartley|Anthony Bartley]] [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] on 29 November 1945. They had two daughters, [[Melanie Jane Bartley|Melanie Jane]] (born 27 December 1947) and Francesca Ann (born 18 December 1951, who married the actor [[John Shrapnel]]). Through Francesca they had three grandsons, actors [[Lex Shrapnel]] and Tom Shrapnel as well as the writer Joe Shrapnel. Melanie is a medical sociologist and retired academic. The marriage was troubled, owing to Bartley's envy of his wife's fame and financial success,<ref name="Deborah"/> and because her career often took her away from home. They divorced in 1959.

Her second marriage was to author [[Peter Viertel]] on 23 July 1960. In marrying Viertel, she became stepmother to Viertel's daughter, Christine Viertel. Although she long resided in [[Klosters]], Switzerland, and [[Marbella]], Spain, Kerr moved back to Britain to be closer to her own children as her health began to deteriorate. Her husband, however, continued to live in Marbella.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/actress-deborah-kerr-dies-at-86/| title=Actress Deborah Kerr Dies at 86| date=18 October 2007| work=[[CBS News]]| access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref>

[[Stewart Granger]] said in his autobiography that in 1945 she had approached him romantically in the back of his chauffeur-driven car at the time he was making ''Caesar and Cleopatra''.<ref>{{cite book| last=Granger| first=Stewart| title=Sparks Fly Upward| publisher=Harper Collins| year=1981| pages=88–91| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGpZAAAAMAAJ&q=Deborah+Kerr| isbn=978-0399126741}}</ref> Although he was married to [[Elspeth March]], he states that he and Kerr went on to have an affair.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leninimports.com/stewart_granger.html#partone |title=Stewart Granger |access-date=19 November 2007 |website=Lenin Imports}}</ref> When asked about this revelation, Kerr's response was, "What a gallant man he is!"<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-stewart-granger-1461853.html|title=Obituary: Stewart Granger| last=Vallance |first=Tom |date=17 August 1993 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:The grave of Deborah Kerr, Alfold churchyard in Surrey.png|thumb|The grave of Kerr, [[Alfold]] churchyard in [[Surrey]]]]
Kerr died aged 86 on 16 October 2007 at [[Botesdale]], a village in the county of [[Suffolk]], England, from the effects of [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref name="ClarkM-USAT-obit">Clark, Mike (18 October 2007). [https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-10-18-kerr-obit_n.htm "Actress Deborah Kerr dies at age 86"]. ''[[USA Today]]''.</ref><ref name="CNN-obit">[http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/18/obit.kerr.ap/index.html "''From Here to Eternity'' actress Kerr dies."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830053325/http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/18/obit.kerr.ap/index.html |date=30 August 2008 }} ''[[CNN]]''. 18 October 2007</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Actress Deborah Kerr has died |newspaper=[[Detroit Free Press]] |url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/NEWS07/71018026/0/COL14 |date=18 October 2007 |access-date=18 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020135708/http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20071018%2FNEWS07%2F71018026%2F0%2FCOL14 |archive-date=20 October 2007 |url-status=dead |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

Within three weeks of her death, her husband Peter Viertel died of cancer on 4 November.<ref>{{cite news| title=Peter Viertel, 86, Writer| url=https://variety.com/2007/scene/markets-festivals/peter-viertel-86-writer-1117975519/| date=7 November 2007| newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]| access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> At the time of Viertel's death, director Michael Scheingraber was filming the documentary ''Peter Viertel: Between the Lines'', which includes reminiscences concerning Kerr and the Academy Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peterviertel.com/between_the_lines.html |title=Between The Lines A film by Michael Scheingraber |publisher=eeweems.com |access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Director !! Notes
|-
| 1940 || ''[[Contraband (1940 film)|Contraband]]'' || Cigarette Girl || [[Michael Powell]] || Scenes deleted
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1941 || ''[[Major Barbara (film)|Major Barbara]]'' || Jenny Hill || [[Gabriel Pascal]] || 
|-
| ''[[Love on the Dole (film)|Love on the Dole]]'' || Sally Hardcastle || [[John Baxter (director)|John Baxter]] || Nomination — [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]]
|-
|rowspan="4"| 1942 || ''[[Penn of Pennsylvania]]'' || Gulielma Maria Springett || rowspan=2|[[Lance Comfort]] || 
|-
| ''[[Hatter's Castle (film)|Hatter's Castle]]'' || Mary Brodie|| 
|-
| ''[[The Day Will Dawn]]'' || Kari Alstad || [[Harold French]] ||
|-
| ''A Battle for a Bottle'' || Linda (voice)|| || Animated short 
|-
| 1943 || ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' || Edith Hunter<br />Barbara Wynne<br />Johnny Cannon || [[Powell and Pressburger]] || Nomination — [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]]
|-
| 1945 || ''[[Perfect Strangers (1945 film)|Perfect Strangers]]'' || Catherine Wilson || [[Alexander Korda]] ||
|-
| 1946 || ''[[I See a Dark Stranger]]'' || Bridie Quilty || [[Frank Launder]] || [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1947 || ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' || Sister Clodagh || [[Powell and Pressburger]] || [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]]
|-
| ''[[The Hucksters]]'' || Kay Dorrance || [[Jack Conway (filmmaker)|Jack Conway]] ||
|-
| ''[[If Winter Comes]]'' || Nona Tybar || [[Victor Saville]] || 
|-
| 1949 || ''[[Edward, My Son]]'' || Evelyn Boult || [[George Cukor]] || Nomination — [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1950 || ''[[Please Believe Me]]'' || Alison Kirbe || [[Norman Taurog]] || 
|-
| ''[[King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)|King Solomon's Mines]]'' || Elizabeth Curtis || [[Compton Bennett]] <br/> [[Andrew Marton]] ||
|-.
| 1951 || ''[[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|Quo Vadis]]'' || Lygia || [[Mervyn LeRoy]] ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1952 || ''[[Thunder in the East (1951 film)|Thunder in the East]]'' || Joan Willoughby || [[Charles Vidor]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1952 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]'' || Princess Flavia || [[Richard Thorpe]] || 
|-
|rowspan="4"| 1953 || ''[[Julius Caesar (1953 film)|Julius Caesar]]'' || [[Porcia (wife of Brutus)|Portia]] || [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]] ||
|-
| ''[[Young Bess]]'' || [[Catherine Parr]] || [[George Sidney]] ||
|-
| ''[[Dream Wife]]'' || Effie || [[Sidney Sheldon]] || 
|-
| ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'' || Karen Holmes || [[Fred Zinnemann]] || Nomination — [[Academy Award for Best Actress]]
|-
| 1955 || ''[[The End of the Affair (1955 film)|The End of the Affair]]'' || Sarah Miles || [[Edward Dmytryk]] || Nomination — [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1956 || ''[[The Proud and Profane]]'' || Lee Ashley || [[George Seaton]] || 
|-
| ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' || [[Anna Leonowens]] || [[Walter Lang]] || [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical]] <br /> Nomination — [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Singing dubbed by [[Marni Nixon]] 
|-
| ''[[Tea and Sympathy (film)|Tea and Sympathy]]'' || Laura Reynolds || [[Vincent Minnelli]] || Nomination — [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]]
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1957 || ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'' || Sister Angela || [[John Huston]] || [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama]] 
|-
| ''[[An Affair to Remember]]'' || Terry McKay || [[Leo McCarey]] || Singing dubbed by [[Marni Nixon]] 
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1958 || ''[[Bonjour Tristesse (1958 film)|Bonjour Tristesse]]'' || Anne Larson || [[Otto Preminger]] || 
|-
| ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'' || Sibyl Railton-Bell || [[Delbert Mann]] || Nomination — [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1959 || ''[[The Journey (1959 film)|The Journey]]'' || Diana Ashmore || [[Anatole Litvak]] || 
|-
| ''[[Count Your Blessings (1959 film)|Count Your Blessings]]'' || Grace Allingham || [[Jean Negulesco]] || 
|-
| ''[[Beloved Infidel]]'' || [[Sheilah Graham]] || [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]] || 
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1960 || ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' || Ida Carmody || [[Fred Zinnemann]] || [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] <br /> Nomination — [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]]
|-
| ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'' || Lady Hilary Rhyall || [[Stanley Donen]] || 
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1961 || ''[[The Naked Edge]]'' || Martha Radcliffe || [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Innocents (1961 film)|The Innocents]]'' || Miss Giddens || [[Jack Clayton]] || 
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1964 || ''[[The Chalk Garden (film)|The Chalk Garden]]'' || Miss Madrigal || [[Ronald Neame]] || Nomination — [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role]]
|-
| ''[[The Night of the Iguana (film)|The Night of the Iguana]]'' || Hannah Jelkes || [[John Huston]] ||
|-
| 1965 || ''[[Marriage on the Rocks]]'' || Valerie Edwards || [[Jack Donohue (director)|John Donohue]] ||
|-
| 1966 || ''[[Eye of the Devil]]'' || Catherine de Montfaucon || [[J. Lee Thompson]] ||
|-
| 1967 || ''[[Casino Royale (1967 film)|Casino Royale]]'' || Agent Mimi/Lady Fiona McTarry || [[John Huston]]<br>[[Val Guest]]<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.007magazine.co.uk/casino_royale-50.htm|title= Casino Royale is too much for one James Bond| magazine=007 Magazine| date=July 2017| issue=40}}</ref> || 
|-
| 1968 || ''[[Prudence and the Pill]]'' || Prudence Hardcastle || [[Fielder Cook]] ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1969 || ''[[The Gypsy Moths]]'' || Elizabeth Brandon || [[John Frankenheimer]] || 
|-
| ''[[The Arrangement (film)|The Arrangement]]'' || Florence Anderson || [[Elia Kazan]] || 
|-
|1985 || ''[[The Assam Garden]]'' || Helen Graham || Mary McMurray ||
|-
|}

=== Television ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1963 || ''[[ITV Play of the Week]]'' || Moira || Episode: Three Roads to Rome 
|-
| 1982 || ''[[BBC2 Playhouse]]'' || Carlotta Gray || Episode: ''A Song at Twilight''
|-
|1982 || ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1982 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' || Nurse Plimsoll || Television movie 
|-
| 1985 || ''[[A Woman of Substance (TV series)|A Woman of Substance]]'' || Emma Harte || Miniseries
|-
|1985 || ''[[Reunion at Fairborough]]'' || Sally Wells Grant || Television movie
|-
|1986 || ''Annie and Debbie'' || Ann || Television movie
|-
| 1986 || ''[[Hold the Dream]]'' || Emma Harte || Miniseries
|}

=== Theatre ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Venue 
|-
|1943 || ''[[Heartbreak House]]'' || Ellie Dunn || [[Cambridge Theatre]], London
|-
|1953 || ''[[Tea and Sympathy (play)|Tea and Sympathy]]'' || Laura Reynolds || [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]], New York City
|-
|1972 ||rowspan=2| ''The Day After the Fair'' ||rowspan=2| Edith || [[Lyric Theatre, London|Lyric Theatre]], London
|-
|1973-1974|| North American tour<ref>{{cite web |title=The Day After the Fair – Broadway Play – Tour |url=https://www.ibdb.com/tour-production/the-day-after-the-fair-525331#OpeningNightCast |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League LLC}}</ref>
|-
|1975 || ''[[Seascape (play)|Seascape]]'' || Nancy || [[Shubert Theatre (New York City)|Shubert Theatre]], New York City
|-
|1977 || ''[[Long Day's Journey into Night]]'' || Mary Tyrone || [[Ahmanson Theatre]], Los Angeles
|-
|1977 || ''[[Candida (play)|Candida]]'' || Candida || [[Noël Coward Theatre|Albery Theatre]], London
|-
|1978 || ''[[The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (play)|The Last of Mrs. Cheyney]]'' || Mrs. Cheyney || Eisenhower Theatre, [[Kennedy Center]], Washington DC
|-
|1981 || ''Overheard'' || || [[Theatre Royal Haymarket]], London
|-
|1985 || ''[[The Corn is Green]]'' || Miss Moffat || [[The Old Vic]], London
|-
|}

=== Radio ===
[[File:NBC University Theatre - 19490403 - Jane Eyre.ogg|alt=|thumb|A 1949 [[Adaptations of Jane Eyre|adaptation]] of ''[[Jane Eyre]]'' for ''[[NBC University Theatre]]'', starring Kerr]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Program !! Episode/Source
|-
| 1944|| ''A Date with Nurse Dugdale'' || BBC Home Service, 19 May 1944. <br/>Guest star role in the penultimate episode.
|-
| 1949|| ''[[NBC University Theatre]]'' || ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', 3 April 1949.
|-
| 1952|| ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]'' || ''[[King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)|King Solomon's Mines]]''<ref>{{cite news| last1=Kirby| first1=Walter| title=Better Radio Programs for the Week| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2613711/the_decatur_daily_review/| newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review| date=30 November 1952| page=48| via=[[Newspapers.com]]| access-date=14 June 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|-
| 1952|| ''[[Hallmark Playhouse]]'' || ''The Pleasant Lea''<ref>{{cite news| last1=Kirby| first1=Walter| title=Better Radio Programs for the Week| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2477300/the_decatur_daily_review/| newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review| date=9 March 1952| page=42| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=23 May 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|-
| 1952|| ''Hollywood Sound Stage'' || ''[[Michael and Mary]]''<ref name="Better Radio Programs for the Week">{{cite news| last1=Kirby| first1=Walter| title=Better Radio Programs for the Week| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2470060/the_decatur_daily_review/| newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review| date=16 March 1952| page=44| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=23 May 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|-
| 1952|| ''[[Suspense (radio drama)|Suspense]]'' || ''The Colonel's Lady''<ref>{{cite news| last1=Kirby| first1=Walter| title=Better Radio Programs for the Week| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2448157/the_decatur_daily_review/| newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review| date=30 March 1952| page=46| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=18 May 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|-
| 1952|| ''[[Hollywood Star Playhouse]]'' || ''Companion Wanted''<ref name="Better Radio Programs for the Week"/>
|}

== Awards and nominations ==
'''[[Academy Awards]]'''
[[File:Deborah Kerr and Tony Bartley.jpg|thumb|Kerr at the [[29th Academy Awards|1957 Academy Awards]], where she received the third of her six "best actress" Oscar nominations]]
{| class="wikitable" width="75%" cellpadding="5"
|-
! width="10%"|Year
! width="35%"|Category
! width="35%"|Work
! width="10%"|Result
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[22nd Academy Awards|1950]] || rowspan="6"|[[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] || ''[[Edward, My Son]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[26th Academy Awards|1954]] || ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[29th Academy Awards|1957]] || ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[30th Academy Awards|1958]] || ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[31st Academy Awards|1959]] || ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[33rd Academy Awards|1961]] || ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[66th Academy Awards|1994]] || [[Academy Honorary Award|Honorary Oscar]] || -- || {{won}}
|-
|}

She is tied with [[Thelma Ritter]] and [[Amy Adams]] as the actresses with the second most nominations without winning, surpassed only by [[Glenn Close]], who has been nominated eight times without winning.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

'''[[British Academy Film Awards]]'''
{| class="wikitable" width="75%" cellpadding="5"
|-
! width="10%"|Year
! width="35%"|Category
! width="35%"|Work
! width="10%"|Result
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[9th British Academy Film Awards|1956]] || rowspan="4"| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|Best British Actress]] ||''[[The End of the Affair (1955 film)|The End of the Affair]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[11th British Academy Film Awards|1958]] || ''[[Tea and Sympathy (film)|Tea and Sympathy]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[15th British Academy Film Awards|1962]] || ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[18th British Academy Film Awards|1965]] || ''[[The Chalk Garden (film)|The Chalk Garden]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[44th British Academy Film Awards|1991]] || Special Award || -- || {{won}}
|-
|}

'''[[Primetime Emmy Awards]]'''
{| class="wikitable" width="75%" cellpadding="5"
|-
! width="10%"|Year
! width="35%"|Category
! width="35%"|Work
! width="10%"|Result
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[37th Primetime Emmy Awards|1985]] || [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie|Outstanding Supporting Actress - Limited Series]] || ''[[A Woman of Substance (miniseries)|A Woman of Substance]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|}

'''[[Golden Globe Awards]]'''
[[File:Kirk Douglas and Deborah Kerr, 1957 Golden Globe Awards.jpg|thumb|Best actress winner Kerr, alongside the best actor winner [[Kirk Douglas]] at the [[14th Golden Globe Awards]] in 1957]]
{| class="wikitable" width="75%" cellpadding="5"
|-
! width="10%"|Year
! width="35%"|Category
! width="35%"|Work
! width="10%"|Result
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[7th Golden Globe Awards|1950]] || [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]] || ''[[Edward, My Son]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[14th Golden Globe Awards|1957]] || [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]] || ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[15th Golden Globe Awards|1958]] || rowspan="2" | [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]] || ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| [[16th Golden Globe Awards|1959]] || ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
| Henrietta Award (World Film Favorite) || -- || {{won}}
|-
|}

'''[[New York Film Critics Circle|NYFCC Awards]]'''
{| class="wikitable" width="75%" cellpadding="5"
|-
! width="10%"|Year
! width="35%"|Category
! width="35%"|Work
! width="10%"|Result
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[1946 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1946]] || rowspan="5"| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] || ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'', ''[[Love on the Dole]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[1947 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1947]] || ''[[Black Narcissus]]'', ''[[I See a Dark Stranger]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[1956 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1956]] || ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'', ''[[Tea and Sympathy (film)|Tea and Sympathy]]'' || {{nominated}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[1957 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1957]] || ''[[Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| [[1960 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1960]] || ''[[The Sundowners (1960 film)|The Sundowners]]'' || {{won}}
|-
|}

== Honours ==
[[File:Deborah Kerr Star HWF.JPG|thumb|right|Kerr's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1709 Vine Street]]

Kerr was made a Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 1998, but was unable to accept the honour in person because of ill health.<ref name="Baxter 2007 Deborah Kerr obituary">{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Baxter |title=Deborah Kerr |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/oct/18/obituaries.news |format=obituary |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=18 October 2007 |access-date=20 June 2020 |location=London}}</ref> She was also honoured in Hollywood, where she received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 1709 Vine Street for her contributions to the motion picture industry.<ref name="walkoffame">{{cite web |title=Deborah Kerr |url=https://walkoffame.com/deborah-kerr/ |website=[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] |date=25 October 2019 |access-date=June 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218001805/https://walkoffame.com/deborah-kerr/ |archive-date=December 18, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although nominated six times as Best Actress, Kerr never won a competitive Oscar. In 1994, [[Glenn Close]] presented Kerr with the [[Honorary Oscar]] for lifetime achievement with a citation recognising her as "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://observer.com/2018/02/biggest-snubs-in-academy-awards-history-glenn-close-alfred-hitchcock/| title=Biggest Snubs in Academy Awards History| last=White| first=Jim| date=2 February 2018 |work=[[Observer Media|Observer]]|location=New York|access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref>

Kerr won a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress&nbsp;– Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress&nbsp;– Motion Picture Musical or Comedy"]] for ''The King and I'' in 1957 and a Henrietta Award for "World Film Favorite&nbsp;– Female". She was the first performer to win the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress|New York Film Critics Circle Award for "Best Actress"]] three times (1947, 1957 and 1960).{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Although she never won a [[BAFTA]] or [[Cannes Film Festival]] award in a competitive category, both organisations gave Kerr honorary awards: a Cannes Film Festival Tribute in 1984<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&id_notice=CPB93005735 |title=Pierre Tchernia présentateur du palmares du festival de Cannes |access-date=20 June 2020 |date=23 May 1984 |trans-title=Pierre Tchernia, presenter of the Cannes Festival palmares |publisher=Festival International de Cannes |language=fr}}</ref> and a BAFTA Special Award in 1991.<ref name="Telegraph" />

In September and October 2010, Josephine Botting of the [[British Film Institute]] curated the "Deborah Kerr Season", which included around twenty of her feature films and an exhibition of posters, memorabilia and personal items loaned by her family.<ref name="bl2011">{{cite magazine |last=Andrew |first=Penelope |date=April 30, 2011 |title=Deborah Kerr: An Actress in Search of an Author |url=https://brightlightsfilm.com/deborah-kerr-an-actress-in-search-of-an-author/ |magazine=[[Bright Lights Film Journal]] |access-date=June 26, 2024}}</ref>

In September 2021, Kerr's grandsons, Joe and [[Lex Shrapnel]], unveiled a memorial plaque at the former family home in [[Weston-super-Mare]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pickstock |first1=Heather |title=Hollywood actress Deborah Kerr recognised in home town of Weston-super-Mare |url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/hollywood-actress-deborah-kerr-recognised-5862536 |website=Somerset Live |date=3 September 2021 |access-date=5 September 2021}}</ref>

On 30 September 2021, on what would have been Kerr's one hundredth birthday, the [[Lord Provost]] of Glasgow, [[Philip Braat]], unveiled a memorial plaque in Ruskin Terrace, on the site of the nursing home where Kerr was born.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Deborah |title=Glasgow roots of Hollywood star celebrated as plaque is unveiled |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19617170.glasgow-roots-hollywood-star-celebrated-plaque-unveiled/ |access-date=1 October 2021 |work=The Herald |date=1 October 2021 |page=3}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Patricia Bartley]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Braun, Eric. ''Deborah Kerr''. St. Martin's Press, 1978. {{ISBN|0-312-18895-1}}.
* Capua, Michelangelo. ''Deborah Kerr. A Biography''. McFarland, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-5882-0}}.
* Street, Sarah. ''Deborah Kerr''. British Film Institute, 2018. {{ISBN|978-1844576753}}.
* Powell, Michael. ''A Life in Movies''. Heinemann, 1986. {{ISBN|0-434-59945-X}}.
* Andrew, Penelope. "Deborah Kerr: An Actress in Search of an Author". ''Bright Lights Film Journal'', May 2011, Issue #72. [http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/72/72kerr_andrew.php Deborah Kerr: An Actress in Search of an Author], (c) Penelope Andrew, 2011.

== External links ==
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* {{IBDB name}}
* {{IMDb name|0000039}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
* [http://www.deborahkerr.weebly.com Deborah Kerr "Rhymes with Star" tribute site]
* [http://www.helensburghheroes.com/heroes/deborah_kerr Deborah Kerr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707035710/http://www.helensburghheroes.com/heroes/deborah_kerr |date=7 July 2011 }} at Helensburgh Heroes.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080926023358/http://www.cinemagraphe.com/enigma-deborah-kerr.php The Enigma of Deborah Kerr], ephemera, media files and essay at cinemagraphe.com.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080611114714/http://sydneyfilmfestival.org/films.asp?sID=4&id=71 "From Kerr To Eternity"], 55th Sydney Film Festival Deborah Kerr retrospective (2008).
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-russnow/deborah-kerr-rhymes-with_b_95546.html Deborah Kerr Rhymes With Star, and What a Star She Was: She Deserves to be Remembered, Too], ''[[Huffington Post]]'', 7 April 2008.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080417100010/http://www.pedroalmodovar.es/PAB_EN_01TAbrazosRotos.asp Deborah Kerr tribute] by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, whose script for his film ''[[Broken Embraces]]'' was influenced by his reflections on her at the time of her death.
* [http://www.deborahkerr.es Extensive collection of press articles from the 1940s to 2000s, photo galleries and other information] at deborahkerr.es (April 2009).
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1615 Photographs and literature] at virtual-history.com.

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Deborah Kerr
|list =
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{British Film Institute Fellowship}}
{{David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressMotionPictureMusicalComedy 1950-1960}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Deborah}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish actresses]]
[[Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Spain]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in England]]
[[Category:Donaldson Award winners]]
[[Category:David di Donatello winners]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]
[[Category:Actors from Helensburgh]]
[[Category:Scottish film actresses]]
[[Category:Scottish stage actresses]]
[[Category:Scottish television actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Glasgow]]
[[Category:Actors from Mid Suffolk District]]
[[Category:British expatriate actresses in the United States]]