A gifted, sensitive leading actress, born in Helensburgh, Scotland on September 30, 1921, Deborah Kerr landed her breakthrough screen role in 1940 as a frightened Salvation Army worker in Major Barbara. Originally trained for the ballet, she turned to stage acting getting experience in British repertory theater before moving to films. Kerr was given the lead in Love on the Dole (1940), the Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger adaptation of the controversial novel that was England's equivalent of The Grapes of Wrath. Although she did well in films, it was when she played three roles as the various women in Colonel Blimp’s life in the time-spanning saga The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), that she became a star. She followed that with excellent performances as the mousy wife who enters wartime service in Perfect Strangers (1945); the Irish spy in I See a Dark Stranger (1946); and especially, a stunning, award-winning performance as the determined yet fallible Sister Superior who attempts to establish a school and hospital in a remote Himalayan castle in Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus (1947).

Kerr was nominated for an Academy Award six times without ever winning but she received an Honorary Oscar at the 1994 ceremonies for her lifetime achievements. Later, she confirmed that she was suffering with Parkinson's disease and had been confined to a wheelchair. She died on October 16, 2007.

1940 Blackout – Cigarette Girl (scenes deleted)

1941 Major Barbara – Jenny Hill

1941 Love on the Dole – Sally

1942 Courageous Mr. Penn – Gulielma Maria Springett

1942 A.J. Cronin’s Hatter’s Castle – Mary Brodie

1942 The Avengers – Kari Alstad

1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp – Edith Hunter / Barbara Wynne / Johnny Cannon

1945 Vacation From Marriage – Cathy Wilson

1946 I See a Dark Stranger – Bridie Quilty

1947 Black Narcissus – Sister Clodagh

1947 The Hucksters – Kay Dorrance

1947 If Winter Comes – Nona Tybar

1949 Edward, My Son – Evelyn Boult

1950 Please Believe Me – Alison Kirbe

1950 King Solomon’s Mines – Elizabeth Curtis

1951 Quo Vadis – Lygia

1952 The Prisoner of Zenda – Princess Flavia

1952 Thunder in the East – Joan Willoughby

1953 Julius Caesar – Portia

1953 Young Bess – Catherine Parr

1953 Dream Wife – Effie

1953 From Here to Eternity – Karen Holmes

1955 The End of the Affair – Sarah Miles

1956 The Proud and Profane – Lee Ashley

1956 The King and I – Anna Leonowens

1957 Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison – Sister Angela

1957 An Affair to Remember – Terry McKay

1957 Kiss Them for Me – Gwinneth Livingston (voice, uncredited)

1958 Bonjour Tristesse – Anne Larson

1958 Separate Tables – Sibyl Railton-Bell

1959 The Journey – Diana Ashmore

1959 Count Your Blessings – Grace Allingham

1959 Beloved Infidel – Sheilah Graham

1960 The Sundowners – Ida Carmody

1960 The Grass is Greener – Lady Hilary Rhyall

1961 The Naked Edge – Martha Radcliffe

1961 The Innocents – Miss Giddens

1964 The Chalk Garden – Miss Madrigal

1964 The Night of the Iguana – Hannah Jelkes

1965 Marriage on the Rocks – Valerie Edwards

1966 Eye of the Devil – Catherine de Montfaucon

1967 Casino Royale – Agent Mimi / Lady Fiona McTarry

1968 Prudence and the Pill – Prudence Hardcastle

1969 The Gypsy Moths – Elizabeth Brandon

1969 The Arrangement – Florence Anderson

1982 Witness for the Prosecution (TV Movie) – Nurse Plimsoll

1985 Reunion at Fairborough (TV Movie) – Sally Wells Grant

1985 The Assam Garden – Helen

1986 Ann and Debbie (TV Movie) – Ann

1986 Hold the Dream (TV Movie) – Emma Harte

Academy Awards, USA
Nominated for Best Actress Oscar in a Leading Role six times:
1950 Edward, My Son (1949)
1954 From Here to Eternity (1953)
1957 The King and I (1956)
1958 Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
1961 The Sundowners (1960)
1994 Won Honorary Oscar: “An artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance.”

Golden Globes, USA
1959 Won Henrietta Award World Film Favorite
1959 Nominated Golden Globe – Separate Tables, Best Actress
1958 Nominated Golden Globe – Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, Best Actress
1957 Won Golden Globe – The King and I / Best Actress
1950 Nominated Golden Globe – Edward, My Son, Best Actress

BAFTA
1991 Received a Special Award
Nominated for Best Actress four times

British Film Institute Awards
1986 Won BFI Fellowship

Cannes Film Festival
1984 Won Festival Trophy for her body of work.

David di Donatello Awards
1987 Nominated for a David Best Foreign Actress – The Assam Garden (1985)
1959 Won David Best Foreign Actress – Separate Tables

Golden Apple Awards
1956 Won Golden Apple – Most Cooperative Actress

Laurel Awards
1965 Nominated Golden Laurel – Dramatic Performance, Female – The Night of the Iguana – Fifth place
1964 Nominated Golden Laurel – Top Female Star 12th Place
1961 Nominated Golden Laurel – Female Dramatic Performance – The Sundowners
1960 Nominated Golden Laurel – Top Female Star 11th Place
1959 Nominated Golden Laurel – Top Female Dramatic Performance Separate Tables (1958) – 5th Place
1958 Nominated Golden Laurel – Top female star 8th place

New York Film Critics Circle Awards
1960 Won NYFCC Award – Best Actress – The Sundowners (1960)
1957 Won NYFCC Award – Best Actress – Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
1956 2nd place NYFCC Award – Best Actress The King and I (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956)
1947 Won NYFCC Award – Best Actress Black Narcissus (1947), I See a Dark Stranger (1946)
1946 2nd place NYFCC Award – Best Actress The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Love on the Dole (1941), Tied with Joan Crawford for Mildred Pierce (1945).

Photoplay Awards
1957 Won Most Popular Female Star

Walk of Fame
1960 Won Star on the Walk of Fame – Motion Picture on 8 February 1960.