R.I.P. Deborah Kerr

A marvelous actress, with the breath of reality about her. She never over-did, or under-did. She just seemed alive. Like a real person.

I gasped when I saw the news she had passed on. So many performances of hers have left such a mark on me … starting with The King and I, which I first saw as a small child and it made such an impression that I used to act out her big angry “private moment” number when she tells the King off – alone in my room. She was so feisty. So … palpably emotional, without being too much, too melodramatic.

For example: watch her face when the King approaches her, one arm outstretched – ready to waltz with her like a Westerner. They never even kiss. But it’s one of the most erotic moments in movies. Because of his face, yes – stern and open and passionate (all at the same time) … but also because of hers – it’s so open it’s like you can see her pulse beating in her throat.

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Wonderful. Classic.

Here is an insanely obsessive piece I wrote about Affair to Remember, for those of you who are interested. The post is mainly focused on Cary Grant (and the “Method”) … but naturally, she pops in from time to time. With the aura of cheese and the semi-annoying Leo McCarey morality-tale floating about that movie … she is wonderfully natural, and it appears, at times, that she is veering off from the script – along with Grant. They play off each other, they have non-verbal signals and conversations, it seems as though she is not speaking “lines” … but talking naturally. They’re great together, too. A great pairing.

More on her here. Wow.

So much more to talk about. From Here to Eternity (speaking of Clift) – but I’ll stop here for now.

Rest in peace, beautiful woman.


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19 Responses to R.I.P. Deborah Kerr

  1. Emily says:

    I gasped too. I don’t know why I did that. She was 86 years old, after all. Maybe because there’s something kind of timeless about her grace and poise, she’s such a classic. It’s hard to let her go.

    And that second photo you posted? Lord, what a stunning looking woman. Just beautiful. She will be dearly missed.

  2. red says:

    To be honest, I had forgotten she was even alive!! Weird when that happens. One of my earliest movie memories is seeing her in King and I … so I’ve got this funny soft spot for her.

    There’s a great quote from her which has been popping up today in the wake of her death – she wasn’t thought of for the role in From Here to Eternity because she wasn’t “sexy enough”.

    She said, “I knew I could be sexy if I had to.”

    And did she ever!! But I love her for not crumbling under that pressure, or being like, “Oh, you’re right, I’m not sexy … give the role to someone else.” She was like: I WILL BE SEXY DAMMIT AND ROLL AROUND IN THE WAVES WITH BURT LANCASTER, YOU SEE IF I DON’T!!

  3. Neil Clark says:

    A lovely tribute to a quite wonderful actress. I’m not a huge fan of the honours system, but perhaps someone could explain why she never became ‘Dame Deborah’?
    ps a very interesting blog too!

  4. Joel says:

    86 years are irrelevant with Deborah Kerr. She never aged; the world aged around her.

  5. Emily says:

    And now Joey Bishop, too. Today SUCKS.

  6. Alex says:

    Beautiful tribute Sheila. And “Affair To Remember”?

    STOP IT.

    What a gorgeous, natural actress she was. I really loved her work. Always steady, ya know?

    Just great. What a poopy day.

  7. red says:

    Alex – I love how real she seems, with Cary Grant in that movie. I don’t know – she doesn’t seem like a movie actress there. She seems kind of regular (even with all the silliness about her being a nightclub singer and the vaguely racist choir she runs at the church, etc.) … I just felt like she seems so contemporary and normal in that film. And they were great together, I thought. He seemed to truly ENJOY her. Not just “love” her – but ENJOY her.

    And yes – RIP Joey Bishop, too!!!

  8. melissa Gaul says:

    I saw that she died in the hotel elevator, and moaned a bit. So sad….

  9. melissa says:

    Sigh. I just re-read my comment and realized that didn’t come out right.

    I was in the hotel elevator when the little TV in there said she died. (In New York. )

  10. red says:

    Melissa – I read your first comment and the image that it brought up – of poor 900 year old Deborah Kerr – dying in an elevator – moaning … made my heart crack with pity!!

    I am just glad to know that it was YOU moaning and not a dying woman!!

  11. red says:

    Tempe – wow, thank you for your detailed thoughts about her. I would have loved to see her live!!

  12. red says:

    Doesn’t she hold a record with the Academy in terms of most times nominated and never getting the prize? (Except for the honorary Oscar which is the academy’s ways of saying, “whoops, we messed up with you, girlie!” Cary Grant was the same way. That man never had an Oscar? What??)

  13. mitchell says:

    i gasped too!! i think its a weird reaction..like we all feel a little guilty about neglecting her…i think she was just marvelous and i thank u for the post!

  14. It’s the damndest thing — I put in “From Here to Eternity” again Wednesday night, the day before her death was announced, to get a Montgomery Clift fix and found myself being drawn into all the lead performance, but particularly Kerr’s, which is very tricky. She’s playing a woman estranged from her own emotions; there are several moments between her and Burt Lancaster’s topkick where you can see her trying to respond authentically to the warmth he shows her (a warmth that surprises even him) and she struggles to connect. In many ways the movie’s real subject isn’t war or the Army, but the unbridgeable distance between men and women, with the soldier’s life standing in for the code of “manhood” (a combination of stoicism, loyalty to institutions and ideals, and unadulterated macho bullshit) that men use as a substitute for true intimacy with women. Yet here’s Kerr and her costar, Donna Reed, balancing that equation by playing the women not as suffering earth mother-types, but as idiosyncratic people who are making demands on the men that the men seem incapable (culturally or maybe genetically) of satisfying. An extraordinary movie, and Kerr is extraordinary in it.

    I could go on and on about Kerr in “The Innocents,” one of my favorite horror movies of all time, but then I’d be here all morning, and I have some pieces to tun in. Suffice to say that I consider it her most complex and maybe most emblematic performance.

  15. red says:

    Matt – Yeah, she was the real deal. I agree with your thoughts about From Here to Eternity and its real topic. In many ways, I think lots of old “macho” movies have – as its REAL topic – the differences between men and women – (I’m thinking of ONly Angels Have Wings right now – but there are a bazillion examples) … How do women factor into that “larger world” picture? I so so love Kerr and Donna Reed in that movie – they give wonderful 3-dimensional performances … It’s been years since I saw that film, need to see it soon – especially since doing all that Monty Clift research a couple days ago and ESPECIALLY because of the passing of Deborah Kerr.

    Wonderful actress – there are a lot of performances of hers that I have not seen. Having read some obits and tributes, I have a few more films for the Netflix queue.

  16. Ruth says:

    You were kind enough to quote from my Charles Lane tribute a few months back. Thought you’d be interested in this nice Kerr tribute, not by me, but another blogger I know. He did a good summary of her no-win Oscar nominations!

    http://nellieblogs.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-favorite-also-ran-when-i-heard-today.html

  17. Jackie says:

    I absolutely, personally feel her loss. This is a milestone loss to me because I loved her work so much.

    Love your perfect description of the dance scene in King and I.

    I know Eternity is considered her sexy role, but
    I always saw her as having a smoldering sexiness just below the surface. I mean Sheila, Deborah Kerr in Tea and Sympathy, that’s sexy.
    Thanks for the tribute.

  18. lorelai says:

    I love deborah kerr!!! she iz soooooo pretty!!!!! i just dont understand the sleeves!!! that put me off a bit! anywayz she really good and pretty!

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