text: deborah kerr deborah kerr cbe ( / / ; born deborah jane kerr - trimmer ; 30 september 1921 – 16 october 2007 ) was a scottish - born film , theatre and television actress . during her career , she won a golden globe for her performance as anna leonowens in the motion picture the king and i ( 1956 ) and the sarah siddons award for her performance as " laura reynolds " in the play tea and sympathy ( a role she originated on broadway ) . she was also a three - time winner of the new york film critics circle award for best actress . kerr was nominated six times for the academy award for best actress , more than any other actress without ever winning . in 1994 , however , having already received honorary awards from the cannes film festival and bafta , she received an academy honorary award 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 " . as well as the king and i , her films include an affair to remember ; from here to eternity ; quo vadis ; the innocents ; black narcissus ; heaven knows , mr. allison ; king solomon 's mines ; the life and death of colonel blimp ; the sundowners and separate tables . early life deborah jane kerr - trimmer was born in a private nursing home ( hospital ) in glasgow , the only daughter of kathleen rose ( née smale ) and capt. arthur charles kerr - trimmer , a world war i veteran who lost a leg at the battle of the somme and later became a naval architect and civil engineer . she spent the first three years of her life in the nearby town of helensburgh , where her parents lived with deborah 's grandparents in a house on west king street . kerr had a younger brother , edmund ( " teddy " ) , who became a journalist . he was killed in a road rage incident in 2004 . kerr was educated at the independent northumberland house school , , and at school , weston - super - mare . kerr originally trained as a ballet dancer , first appearing on stage at 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 ran the hicks - smale drama school in bristol . 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 ) . career theatre 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 shakespeare productions at the 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 . 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 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 " . deborah kerr returned to the london stage 29 years later , in many productions including the old - fashioned , the day after the fair ( lyric , 1972 ) , a peter ustinov comedy , ( haymarket , 1981 ) and a revival of emlyn williams 's the corn is green . after her first london success in 1943 , she toured england and scotland in heartbreak house . near the end of the second world war , she also toured holland , france , and belgium for ensa as " mrs manningham " in angel street , and britain ( with stewart granger ) in gaslight . having established herself as a film actress in the meantime , she made her broadway debut in 1953 , appearing in robert anderson 's tea and sympathy , for which she received a tony award nomination . kerr repeated her role along with her stage partner john kerr ( no relation ) in vincente minnelli 's film adaptation of the drama . 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 . in 1975 , she returned to broadway , creating the role of nancy in edward albee 's pulitzer prize - winning play . in 1977 , she came back to the west end , playing the title role in a production of george bernard shaw 's 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 : 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 . films kerr 's first film role was in the british production contraband in 1940 , but her scenes were left on the cutting room floor . with her next two british films — major barbara and love on the dole ( both 1941 ) — her screen future seemed assured and her performance , said james agate of 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 about a new star " . she went on to make hatter 's castle ( 1942 ) , in which she starred opposite robert newton and james mason , and then played a norwegian resistance fighter in the day will dawn ( 1942 ) . she was an immediate hit with the public : british exhibitors voted her the most popular local female star at the box office . in 1943 , she played three women in michael powell and emeric pressburger 's the life and death of colonel blimp . during the filming , according to powell 's autobiography , powell and she became lovers : " i realised that deborah was both the ideal and the flesh - and - blood woman whom i had been searching for " . kerr made clear that her surname should be pronounced the same as " car " . to avoid confusion over pronunciation , louis b. mayer of mgm billed her as " kerr rhymes with star ! " 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 . 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 mgm . 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 . her role as a troubled nun in the powell and pressburger production of black narcissus in 1947 did indeed bring 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 . soon she received the first of her academy award nominations for edward , my son , a 1949 drama set in england that co - starred spencer tracy . 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 starred in the 1950 adventure film king solomon 's mines , shot on location in africa with stewart granger and richard carlson . this was immediately followed by her appearance in the religious epic quo vadis ? ( 1951 ) , shot at cinecittà in rome , in which she played the indomitable , a first - century christian . she then played princess flavia in a remake of the prisoner of zenda ( 1952 ) . in 1953 , kerr " showed her theatrical mettle " as portia in joseph mankiewicz 's julius caesar ( 1953 ) . she then departed from typecasting with a performance that brought out her sensuality , as " karen holmes " , the embittered military wife in fred zinnemann 's from here to eternity ( 1953 ) , for which she received an oscar nomination for best actress . the american film institute acknowledged the iconic status of the scene from that film in which burt lancaster and she illicitly and passionately amidst crashing waves on a hawaiian beach . the organisation ranked it 20th in its list of the 100 most romantic films of all time . thereafter , kerr 's career choices would make her known in hollywood for her versatility as an actress . she played the repressed wife in the end of the affair ( 1955 ) , with van johnson ; a nun in heaven knows , mr. allison ( 1957 ) opposite her long - time friend robert mitchum ; a mama 's girl in separate tables ( 1958 ) opposite david niven ; and a governess in both the chalk garden and the innocents ( 1961 ) . she also portrayed an earthy australian sheep - herder 's wife in the sundowners and appeared as lustful and beautiful screen in both beloved infidel and bonjour . among her most famous roles were anna leonowens in the film version of the rodgers and hammerstein musical the king and i ( 1956 ) ; and opposite cary grant as his shipboard romantic interest terri mckay in the bittersweet love story an affair to remember ( 1957 ) . she reunited with grant and mitchum for a sophisticated comedy , the grass is greener , and then joined dean martin and frank sinatra in a love triangle for a romantic comedy , marriage on the rocks . in 1966 , 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 favor of appearing in an aborted stage version of flowers for algernon . in 1967 , kerr starred in the comedy casino royale , achieving the distinction of being , at 46 , the oldest " bond girl " in any james bond film , until monica bellucci , at the age of 50 , became a " bond girl " in spectre ( 2015 ) . in 1969 , pressure of competition from younger , upcoming actresses made her agree to appear nude in john frankenheimer 's the gypsy moths , the only nude scene in her career . concern about the parts being offered to her , as well as the increasing amount of nudity included in films , led her to abandon the medium at the end of the 1960s in favour of television and theatre work . 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 movie — in witness for the prosecution . later , kerr rejoined screen partner robert mitchum in reunion at . she also took on the role of the older emma harte , a tycoon , in the adaptation of barbara taylor bradford 's a woman of substance . for this performance , kerr was nominated for an emmy award . personal life kerr 's first marriage was to squadron leader anthony bartley raf on 29 november 1945 . they had two daughters , melanie jane ( born 27 december 1947 ) and francesca ann ( born 20 december 1951 and subsequently married to the actor john shrapnel ) . the marriage was troubled , owing to bartley 's jealousy of his wife 's fame and financial success 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 , switzerland and marbella , spain , she 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 . death kerr died on 16 october 2007 in , a village in suffolk , england , from the effects of parkinson 's disease . she was 86 . less than three weeks later , on 4 november , her husband peter viertel died of cancer . at the time of viertel 's death , director michael was filming the documentary peter viertel : between the lines which would include reminiscences concerning kerr and the academy awards . she is buried at . honours deborah 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 . she was also honoured in hollywood , where , for her contributions to the motion picture industry , she received a star on the hollywood walk of fame at 1709 vine street . kerr won a golden globe award for " best actress – motion picture musical or comedy " for the king and i in 1957 and a henrietta award for " world film favorite – female " . she was the first performer to win the new york film critics circle award for " best actress " three times ( 1947 , 1957 and 1960 ) . although she never won a bafta , oscar or cannes film festival award in a competitive category , all three organisations gave kerr honorary awards : a cannes film festival tribute in 1984 ; a bafta special award in 1991 ; and an academy honorary award in 1994 . 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 . biographies of kerr have been published by eric braun and , in 2010 , by the entertainment journalist michelangelo capua , but she has yet to receive an in - depth study of her filmography , artistry or life . award nominations deborah kerr was nominated six times for the academy award for best actress : edward , my son ( 1949 ) , from here to eternity ( 1953 ) , the king and i ( 1956 ) , heaven knows , mr. allison ( 1957 ) , separate tables ( 1958 ) and the sundowners ( 1960 ) . she received one academy honorary award for her career in 1994 . she was also nominated four times for the bafta award for best british actress : the end of the affair ( 1955 ) , tea and sympathy ( 1956 ) , the sundowners ( 1961 ) and the chalk garden ( 1964 ) . she received one emmy award nomination in 1985 for outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or a special for a woman of substance . she was also nominated for the golden globe award for best actress – motion picture drama for edward , my son ( 1949 ) , heaven knows , mr. allison ( 1957 ) and separate tables ( 1958 ) . filmography radio appearances