Deborah Kerr

Deborah Kerr's Academy Award-nominated performances (all for Best Actress):. She died in London from respiratory failure. An un-successful six-time nominee for an Academy Award, she was finally awarded an honorary Oscar in recognition of the "perfection, discipline and elegance" of her screen work. During a tribute in 1992 at the London Palladium the actor John Mills described her as "the fairest prima donna this side of heaven". She was also well-known for her role opposite Cary Grant in An Affair to Remember. Her acting career ranks as one of the longest in British theatre. However, her most famous role was as the governess Anna Leonowens in the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I. Awarded an OBE in 1973, Laye continued acting well into her nineties.

Her "English" accent and manner led to a succession of roles, of which the only real departure from stereotype was in From Here to Eternity (1953). Her other stage successes included Silver Wedding (1957) with Lawton, and The Amorous Prawn (1959) and Phil the Fluter (1969). It was her role as a troubled nun in Michael Powell's Black Narcissus in 1947 which brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers. She acted several times opposite her second husband, the actor Frank Lawton. Having switched careers, she found immediate success as an actress, following up her debut in the British film, Contraband, in 1940. She continued acting in such productions as The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. She was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland, and originally trained as a ballet dancer, first appearing on stage at Sadler's Wells in 1938. Married to the actor Sonnie Hale from 1926, Laye received widespread public sympathy when Hale left her for the actress Jessie Matthews in 1930.

Deborah Kerr (born September 30, 1921) is a Scottish film actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet. The Sundowners. Among her sucesses during the 1920s were Madame Pompadour, The Dollar Princess and Lilac Time. Separate Tables. Born Elsie Evelyn Lay in Bloomsbury, London, England, Laye made her first stage appearance in 1915, and for the first few years of her career played mainly in musical comedy. Allison. Evelyn Laye (July 10 - 1900 - February 17, 1996) was a British theatre actress.

Heaven Knows, Mr. The King and I. From Here to Eternity. Edward, My Son.