Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland, and the Golden Age of Hollywood

by Melanie Gall

The 1930s was a magical age in Hollywood, with Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney, Bette Davis and Clark Gable lighting up the silver screen. But Deanna Durbin's fame surpassed them all. Born in Canada, Deanna was “discovered” by starmaker Eddie Cantor, producer Joe Pasternak and director Henry Koster, and she quickly became the world’s most celebrated star. She saved Universal Studios from ruin, she was a favourite of Winston Churchill and Anne Frank, and she became the highest-paid woman in America.

From the start, Deanna’s life was irrevocably connected with that of another young ingénue, Judy Garland. Deanna and Judy were wildly talented, ambitious, and strong-willed young women who followed vastly different paths to stardom. While fame was thrust upon Deanna, Judy spent years struggling for success and their early friendship soon turned into a lifelong rivalry.

Despite her tragic life, Judy Garland is remembered as an entertainment icon, beloved by millions. However, Deanna Durbin—who turned her back on Hollywood at the age of twenty-eight to pursue love and happiness—has been largely forgotten. But Deanna’s legacy endures, and this first-ever biography tells of how her gorgeous voice and winning charm vaulted her to worldwide fame and how a thirteen-year-old girl transformed moviemaking and influenced a generation of fans as the first teenage superstar.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2022

About the author

Melanie Gall is a professional musician and music historian who holds advanced degrees from several academic institutions, including Manhattan School of Music in New York, Mozarteum University in Salzburg, and Glenn Gould School in Toronto. Melanie is an internationally-acclaimed performer and has sung at Lincoln Center and Royal Albert Hall. She has also written several plays featuring historic music and “Ingenue,” about Deanna Durbin and Judy Garland, had a sold out Off-Broadway run at SoHo Playhouse and won a Best Musical Award at the Adelaide Festival. Melanie divides her time between Alberta, Canada and New York City. She also hosts the Savvy Girls Podcast with her sister.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm definitely in the "didn't know much of or heard of Deanna Durbin" camp. But I'm glad to have read this- it was definitely an interesting read. Judy Garland is mentioned as an actress whose career occurred at the same time and ended up with a much different trajectory, though their lives paralleled for a long while. If you're interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood, I'd definitely recommend this.

[Alex Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's great to have a proper Deanna biography but it's definitely a Deanna biography. Judy's name is in the title to increase the sales presumably as she gets only a very lack lustre couple of mentions.

[Cami · Rating 5 out of 5]

100% a Five Star read for me! I've loved Deanna Durbin since I was about 11 or so. My mom turned on "100 Men and a Girl" while I was sick and at first I complained because I didn't want to watch an "old black and white movie". However, after watching, I was instantly captivated by Deanna's voice, smile, and charm. I immediately asked to watch more of her movies and love them all still today, a few decades later!

This book was suggested to me by a friend I met through Instagram who also loves Deanna!

I recommend this to anyone 1. who loves Deanna Durbin, or 2. who loves learning about the Golden Age of Hollywood!

Deanna has a fascinating story. In the 30's and 40's she was THE highest paid star and single-handedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, yet most people do not remember her the way they do Shirley Temple or Judy Garland. This is most likely due to the fact that at some point, Deanna completely turned her back on Hollywood to live a life of peace and solitude with her husband and children, never doing another movie or interview again.

Do your ears and eyes a favor and grab a Deanna Durbin movie immediately!

[Jackie Latham · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun book to read about a person I remember watching her movies. It was refreshing to read about a very famous person who lived a very normal life during and after. Not much really about Judy Garland. I'm a huge fan of hers but I checked this book out to read about Deanna Durbin. The stories about studio manipulation as well as the brief stories of some of the infuential people in her life was really interesting and not that I'd heard of before.

I for sure recommend if your interested in old hollywood.

[Fern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was expecting a pop culture study from the title. Instead got a fan girling gush of Durbin.

[Chy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before picking this up I had never heard of Deanna Durbin before.

While the title makes you think Judy Garland will be featured prominently in this she’s mentioned a few times with the focus of the book mainly about Deanna.

I thought this was filled with a lot of information about Hollywood in the 30s and highlighted a lot of how the studio system operated - if you’re a fan of old Hollywood a lot of this won’t be new information to you.

The writing was easy to follow, but I did find sometimes the author gave us too much information on players of the studio system that I didn’t really care about.

All in all a decent biography of a forgotten star!

[Jane Sweatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of Deanna Durbin and the great similarities to Judy Garland. It was a very intriguing story to read and learn so much about Deanna. So many complex stories involved in this history about the growth of Hollywood, those who protected Deanna and those who used her as much as they could within the perimeters created because of young actors like Deanna. I just happened to pick this book up at the library mainly because of my limited knowledge of Judy Garland's life personal and professional. Worth the look.
J.

[Ceste Stanly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. I have loved Deanna since my granny introduced me to her, but had always known more about Judy since there are a ton of books about her. Cool to learn more about Deanna. I didn't know she had done radio prior to movies nor did I know that Pasternak's career had begun w/ Deanna. There is one mistake toward the end of the book. She mentions that Deanna is the youngest daughter portrayed in the film Nice Girl? when in fact she is the middle daughter.

[Karina Henson · Rating 5 out of 5]

so interesting! i was surprised by how much fame in the 1930s seems similar to fame today, and how they differ in unbelievable ways too. i wish deanna durbin films were easier to find online, but the way that the movies, her outfits, and life was described was so vivid i felt like i was living it too

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of Durbin, gave short shrift to Garland, though. I suspect this book isn't titled as the author would have intended.