Tiroz (1 results)

Leporellos. Condition: Near Fine. N.d., circa 1940. Four panels, each 17 by 26 cm, with cut-out dress to be applied to the two Durbin paper dolls. Deanna Durbin (1921 - 2013) was the operatic counterpart of Judy Garland, with whom she was paired in a two-reeler at the start of their respective careers. There are conflicting versions of whether MGM wanted to drop Durbin's contract after that, but in any case, Durbin went on to huge stardom at Universal Pictures, which she is credited as having more or less saved from bankruptcy, and initially surely was a bigger star than Garland. Like Garland, she successfully transitioned from being an adolescent singing star to adult parts, but in contrast to Garland, Durbin said goodbye to Hollywood for good around 1950, one of the very few major stars to walk away from a career that was in full throttle. She spent the rest of her life away from the public eye living in and around Paris. This piece of paper doll ephemera speaks to the global popularity of Durbin, whose fluffy musicals, in most of which she was the only one to sing, traveled well abroad.