See the World Quietly That We are Passing

Deanna Durbin, one of Hollywood's biggest box-office stars in the 1930s and early '40s, has died aged 91.

Her son, Peter H David, made the announcement in a newsletter to her fans, saying she died "a few days ago".

In 1947 she was the highest-paid star in the United States. But she retired from the business the following year when she was just 27.

Durbin made her film debut in the 1936 MGM short Every Sunday, in which she appeared alongside Judy Garland.

Born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Canada in 1921, Durbin was nurtured and promoted by producer Joe Pasternak.

Her first movie for the Universal studios, Three Smart Girls, was nominated for the best picture Oscar in 1937.

Durbin auditioned for the part of Snow White in 1936. But Walt Disney turned her down, saying her 15-year-old voice was too mature for the part.

In 1939, Durbin and fellow teen star Mickey Rooney were presented with Juvenile Academy Awards for their "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth."

The success of her films, which reportedly saved Universal from bankruptcy in the late 1930s, was estimated to account for 17% of the studio's revenue during the decade.

In 1946 Durbin's salary of $323,477 made her the second highest-paid woman in America, just behind Bette Davis.

Winston Churchill watched her films before they were released to the general public in the UK, while Anne Frank hung a picture of Durbin on the wall of the attic in which she and her family hid from the Nazis.

In 1949, after 21 films and at the height of her worldwide fame, Durbin quit the movie business and retired to a village in France.

She shunned the spotlight with her third husband, the film director Charles David, who died in 1999.

Durbin rarely gave interviews but did send reporters a letter in 1958 in which she said she was "never happy making pictures".

"The character I was forced into had little or nothing in common with myself - or with other youth of my generation, for that matter."

Heard all the Hollywood hand-wringing about the death of the movie star? About how the only things that can get people to the box office are comic-book heroes and animated sequels? The people who say this definitely haven't seen Magic Mike or Argo. The thing is, the leading man isn't dead, but he's evolving into something a little more complicated. Mark Harris explains the rules of leading men and tells us who is one (Channing Tatum), who isn't (Taylor Kitsch, at least not yet), and why



The ten highest-grossing movies of 2012 included the following: Three adaptations of young-adult novels. Three adaptations of comic books. Two cartoons. One installment in an action series. And one original, non-franchise, live-action movie that was, technically, aimed at adults.

Nine of the ten movies were, or were intended to generate, sequels. The movie aimed at adults was about a man whose teddy bear talks to him. None of this is news. We're all pretty familiar by now with the not-so-brave, no-longer-so-new world of franchises and the adult children who make them. What's most jolting about this list is what's missing from it: movie stars.

I don't mean that they're literally absent: Recognizable men are cast in lead roles. What's missing is, rather, the value stars bring to a movie—a quality long thought to be one of the most reliable and precious commodities in Hollywood. The twenty-first-century movie business, judging by this list, appears to be one in which Skyfall's Daniel Craig counts for neither more nor less than Twilight's Robert Pattinson or The Hobbit's Martin Freeman. It's a business in which you can get to $200 million or $250 million by hiring Andrew Garfield (for The Amazing Spider-Man) or David Schwimmer (for voice work on Madagascar 3). And notably, it is a business in which you will not get to that top ten on the back of someone like Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt, unless they get there on the back of something like Pirates of the Caribbean 5 or Ocean's Whatever.

It's hard to escape the logical conclusion: Movie stars just don't matter anymore. Financially, sociologically, culturally, they're either obsolete or doing a damn good job of pretending to be. Whether it's because they stopped doing what movie stars are supposed to do or we stopped wanting them to do it, here we all are, apparently, in a post-movie-star universe in which the movies seem to be doing just fine without the presence of an entire category of people who have been, for the better part of the past century, the main reason a lot of people went to the movies. And we shouldn't be surprised. If, in 2013, our primary allegiances are to genres and concepts and properties rather than to people, if our biggest modern movie stars are Batman and Bourne and Wolverine and James Bond, and if the most a flesh-and-blood actor can hope is to be chosen to serve as the temporary avatar for one of those characters, then what meaning can the term movie star possibly have?

Plenty, it turns out. We still need movie stars. And perhaps more surprisingly, we still have movie stars—lots of them, and arguably a more talented and interesting variety than at any time in the past thirty years. But they play by new rules, and they have to navigate an industry that often seems hostile to their very existence.

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To make sense of the new movie star universe, it may help to acknowledge that the very words movie star now seem like kryptonite to half of Hollywood's A-list (and A-list aspirants). From Johnny Depp, who is, lest there be any doubt, a movie star: "That 'movie star' stuff, I just don't buy it; it just doesn't make sense to me." From Steve Carell, who has worked very hard to try to become a movie star: "I don't think of myself as a movie star... I'm an actor, and I love my job." From Armie Hammer, the star of the hugely expensive big-studio franchise-wannabe The Lone Ranger: "I personally don't see myself...as a movie star."

This may all come under the heading of protesting too much—the way the second somebody says, "I don't consider myself wealthy," you know they're a lot closer to it than you are. But you can't blame actors for running away from a term that reeks of greed and compromise. Ever since the Reagan-era Wall Street boom infected Hollywood with a bigger-is-better aesthetic and box-office performance became a routine part of plugged-in chatter, the industry and the press have welded the idea of stardom to money so completely that it has been dumbed down all the way to the level of elementary-school math. According to Hollywood and its observers, a star is someone who can open a movie.

But to equate stardom with mere bank-ability ruins the fun—unless your definition of fun is long and tortured analytical discussions of whether Tom Cruise is "still a star," even though nobody wanted to see a man that short play Jack Reacher or, for that matter, see a movie titled Jack Reacher. Beyond that, it misses the truth. For one thing, some actors can indeed open movies every single time and yet are not what we think of as movie stars (specialty acts like Tyler Perry and single-niche performers like Jason Statham), just as there are actors whose box-office records may be spotty but whose stardom is indisputable (Pitt, for one). By the numbers, Adam Sandler is a movie star, but only when he makes an Adam Sandler movie. His stardom, like Abbott and Costello's in the 1940s and Burt Reynolds's in the 1970s, is extraordinarily consistent, but also dependent on satisfying rather than challenging the modest expectations of his target audience. When Sandler tried to break those chains, as he did in Punch-Drunk Love and Funny People, he won over critics but lost his base. Stars shouldn't be constrained by the fact that they do one thing well—nor should the designation of movie star be subject to such casual revision every time the grosses roll in. All stars have flops; real stars survive them.

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“After so many drive-in waitresses become movie stars, there has been this real drought, when along come class; somebody who actually went to school, can spell, maybe even plays the piano. She may be a wispy, thin little thing, but when you see that girl, you know you’re really in the presence of something. In that league there’s only ever been Garbo, and the other Hepburn, and maybe Bergman. It’s a rare quality, but boy, do you know when you’ve found it.” —Billy Wilder, director, Breakfast at Tiffany’s


May 4 marked what would have been legendary actress Audrey Hepburn’s 84th birthday. There are so many reasons to celebrate this remarkable woman. Her iconic style (is there anybody that looked better in black ballet flats than Audrey Hepburn?), her charity work, and her fabulous career are just the start. Hepburn’s outlook on life was absolutely unique and charming, just like her. Here are some inspirational tips from Hepburn that will help you in your career and in your life.

1. Embrace your uniqueness

During a time of Marilyn Monroes and Rita Hayworths, Audrey Hepburn presented a very different kind of look. She once said about herself, “I don’t have sex appeal and I know it. As a matter of fact, I think I’m rather funny-looking. My teeth are funny, for one thing, and I have none of the attributes usually required for a movie queen, including the shapeliness.”  Her mother used to frequently tell her that she was unattractive, too. But instead of changing it, she embraced it and it made her stand out.

2. Do be a great philanthropist

Hepburn spend 38 years of her life working with UNICEF. Before she died in 1993, Hepburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work as a UN Goodwill Ambassador. She traveled the world to work with impoverished families and would promote her causes tirelessly. “Makeup can only make you look pretty on the outside, but it doesn’t help if you are ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the makeup,” said Hepburn.

3. Laugh

Laugh as much as you can, according to Hepburn. “I believe that laughing is the best calorie-burner.” If that is how she stayed so thin, then I am going to start laughing every five minutes. She once said, “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.”

4. Take risks

Hepburn took some major risks in her career with the parts she chose. Playing a classy princess didn’t seem like much of a stretch for Hepburn, but when she was told she would have to sing and dance opposite the legendary Fred Astaire in Funny Face. ”I was asked to act when I couldn’t act. I was asked to sing Funny Face when I couldn’t sing, and dance with Fred Astaire when I couldn’t dance—and do all kinds of things I wasn’t prepared for.” But she did it, and it was one her best films ever.

5. Do take some alone time

“I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone,” Hepburn said once. The lady appreciated her solo time (she called herself an introvert). She was known for taking long walks with her Yorkie, Mr. Famous, and even after she was married she kept a house in Switzerland for quiet retreats. “I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”

6. Do have an extra-curricular outside of work you are passionate about

Though she never called herself a dancer, Hepburn continued to practice ballet into adulthood. It obviously helped her with her perfect posture.

7. Make your style your own

Though many of us copy Hepburn in her style today (I am pretty sure she is the reason I own capri pants and striped shirts and like to walk near Tiffany’s with a coffee cup in my hand), she was completely original. Hepburn once said, “Why change? Everyone has his own style. When you have found it, you should stick to it.”

She stuck to the classics and what she liked and created a fashion storm. Her son, Sean H. Ferrer, said of her style:

“lf the lines were pure and elegant, it was because she believed in the power of simplicity. If there was timelessness, it was because she believed in quality, and if she still is an icon of style today, it is because once she found her look she stayed with it throughout her life. She didn’t go with the trends, didn’t reinvent herself every season. She loved fashion, but kept it as a tool to compliment her look.”

8. Just do your thing

Audrey Hepburn didn’t set out to be an icon—she just became one by pursuing her passion and being herself. “I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people’s minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing.”