Deborah Kerr

This is a somewhat gushing tribute to Deborah Kerr's supposed unspoilt and unpretentious behavior--despite four decades as a major Hollywood star, nominated for six Academy awards. The basic summary of her early years in a prolific and temperamental family is followed by the prototypical Hollywood beginning: she got her first movie contract in 1939 after Gabriel Pascal, the producer and director, spotted her in a restaurant. Details the daily rigors of learning the skills of her craft while remaining firmly based at a London YWCA. During the war, she read children's stories on BBC radio and made movies, too. By 1945, she was much sought after by British filmmakers and was cast opposite Robert Donat in "Perfect Strangers." The years as a rising British film attraction lead inevitably to a grateful turn in the Metro stable--where Louis B. Mayer himself lost no time in pointing out that her name rhymes with ""star."" The book does a good job describing her film and stage career (through 1977), but does not address any personal issues or obstacles.