RIP--Deborah Kerr

Scottish-born stage and screen actress Deborah Kerr died today at 86 years old. While her name may not hold the weight it once did, she was a fantastic actress who had a presence and a skill that holds up better than many from her time. Her performance of Anna in The King and I is definitely her most famous role, and she is very good, but my favorites are as Sister Clodagh in Black Narcissus and as Hanna in John Huston's great Night of the Iguana. She was nominated for six Oscars over the years, but never won, though was given an honorary award in 1994, twenty five years after leaving the industry. The prim demeanor of her characters masked a smouldering fire underneath, shown in her famous beach scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity was extremely hot for the time. For as big a star as she was for two decades, it's too bad how unrecognized she is today. At least now TCM will make her star of the month and expose people to a good number of her films.