1 Widely reported as being from Helensburgh, Glasgow can in fact claim Hollywood legend Deborah Kerr, as she was born in a nursing home on St James Terrace (now named Ruskin Terrace) in the city in 1921. A shining star of the golden age of movies, she was born Deborah Jane Trimmer – Kerr was a family name on her father’s side.

2 Deborah’s first foray into showbiz was at Sadler’s Wells, where she trained to be a ballet dancer. She made her acting debut in London’s West End as Ellie Dunn in a revival of Heartbreak House at the age of 21. Theatre critic Beverly Baxter wrote of her performance: “She has the rare gift of thinking her lines, not merely remembering them.”

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3 She was signed by MGM in 1947 and is best known for THAT scene on the beach, rolling in the surf with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity in 1953, and her bewitching performance alongside Yul Brynner in the musical The King and I. In 1967 she starred in Casino Royale (the first Bond Girl over the age of 30)

Glasgow Times:

4 Kerr won a Golden Globe for her performance in the musical The King And I but despite being nominated six times for the Best Actress Oscar she never succeeded. She is also known for some exceptional performances in the likes of 1961 horror masterpiece The Innocents (an adaptation of Henry James’s The Turn Of The Screw) and Black Narcissus, from 1947.

Glasgow Times:

5 Despite her success in films, Deborah adored the theatre. “I do it because it’s exactly like dressing up for the grown-ups” she said. “The older you get, the easier it should be, but it isn’t”. She was made a CBE in 1998 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the first performer to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress three times and was given honorary awards by the Cannes Film Festival, BAFTA, and the Oscars. Deborah died in 2007 in Suffolk from the effects of Parkinson’s disease.