Deanna Durbin, born Edna Mae Durbin, was a Canadian actress and singer, primarily active between the mid-1930s and the late 1940s. She achieved international fame at the age of 14 with the film 'Three Smart Girls' (1936), a commercial success that saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy. Possessing a remarkable lyric soprano voice, she became one of Hollywood's most beloved and highest-paid stars, specializing in musical comedies that embodied the optimism of the era. Her most celebrated performances include 'One Hundred Men and a Girl' (1937), 'Mad About Music' (1938), and 'It Started with Eve' (1941), but she also took on dramatic roles, such as in 'Christmas Holiday' (1944). In 1939, she was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award for her contribution to cinema. Despite her enormous popularity, she retired from the screen in 1949 at just 27 years old, moving to France and living in complete anonymity until her death, refusing all subsequent offers to return to acting.