Biography continued... Early Career   Gabriel Pascal was pleased with his new actress but he had no projects suitable for her following Major Barbara, so he allowed her to work for others on loan out. Her next film would be Love On The Dole, a popular play that dealt with a Depression era family in Britain. Deborah played the part of Sarah Hardcastle, which had been played by Wendy Hiller on the stage. With Clifford Evans and Mary Merral in Love On The Dole Kerr was top billed in Love On The Dole and she received tremendous reviews when the film opened in April of 1941. Her career continued to climb. She was next cast as William Penn's wife in Penn of Pennsylvania (titled The Courageous Mr. Penn in the U.S.) and the female lead in Hatter's Castle and in the war drama The Day Will Dawn. Kerr again crossed paths with Michael Powell who wanted her to play the female lead in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and this time her role would not end up on the cutting room floor. In Blimp, Kerr would play three different aspects of the ideal woman in three generations. Her performance in this film was quite remarkable and it attracted the attention of MGM Studios in Hollywood.   With Anton Walbrook and Roger Livesey in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

In the meantime, Deborah was offered the role of Ellie Dunn in the stage play Heartbreak House. Her co-stars were Robert Donat and Edith Evans. Following a six month stint in this play, she next worked with Donat again in the film Perfect Strangers (released in the U.S. as Vacation From Marriage.) Back in Hollywood, Louis B. Mayer at MGM was not overly impressed about the film Vacation From Marriage , but his appreciation for Deborah Kerr was sealed and contract negotiations to bring her to America began. It was during this time that Deborah met a Squadrom Leader named Anthony Bartley, who was stationed in Brussels with the RAF. They began to date regularly and Bartley proposed marriage while Deborah was filming I See A Dark Stranger. They were married in November of 1945. Immediately following her marriage, Kerr began work on one of the most interesting films she ever made. It was an adaptation of Rumer Godden's novel Black Narcissus, produced and directed by Michael Powell. She was cast as Sister Clodaugh, the Sister Superior of a group of nuns who are given the responsibility of establishing an order in an old palace in the remote Himalayas. It was a striking film and is considered a masterpiece of filmmaking with some of the best color cinematography ever captured on film. Kerr would win the New York Film Critics Awards for Best Actress. As Sister Clodaugh in Black Narcissus (photo courtesy Reelclassics.com)   Continue to Hollywood Beckons