- Maureen O'Hara was originally meant to play her role in The King and I (1956), but Yul Brynner specifically asked for Kerr.
- Deborah Kerr, her husband Peter Viertel and her biographer Eric Braun all died within the space of five weeks in the fall of 2007. All were aged 86.
- Received one of the longest standing ovations of all Honorary Oscar recipients when she was awarded an Honorary Oscar for her body of work in 1994.
- Originally when filming began on Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), her co-star Robert Mitchum worried that Kerr would be like the prim characters she frequently played. However, after she swore at director John Huston during one take, Mitchum, who was in the water, almost drowned laughing. The two stars went on to have an enduring friendship that lasted until Mitchum's death in 1997.
- She wanted to play in The African Queen (1951) very badly, but MGM refused to loan her because she had just appeared in King Solomon's Mines (1950), which also had an African locale.
- Joan Crawford was originally meant to play her role in From Here to Eternity (1953), but after she insisted on shooting the film with her own cameraman, the studio balked. It decided to take a chance and cast Kerr, who then was struggling against her ladylike stereotype, to play the adulterous military wife who has an affair with Burt Lancaster. The casting worked and her career thereafter enjoyed a new, sexier versatility.
- Her brother Ted Trimmer was killed in a road-rage incident at the age of 78 (August 2004).
- Suffered from Parkinson's disease in her final years.
- Was romantically involved with Burt Lancaster while filming From Here to Eternity (1953).
- Her last public appearance was in 1994 when she was awarded an honorary Oscar after six failed nominations over the years. Along with Thelma Ritter, she is one of the few actresses to have received six nominations and not won the award. On Oscar evening, Glenn Close presented a special tribute to her work, and the Oscar audience watched clips of her films to music. She then appeared from behind the screen, obviously frail, in a blue pastel trouser suit and received a standing ovation from her peers. A life-long shy person, she said, "I have never been so terrified in my life, but I feel better now because I know that I am among friends. Thank you for giving me a happy life." Following this, there was another standing ovation and she left the stage, her exit becoming her last official goodbye to Hollywood. Ironically, Close herself has since passed Kerr with seven nominations and Ritter's record, receiving six nominations with--so far--no wins.
- William Wyler said, "I still think of Audrey Hepburn as the princess but Deborah Kerr as the queen".
- When she was a young girl, she had a strict Victorian grandmother who made her lie on her back, on the floor, for long periods of time, in order to straighten her back and ensure good posture.
- Her surname is pronounced "car", not "care" or "cur".
- Her signature in cement for Graumans Chinese Theater in Hollywood was actually cast on the set of The King and I (1956) and not at the theater.
- Deborah Kerr established a warm rapport with dubber Marni Nixon. According to Nixon, she and Kerr worked at least a week on each musical number, Nixon closely following Kerr's movements during rehearsals on the set.
- Lived in Switzerland and Spain after retiring from acting, but returned to England to be with her family when her Parkinson's disease worsened.
- Has two daughters from her marriage to Anthony C. Bartley: Melanie Jane Bartley (born December 27, 1947) and Francesca Anne Bartley (born December 18, 1951). Bartley was a WWII Royal Air Force squadron leader.
- She has said that three of her films posed "special challenges" for her--From Here to Eternity (1953), Edward, My Son (1949) and The Innocents (1961).
- Her singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon in The King and I (1956).
- Is one of five Scottish actors to have received an Academy Award nomination. The others in chronological order are Mary Ure, Ian Bannen, Tom Conti and Sean Connery. As of 2017 Connery is the only one to have won an Academy Award (for his performance in The Untouchables (1987)).
- When she appeared in "The Corn Is Green" in 1985, she was suffering from a case of stage fright and, consequently received some of her most disappointing reviews.
- Returned to work 4 months after giving birth to her daughter Melanie to begin filming Dream Wife (1953).
- She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1998 Queen's New Year Honours List for her services to drama.
- Her aunt Phyllis Smale, running the Hicks-Smale Drama School in Bristol, became her first acting coach.
- Suffered a miscarriage in February 1961 while two months pregnant with her husband Peter Viertel's baby.
- Starred in seven Oscar Best Picture nominees: King Solomon's Mines (1950), Quo Vadis (1951), Julius Caesar (1953), From Here to Eternity (1953), The King and I (1956), Separate Tables (1958) and The Sundowners (1960). From Here to Eternity is the only winner. She was also nominated for Best Actress in the last four of these.
- Similar to her losing streak at the Oscars, she was finally awarded a BAFTA "Special Award" in 1991 after being nominated four times. She did, however, win the New York Film Critics Award three times and the Golden Globe Award for The King and I (1956).
- She was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of her outstanding contribution to film culture.
- Mother-in-law of John Shrapnel, who married her daughter Francesca Shrapnel. She is, thus, also the grandmother of writer Joe Shrapnel and actors Lex Shrapnel and Tom Shrapnel.
- Born to Arthur Charles Kerr-Trimmer, a World War I veteran pilot who became a naval architect and civil engineer, and his wife Kathleen Rose Smale, she was originally trained to be a ballet dancer.
- Her maternal aunt, Phyllis Smale, taught drama and elocution and was the primary influence in her life in introducing her to the theatrical arts.
- In addition to The King and I (1956), her vocals in An Affair to Remember (1957) were also dubbed by Marni Nixon.
- Patron of the National Society of Clean Air and Enviromental Protection in Britain from 1992 until her death in 2007.
- In the film "Eye of the Devil" Kim Novak was originally cast in the role of Catherine de Montfaucon. Filming began in the fall of 1965 in France. Nearly every scene had been filmed when Kim Novak fell from a horse and wasn't able to complete her scenes. Production was suspended for two weeks, but after Novak attempted to return she found she could not continue. She later said she had fractured a vertebra. Deborah Kerr was hired to take over and nearly every scene that featured Kim Novak had to be re-shot with Deborah apart for a few long shots.
- Was 5 months pregnant with her daughter Francesca when she completed filming If Winter Comes (1947).
- Had three grandsons: Joe (b. 1976), Alexander (b. 1979) and Thomas Shrapnel (b. 1981), via her daughter Francesca.
- Was 1 month pregnant with her daughter Melanie when she completed filming King Solomon's Mines (1950).
- Soon after she'd changed agents the new one rang her and said that he'd heard that a film called From Here Eternity was being cast would she fancy doing it. He then went to Columbia and mention her name to Harry Coen who said it would be crazy but he'd pass her name onto director Fred Zinnerman who said yes.
- Returned to work 8 months after giving birth to her daughter Francesca to begin filming Edward, My Son (1949).
- Daughter-in-law of Salka Viertel and Berthold Viertel.
- 1 September 2021 - Weston Town Council with Weston-super-Mare Civic Society put up a blue plaque dedicated to actress Deborah Kerr CBE at 47 Elmsleigh Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, UK. This was her grandparents house, her family moved to Elmsleigh Road in 1937 where she became a pupil at Rossholme School. The plaque was unveiled by her grandsons Lex and Joe Shrapnel.
- Was chosen from about 700 applicants for the role of Edith Hunter in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943).
- Is one of 27 actresses to have received an Academy Award nomination for their performance in a musical; hers being The King and I (1956). The others, in chronological order, are: Bessie Love (The Broadway Melody (1929)), Grace Moore (One Night of Love (1934)), Jean Hagen (Singin' in the Rain (1952)), Marjorie Rambeau (Torch Song (1953)), Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones (1954)), Rita Moreno (West Side Story (1961)), Gladys Cooper (My Fair Lady (1964)), Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins (1964), The Sound of Music (1965) and Victor/Victoria (1982)), Debbie Reynolds (The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)), Peggy Wood (The Sound of Music (1965)), Carol Channing (Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)), Kay Medford (Funny Girl (1968)), Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl (1968)), Liza Minnelli (Cabaret (1972)), Ronee Blakley (Nashville (1975)), Lily Tomlin (Nashville (1975)), Ann-Margret (Tommy (1975)), Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria (1982)), Amy Irving (Yentl (1983)), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge! (2001)), Queen Latifah (Chicago (2002)), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago (2002)), Renée Zellweger (Chicago (2002)), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls (2006)), Penélope Cruz (Nine (2009)), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables (2012)), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods (2014)), and Emma Stone (La La Land (2016)).
- Portrayed a governess in two films in succession: The Innocents (1961), then The Chalk Garden (1964).
- She is the great-aunt of Benjamin Viertel.
- In Italy, almost all of her films were dubbed by either Lydia Simoneschi or Renata Marini. She was occasionally dubbed by Dhia Cristiani, Andreina Pagnani and once by Gemma Griarotti in Quo Vadis (1951).
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