- Born
- Birth nameDeborah Zerby
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- The child of professional dancers, Kim Darby began her career studying dance with her father, as well as Nico Charisse. At fourteen, she was granted special admission to Tony Barr's acting workshop at Desilu Studios on the Paramount Pictures lot. He wrote later that it was her remarkable openness, honesty, emotional readiness and focus that convinced him to bring her into his adult class. These traits have become the signature of her work in a career that has now spanned a period of more than forty years.
As a teenager, she earned her first acting roles in episodes of television shows, including Mr. Novak (1963), Dr. Kildare (1961), The Eleventh Hour (1962), Star Trek (1966) and The Fugitive (1963). Her reputation continued to grow with more work in film and television.
She was twenty-one when producer Hal B. Wallis saw her in an episode of Run for Your Life (1965) and decided to offer her the coveted role of "Mattie Ross", opposite John Wayne's "Rooster Cogburn", in True Grit (1969). The classic western earned Wayne his only Oscar and made Kim Darby a film star.
Ms. Darby went on to star in a variety of productions, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for her work in Generation (1969), and an Emmy Nomination for her role in Rich Man, Poor Man (1976). Her feature films include The Strawberry Statement (1970), The Grissom Gang (1971), Better Off Dead (1985) and Mockingbird Don't Sing (2001); television movies include The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd (1974), Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) and Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980).
Still acting, since 1990, she has also been teaching her craft and is asked to give seminars at universities and film schools throughout the country. Her own training and lifelong experience over the last four decades has provided her with a rich perspective as well as a diverse collection of skills which she enjoys sharing with enthusiastic students.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Doug Kramer
- SpousesBill Tennant(August 1, 1986 - 1990) (divorced)Jack La Rue Jr.(October 8, 1978 - June 30, 1981) (divorced)James Westmoreland(February 6, 1970 - March 25, 1970) (divorced)James Stacy(March 20, 1968 - June 26, 1969) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- ParentsJon ZerbyInga Wiere
- RelativesHarry Wiere(Aunt or Uncle)Herbert Wiere(Aunt or Uncle)Sylvester Wiere(Aunt or Uncle)
- While her parents were performing at The Carousel Club in Dallas, Texas, young Deborah Zerby was babysat by the owner of the club, Jack Ruby, who would become infamous in 1963 for killing Lee Harvey Oswald.
- The daughter of dancers Jon Zerby and Inga Wiere, who were known as The Dancing Zerbys, a successful nightclub act in the 1940s and 1950s. While her parents were appearing in a Las Vegas showroom, she made her debut at the age of three, when the comedian introduced her on stage one night as the "manager" of the show. She kept the role and stayed in the act until she was old enough to go to school. Her mother was a younger sister of entertainer Harry Wiere, Herbert Wiere, and Sylvester Wiere.
- Darby taught film acting and directing for 17 years at UCLA, where such classes were mandated for all film students in the Entertainment Studies Department. She also gives seminars in acting and directing at other colleges and universities.
- Married a genie, played by Larry Linville (Major Frank Burns on M*A*S*H (1972)) on an episode of Fantasy Island (1977). Later, she played the wife of David Ogden Stiers (Major Charles Winchester on MASH and Frank Burns' replacement) in Better Off Dead (1985).
- Was engaged for a time to Pete Duel. They became involved while working together on Generation (1969).
- [on Hailee Steinfeld in the 2010 version of 'True Grit']: She's just extraordinary in the film, I said to her agent, 'Be sure you're careful what she does next. The next thing is what is so important'.
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