Of course, she was hanging around Universal through the whole "silver age" of Universal Horror. Supposedly she almost starred in the '43 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA but, I gather, said "no." Too bad. It would have been her only brush with the horror side of the studio. Still you have to assume she crossed paths on many occasions with Boris, Bela, Creighton, Basil, and (a probably drooling) Lionel Atwill.

Seems like every discussion of Universal from those days credits either Deanna, or Bud and Lou, or the monsters with regularly "saving" the studio. I suspect that of all of them, Ms. Durbin was the most consistent money-maker.

She was no great actress, but she sure sang purty, and she was a very appealing personality. R.I.P.