Although a cruel illness sidelined Deborah Kerr for the last twenty years of her life, she was never forgotten by those who appreciate either great actresses or beautiful women. From the 1940s on, she quietly gave some of the most distinguished perfomances the British and American cinemas have ever seen. Although her image was always that of an elegant and proper lady, within that image she had an astonishingly broad range, from the beleaguered nun of "Black Narcissus" to the adulterous officer's wife of "From Here to Eternity," the King of Siam's friend, adviser and dancing partner in "The King and I," the nightclub singer of "An Affair to Remember," the hysterical, mother-ridden spinster of "Separate Tables," and the possibly mad governess of "The Innocents." The last-named movie may contain her greatest performance; during her interview with Michael Redgrave, when she affirms her love of children, there is just the slightest touch of desperation in her voice, just the slightest glint of derangement in her eyes, making us wonder just how far we can trust this woman. Kerr deplored the trend toward nudity and blatant sex that began on-screen in the late 1960s; as the actress who appeared in possibly the single sexiest scene in the history of the movies, making love in the Hawaiian surf with Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity," she knew the difference between what was sexy and what was merely salacious. Whatever your religious persuasion, I think you'll join me in thanking whatever Powers That Be for letting us have Deborah Kerr.