Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

PEOPLE&ARTS Monday 27 March 2017
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Reynolds and Fisher honored with humor, music and dance

ANTHONY McCARTNEY “She was trained in Hol-
AP Entertainment Writer lywood where they teach
LOS ANGELES (AP) — you to make a great en-
Laughter, music and the trance, and exit.”
tapping of dancing shoes Fisher and Reynolds had a
reverberated throughout a complex relationship, with
public memorial to Debbie some years of estrange-
Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, ment before they reunited
which loved ones say is just and became close confi-
how the actresses would dantes.
have wanted it. Actor Dan Aykroyd de-
There were few tears scribed Fisher, his one-time
throughout the two-hour fiancée, as a chatterbox
ceremony Saturday, which who never let him speak.
honored the mother- He described using the
daughter duo’s impact Heimlich maneuver on her
on film, culture and those once, and joked that if he
who knew them with a mix had been on the plane
of photos, videos, and an- where Fisher fell ill in De-
ecdotes that kept the au- cember, he “might have
dience laughing and ap- been able to save her
plauding. again.”
Todd Fisher led the cer- The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performs at the Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Memorial He echoed a sentiment
emony, which he said was Service at The Forest Lawn on Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Los Angeles. expressed by many early
intended to bring fans an (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) in his remarks. “We re-
intimate view of his moth- wanted to be with her “It was a very peaceful exit have orchestrated,” he ally shouldn’t be here this
er and sister. He called it daughter. that only my mother could said to booming laughter. soon,” he said. q
a show, saying his mother
hated to attend memori-
als.
Hundreds of fans — some
wearing “Star Wars” attire
— attended the public cer-
emony that featured nu-
merous family photos and
Reynolds’ final interview
reflecting on her life and
philanthropy, and one of
Fisher’s high school friends
sharing some her off-color
emails to him.
A troupe from Reynolds’
dance studio performed
an homage to “Singin’ in
the Rain,” the film that cat-
apulted Reynolds to star-
dom at age 19.
After an opening film that
was an ode to Fisher’s
“Star Wars” role, a working
R2D2 unit came on stage,
mournfully beeped and
parked next to a director’s
chair with Fisher’s name on
it. Across the stage, near a
piano, sat an empty chair
with Reynolds’ name on it.
Fisher, 60, an actress and
writer who starred as Prin-
cess Leia in the original
“Star Wars” trilogy, died
Dec. 27 after suffering a
medical emergency days
earlier aboard a flight from
London.
Reynolds, an Oscar-nom-
inated actress for her role
in “The Unsinkable Molly
Brown,” died the following
day at age 84.
Todd Fisher recounted his
mother’s final moments
and her remark that she