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U.S. NEWS Thursday 29 december 2016

Actress Debbie Reynolds has died at age 84, son says

LYNN ELBER be,” Reynolds, who more
AP Television Writer than held her own in the
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ac- movie, said in a 1999 As-
tress Debbie Reynolds, the sociated Press interview. “I
star of the 1952 classic “Sin- had to learn everything in
gin’ in the Rain,” has died. three to six months. Donald
She was 84. O’Connor had been danc-
Her son, Todd Fisher, said ing since he was three
Reynolds died Wednesday, months old, Gene Kelly
a day after her daughter, since he was 2 years old. ...
Carrie Fisher, who was 60. I think Gene knew I had to
“She’s now with Carrie and be challenged.”
we’re all heartbroken,” “The Unsinkable Molly
Fisher said from Cedars- Brown” was based on the
Sinai Medical Cdenter, life of a Colorado woman
where his mother was tak- who rose from poverty to
en by ambulance earlier riches and triumphed over
Wednesday. tragedy, including the sink-
He said the stress of his sis- ing of the Titanic.
ter’s death “was too much” The 1964 Meredith Willson
for Reynolds. musical, with Molly’s de-
Reynolds enjoyed the very fiant song “I Ain’t Down
heights of show business Yet,” brought Reynolds
success and endured the her only Academy Award
depths of personal tragedy nomination. She also re- In this Sept. 10, 2011, file photo, Debbie Reynolds, left, and Carrie Fisher arrive at the Primetime
and betrayal. She lost one ceived a Tony nomination Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Reynolds, star of the 1952 classic “Singin’ in the Rain”
died Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, according to her son Todd Fisher.
husband to Elizabeth Taylor in 1973 when she starred Associated Press
and two other husbands on Broadway in the reviv-
plundered her for millions. al of “Irene,” in which her 1958 airplane crash. Fisher with Glenn Ford in “The Ga- pay off creditors.
Fisher, who found lasting daughter also appeared. consoled the widow and zebo,” Tony Curtis in “The Reynolds’ third marriage,
fame as Princess Leia in After her transition from soon announced he was Rat Race,” Fred Astaire in to Virginia businessman
“Star Wars” and struggled starlet to star, Reynolds leaving his wife and two “The Pleasure of His Com- Richard Hamlett in 1984,
for much of her life with became immensely popu- children to marry Taylor. pany,” Andy Griffith in “The proved equally disastrous.
drug addiction and mental lar with teenage girls and The celebrity world seemed Second Time Around,” with In 1992, against friends’
health problems, died on even more so when in 1955 to lose its mind. Taylor was the all-star cast in “How the advice, she paid $10 mil-
Tuesday after falling ill on a she married Eddie Fisher, assailed as a husband West Was Won” and Ricar- lion to buy and convert the
plane and being hospital- the pop singer whose fans stealer, Fisher as a deserter do Montalban in “The Sing- faded Paddlewheel Hotel
ized. were equally devoted. of his family. Reynolds won ing Nun.” in Las Vegas into the Deb-
In her screen career, Reyn- The couple made a movie sympathy as the innocent She also provided the bie Reynolds Hotel and Ca-
olds was a superstar early together, “Bundle of Joy,” victim, a role emphasized voice of Charlotte the spi- sino. She performed nightly
in life. After two minor roles which seemed to mirror when she appeared be- der in the 1973 animated and conducted tours of
at Warner Bros. and three the 1956 birth of Carrie. fore news cameras with “Charlotte’s Web.” her movie memorabilia,
supporting roles at MGM, The Fishers also had a son, diaper pins on her blouse. But over the years, her mar- which she had collected
studio boss Louis B. Mayer Todd, named for Eddie’s A cover headline in Photo- ital woes continued. since MGM auctioned its
cast her in “Singin’ in the close friend and Taylor’s play magazine in late 1958 In 1960 Reynolds married artifacts in 1970.
Rain,” despite Kelly’s ob- husband, showman Mike blared: “Smiling through shoe magnate Harry Karl. Reynolds, who ended up
jections. She was 19 with Todd. her tears, Debbie says: I’m The marriage ended in filing for bankruptcy in 1997
little dance experience, During this period, Reynolds still very much in love with disaster when she discov- and selling the property at
and she would be appear- had a No. 1 hit on the pop Eddie.” ered that Karl, a compul- auction the next year, ac-
ing with two of the screen’s charts in 1957 with “Tam- Fisher’s singing career nev- sive gambler, had devas- cused Hamlett of making
greatest dancers, Donald my,” the Oscar-nominated er recovered, but Taylor, tated her assets and left off with her money. She
O’Connor and Kelly, who song from her film “Tammy who left him for Richard Bur- her deeply in debt. She once again went on the
also co-directed. and the Bachelor.” But the ton in 1962, remained a top divorced him in 1973 and road. “All of my husbands
“Gene Kelly was hard on Cinderella story ended star. And Reynolds’ film ca- toured tirelessly with her have robbed me blind,”
me, but I think he had to after Mike Todd died in a reer flourished. She starred song and dance show to she asserted in 1999. q