Advertisement
Debbie Reynolds Dead at 84
Movie veteran Debbie Reynolds has died a day after her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher.
The 84-year-old Singin’ in the Rain star was hospitalized on Wednesday after suffering a stroke at her son Todd Fisher’s home. She was reportedly organizing her daughter’s funeral when she fell ill.
Her son tells TMZ the grief surrounding her daughter’s death was a lot for her to handle and she told him, “I miss her so much, I want to be with Carrie,” before she died.
Hollywood was quick to react to the news she had been hospitalized so soon after Fisher’s death with William Shatner and Mia Farrow among the first to wish her well.
Shatner was quick to react to the news, tweeting: “I heard about Debbie Reynolds. Let’s pray that it’s nothing serious,” while actress Farrow added: “no words dear Debbie — just the love _ all the love.”
Meanwhile, songwriter Diane Warren tweeted: “Step the f**k away from Debbie Reynolds 2016. Just. Step. The. F**k. Away,” and Shatner’s former Star Trek cast-mate George Takei added: “Wishing Debbie Reynolds health and recovery. My heart goes out to her and her family.”
Reynolds was taken to a nearby hospital emergency room, where her condition was described as “fair to serious,” according to TMZ.
The veteran’s publicist did not respond to requests for a comment, but actress Joely Fisher, the daughter of the 83-year-old’s former husband Eddie Fisher, wished her well.
“God speed mama,” she tweeted underneath a shot of herself with Debbie.
Debbie divorced Fisher in 1959 after his affair with Elizabeth Taylor and went on to marry Harry Karl and Richard Hamlett.
As well as starring alongside Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain, Reynolds’ film credits included Tammy & the Bachelor, How The West Was Won, and The Bodyguard. She also starred in her own TV comedy series, The Debbie Reynolds Show, which ran from 1969 to 1970.
Born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas, she became a starlet at MGM after winning a beauty contest at the age of 16, and went on to front a series of movie musicals throughout the 1950s.
She picked up an Oscar nomination for her performance in 1964’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown and a Golden Globe nod in 1996 for playing Albert Brooks’ mom in Mother. She also won acclaim in 2013 for her portrayal of Liberace’s mother in Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Behind the Candelabra.
Debbie famously collected Hollywood memorabilia, housed in her many museums and storage spaces. In recent years, she staged a series of auctions to sell off many of the items, which included costumes and shoes Judy Garland wore as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.