America had to mourn the loss of one of its sweethearts, Debbie Reynolds, just one day
after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, passed away.
While younger fans may be more familiar with Fisher because of her iconic role in the Star
Wars saga, Reynolds was a massive star in her own right, beloved by an entire generation.
From her breakout role in Singin' in the Rain in 1952, to her 2015 memoir, she navigated
the choppy waters of celebrity with grace and humor.
Let's take an in-depth look at the stunning transformation of Debbie Reynolds.
Humble beginnings
Debbie Reynolds was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas on April 1, 1932.
Her mother, Maxine, was a homemaker and her father, Raymond, worked for the railroad.
Growing up during the Great Depression, her family was poor like most others, but when
she was five, they moved to Burbank, California.
It would prove to be a fateful change for Reynolds.
At the age of 16, she entered The Miss Burbank beauty pageant in hopes of winning a blouse.
She won the blouse alright — but she also won the whole pageant and was named "Miss
Burbank of 1948."
And along with the title came a movie contract with Warner Bros.
A star is born
Reynolds attended high school on the MGM lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall,
and appeared in several movie musicals.
This success, however, didn't come without heartache in the form of a jealous mother.
In a 2011 Oprah interview with Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie went so far as
to call her grandmother "abusive."
"She had a very bad mom, she had a very difficult mean punishing mother.
She could really hurt you."
Reynolds said that her mother envied her success, and was tough on her.
Reynolds persevered, until one day her hard work paid off: Louis Mayer, studio chief,
took note of Reynolds' voice.
She recalled to People Magazine in a 2011 interview: "He said, 'You're going to star
in a movie with Gene Kelly, Singin' in the Rain.'
I said, 'I don't dance.'
He said, 'You will.'"
Reynolds practiced for five months, until her feet bled.
Singin' in the Rain was a massive hit.
Critic Roger Ebert later called it the best musical ever made, saying "Debbie Reynolds
was still a teenager when she starred in the movie, and there is a light in her eyes to
mirror the delight of her character…"
"That's the girls whose voice you heard and loved tonight.
She's the real star of the picture."
Boosted by the popularity of Singin' in the Rain, Reynolds went on to do five more films
between 1953 and 1954.
Scandal erupts
In 1955, Reynolds married famous crooner Eddie Fisher and they had two children together,
Carrie in 1956 and Todd in 1958.
Fisher and Reynolds were America's sweethearts, and were best friends with Elizabeth Taylor
and Mike Todd.
But after Mike Todd died in a plane crash, Eddie Fisher left Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor,
her best friend.
It was one of the biggest scandals in Hollywood history.
"Think of Eddie as Brad Pitt and Debbie as Jennifer Aniston and Elizabeth as Angelina
Jolie."
Reynolds found herself starring in a role that she never wanted — the spurned wife
of Eddie Fisher.
The entire country sided with Reynolds as she was left to raise two children on her
own.
Professional triumphs, personal travails
Reynolds rebounded professionally, earning an Oscar nomination for The Unsinkable Molly
Brown in 1964.
"We're going to sink"
"Not with Molly Brown on board.That ship maybe down but not me.
I'm unsinkable."
She also made Goodbye Charlie the same year, The Singing Nun in 1966 and Divorce American
Style in 1967.
She had her own sitcom for a short time, and voiced Charlotte in the animated classic Charlotte's
Web.
And when she got tired of TV and movies, she moved to Broadway, where she won a Tony for
the 1973 production of Irene.
Unfortunately, her private life remained a source of turmoil.
After remarrying in 1960, Reynolds and her second husband, Harry Karl, divorced in 1973.
In 1985, she married for a third time, to real estate developer Richard Hamlett, but
that marriage also ended in divorce in 1996.
Still, she kept working the whole time, starring in the Albert Brooks film Mother that same
year.
Mother and daughter bond
Carrie Fisher described her mother as an "immensely powerful woman" in an interview with NPR.
She said that it was hard to share her mother with the public and that when she was around
20 years old, she stayed away from her because she didn't want to be known just as "Debbie
Reynolds' daughter."
This came after the mental illness diagnosis that would follow Carrie her entire lifetime.
Mother and daughter both openly discussed Carrie's bipolar disorder, which they agree
was inherited from Carrie's father, Eddie Fisher.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that the same year Reynolds married Eddie Fisher, 1955,
she also helped found The Thalians, a charitable organization focused on mental health issues.
She was elected its president in 1957 and remained involved for the rest of her life.
Her dance studio is iconic
Debbie Reynolds never forgot those days of learning to dance and how it jumpstarted her
career.
In 1979, she opened the Debbie Reynolds Studio in North Hollywood.
She wanted to create a place where dancers could rehearse with certain amenities that
weren't available in most dance studios.
Four decades later, the studio is still in operation and has a scholarship program to
encourage young dancers to take the next step in their careers.
Family and friends
In her later years, Reynolds healed some old wounds and grew very close to her children.
One relationship that America never thought would be repaired was Reynolds' friendship
with Elizabeth Taylor, but eventually the two old friends were able to reconcile.
"We actually had a discussion about it and that's over 30 some years ago.
And now I think you know you move on in life."
After running into each other on a cruise, they mended fences and even appeared together
in a TV movie called These Old Broads, which was written by Carrie Fisher and which made
light of the whole Eddie Fisher thing.
Reynolds and Carrie Fisher also collaborated in a movie for HBO Films called Bright Lights:
Starting Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
It shows a modern view of their lives, living side by side in Beverly Hills with an 83-year-old
Reynolds insisting on constant performances and Fisher's good-natured attempt to make
her mother slow down.
Little did they know that only months after filming the documentary, Carrie would die
of a heart problem and Debbie would pass just one day later.
In Debbie Reynolds, the world lost an iconic star, a fighter, a mother and an inspiration
to all.
She will be missed, but we can always revisit one of her wonderful performances to be reminded
of the bright shining star that was America's sweetheart.
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