Debbie Reynolds Dead At 84

[philly]

www.tmz.com/2016/12/28/debbie-reynolds-dead/

Debbie Reynolds -- who rose to stardom in "Singin' in the Rain" and quickly became a staple among Hollywood royalty -- died Wednesday as a result of a stroke, TMZ has learned ... just one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away ... this according to her son Todd.

Debbie was rushed to a hospital shortly after 1 PM when someone at the Beverly Hills home of her son, Todd, called 911 to report a possible stroke. We're told Debbie and Todd were making funeral plans for Carrie, who died Tuesday of cardiac arrest.

Debbie famously divorced Eddie Fisher in 1959 after his affair with Elizabeth Taylor. Debbie married 2 more times in 1960 and 1984.

She played iconic roles in "Tammy and the Bachelor" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" ... for which she earned an Oscar nomination.

Carrie's relationship with Debbie was the focus of Carrie's semi-autobiographical book, "Postcards from the Edge," which was later adapted for the big screen, starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.

Debbie's survived by her son Todd, who tells us, "She's with Carrie."

She was 84.

[sliderocker]

Unbelievable.

[erik]

My head is spinning with all of this, especially since Debbie passed away only 33 hours after her daughter. The two of them were estranged for a time (which formed the basis of Carrie's book [and subsequent film] Postcards From The Edge), but they did manage to have a successful rapprochement that lasted. But to have this happen is infinitely more than I think any family, famous or not, should ever have to take.

[the Scribe]

sheesh

[sliderocker]

Dec 28, 2016 21:45:35 GMT -5 erik said:

My head is spinning with all of this, especially since Debbie passed away only 33 hours after her daughter. The two of them were estranged for a time (which formed the basis of Carrie's book [and subsequent film] Postcards From The Edge), but they did manage to have a successful rapprochement that lasted. But to have this happen is infinitely more than I think any family, famous or not, should ever have to take.

Debbie dying was something I worried about as she had gotten awfully close to Carrie in her later years, and I felt the stress and grief of losing her daughter took its toll on her. I just didn't think her own death would happen so soon after Carrie's, but the fact she'd had a previous stroke before that few people apparently knew about may have caused her fatal stroke as a result of her stress and grief. RIP to a true, beautiful, iconic legend. With Debbie's passing, is there anyone still living from Hollywood's golden days?

[sliderocker]

Debbie was also a singer with a few hits to her name. Her biggest hit, of course, was "Tammy," written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. A number one, it was also a source of bitter contention between Debbie and her then husband, Eddie Fisher. Eddie's career was on the down swing because of rock and roll. He never actually had a known million seller and then Debbie has one with this million seller:



In her first autobiography, Debbie wrote that Eddie blamed another singer for her getting a million seller, that guy from Memphis, Elvis Presley. Fisher blamed Elvis for his down swing and believed Elvis encouraged his fans to buy Debbie's single. I've never been able to find anything suggested Elvis encouraged his fans to buy her single, but the fact it was featured in a movie and was beautifully sung made it a honest hit. Other artists covered the song and they didn't have a hit with it, so it was also a case of being a good song with a good arrangement.

Debbie had another Top 40 hit in 1959: her version of the Skeeter Davis song, "Am I That Easy to Forget." She sounded quite at home singing this country song given a pop arrangement. In fact, Debbie, who was from west Texas originally, seemed to be quite comfortable with rock and country music. She knew who Buddy Holly was, could be seen in a few scenes in the Elvis documentary, "Elvis: That's the Way It Is," enjoying Elvis's performance, was a fan of Elton John, performed a few Dolly Parton songs, including "Light of a Clear Blue Morning," on Bobby Darin's 1973 television show, just a few months before his death. The B-side of this song was a song published by Carrie Music, a publishing company named after her daughter and probably a publishing deal for Eddie Fisher.



A lovely talent.

[fabtastique]

2016 has been devastating for losing great talent...

[Dianna]

very sad .She died of a broken heart .. poor woman.. I believe they are together

[sliderocker]

Dec 30, 2016 18:14:16 GMT -5 Dianna said:

very sad .She died of a broken heart .. poor woman.. I believe they are together

Debbie's son Todd echoed those same sentiments, that she wanted to go be with Carrie and wanted to take care of her. How sad and devastating it must be for him to have to bury his mother and sister at the same time. The three of them appeared to have been a very close family. In a tribute that Carrie did for her mother on TCM, she said their father was never around, that it was just the three of them. That's even sadder, given that he dumped Debbie for Elizabeth Taylor and then he dumped her or she dumped him and he moved on to Connie Stevens, who had his second daughter Joely, who was also apparently close to Carrie and Todd and probably Debbie as well. Given Debbie was a woman of a strong spirit, I don't know whether she died of a broken heart or had to figure in her final hours who she needed to be with - Todd or Carrie. Maybe it was a case of both, figuring she needed to be with Carrie but broken hearted because she had to leave Todd behind. But, Todd appears to be as strong of a person as what Debbie was, so maybe he's better able to handle their two deaths?

[philly]