Debbie Reynolds

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Debbie Reynolds
Birth name	Mary Frances Reynolds
Born	April 1, 1932 (age 75) El Paso, United States
Spouse(s)	Eddie Fisher (1955 - 1959) Harry Karl ( 1960 - 1973) Richard Hamlett (1984 - 1996)
Official site	www.debbiereynolds.com
Notable roles	Singin' in the Rain The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an Oscar-nominated American actress, dancer and singer.

[edit] Singer and actress

Debbie Reynolds was born as Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas, the second child of Raymond Francis Reynolds (1903-1986) and Maxine N. Harman (1913-1999).

Her family moved to Burbank, California, in 1939. While a student at Burbank High School,at age 16, Debbie Reynolds won the Miss Burbank Beauty Contest, a motion picture contract with Warner Brothers, and acquired her new first name.

Reynolds appeared in small roles in two Warner Brothers movies and signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Cast in Three Little Words, starring Fred Astaire and Red Skelton, Reynolds's second MGM film appearance in Two Weeks With Love, received strong notices. She then appeared in the flop Mr. Imperium opposite Lana Turner.

Debbie Reynolds as she appeared in Singin' in the Rain

Over Gene Kelly's initial opposition and her lack of ability to tap dance, Reynolds played the female lead in Singin' in the Rain. Reynolds' hard work paid off in a well-received performance with Kelly and Donald O'Connor.

Reynolds went on to star in numerous movies, such as Bundle of Joy (1956), with her then-husband, Eddie Fisher (singer) and record hit songs (most notably "Tammy" from her 1957 film Tammy and the Bachelor, playing opposite of Leslie Nielsen, the first of the series of Tammy movies) and headline major Las Vegas showrooms. Her starring role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) led to an Oscar nomination, but she lost to Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins.

As of present day she was still making appearances in film and television, one of the few actors from MGM's "golden age of film" (including Anita Page, Mickey Rooney, Lauren Bacall, Cyd Charisse, Margaret O'Brien, Jane Powell, Rita Moreno, Leslie Caron, Dean Stockwell, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury, Russ Tamblyn and June Lockhart) who was still active in filmmaking. From 1999 to its 2006 finale, she played the recurring role of Grace's ditzy mother Bobbi Adler on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. She also plays a recurring role in the DCOM TV movie series Halloweentown as Aggie Cromwell. Reynolds made a guest appearance as a presenter at the 69th Annual Academy Awards.

Reynolds has been active in the Thalians Club and has also displayed her large collection of movie memorabilia, first in a Las Vegas resort during the 1990s and later in a museum close to the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California. She has on several occasions auctioned off items from the collection. In 2006, Reynolds is set to open another museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, close to the Dollywood theme park.

[edit] Awards and nominations

Debbie Reynolds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress following her performance in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), a Golden Globe for The Debbie Reynolds Show on television (1970), a Golden Globe for the motion picture Mother (1996), and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for In & Out (1997). In 1997 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy.

In what Reynolds herself called the worst blunder of her career, she made big headlines in 1970 instigating a fight with NBC over cigarette advertising on her TV show. NBC canceled her show despite good ratings.^{[citation needed]}

Reynolds' foot and hand prints are preserved at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard.

In November 2006, Debbie Reynolds received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Chapman University in Orange, California.

[edit] Music career

Debbie Reynolds regularly appeared in movie musicals during the 1950s and chalked up several hit records despite an only occasionally active career as a recording artist. Her song "Aba Daba Honeymoon" was a top 3 hit in 1951. She is best remembered for her smash recording of the theme song "Tammy" which earned her a gold record and was the best-selling single by a female vocalist in 1957 and was number one for 5 weeks on the Billboard pop charts. Reynolds also scored two additional top 25 Billboard hits with "A Very Special Love" in 1958 and 1960s "Am I That Easy To Forget", a pop version of Skeeter Davis' country hit (interestingly, Davis' real first name also was Mary Frances). Reynolds currently has several CDs on the market of both vintage performances and later recordings.

[edit] Trivia

• Reynolds has cited 1940s star Betty Hutton as a major influence on her career.
• For many years, Reynolds and Liberace shared the services of personal manager, Seymour Heller.
• Reynolds was a Girl Scout and a troop leader. A scholarship in her name is offered to high-school age Girl Scouts.

Scouting Portal

• Height: 5'2"
• Reynolds is the mother of Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher.
• Original career ambition: a gymnast.
• Reynolds remarked many years later that making Singin' in the Rain and giving birth were the two hardest things she's ever had to do.
• Reynolds declared bankruptcy in 1997^[1]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] TV appearances

[edit] External links

• Debbie Reynolds at the Internet Movie Database
• Debbie Reynolds at TV.com

[edit] References

1. ^ How Celebrities Go Bankrupt at legalzoom.com