Only day after the tragic death of author, actor and inspirational speaker Carrie Fisher, her mother, acclaimed actor Debbie Reynolds has also passed away. The star of Singin’ in the Rain, Tammy and the Bachelor, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Mother was 84 years old. Her son, Todd Fisher, told Entertainment Tonight that “She missed her daughter and wanted to very much be with her.”
A vivacious on-screen presence, Debbie Reynolds became one of the industry’s brightest stars with Singin’ in the Rain, her first starring role. She was only 19 years old when she went toe-to-toe with Gene Kelly, playing a young ingenue in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Her robust singing voice and blithe physicality would later be featured in the classic musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and in her hit teen romance Tammy and the Bachelor, which spawned the #1 song “Tammy,” sung by Reynolds, in 1957, and launched her into a pop music career alongside her many acclaimed screen performances.
In later years, Debbie Reynolds contributed her fiery performances alongside new generations of actors, in acclaimed comedies like In & Out and Mother, and on popular television series like Rugrats, Kim Possible and Will & Grace. In her final feature film performance, Reynolds played Liberace’s mother opposite Michael Douglas, in Steven Soderbergh’s award-winning drama Behind the Candelabra. She received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2016.
Hollywood has lost two legends in as many days. Crave sends our love and condolences to the surviving friends and family of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
Top Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
