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LOS ANGELES (CNS) – One day after the death of her famous daughter
Carrie Fisher, actress Debbie Reynolds — perhaps best remembered for
portraying aspiring Hollywood starlet Kathy Selden in 1952’s “Singin’ in the
Rain” — died today at age 84.
“She wanted to be with Carrie,” Reynolds’ son Todd Fisher told Variety.
Reynolds suffered a medical emergency, possibly a stroke, earlier
Wednesday while she was at her son’s home in the Hollywood Hills. She was taken
to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she later died.
Without identifying the patient, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman
Margaret Stewart confirmed earlier that paramedics were sent around 1 p.m. to
a home in the 1700 block of North Coldwater Canyon Drive in response to a
female patient suffering a medical emergency.
A short time later, actress Joely Fisher, Reynolds’ step-daughter and
Todd Fisher’s half-sister, posted a photo of herself and Reynolds on Twitter,
with the message, “God speed mama.”
Reynolds’ death came one day after the death of her daughter, “Star
Wars” actress Carrie Fisher. Fisher, 60, never recovered after suffering
cardiac arrest while on a flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday.
A Texas native, Reynolds grabbed the attention of talent scouts when she
entered a Miss Burbank contest at age 16.
She earned her first screen credit in “Three Little Words,” starring
Fred Astaire and Red Skelton. She followed that performance with “Two Weeks
with Love,” featuring the hit song “Aba Daba Honeymoon.” That led to her
casting as Kathy Selden, a young dancer looking to make it big in Hollywood,
opposite Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.” The role made her a star.
She went on to perform in dozens more films, including “The Unsinkable
Molly Brown,” which earned her Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. She also
appeared in “How the West Was Won,” “The Pleasure of His Company,”
“Divorce American Style” and “The Catered Affair.”
She also received Golden Globe nominations for “Three Little Words,”
“Bundle of Joy” and “Mother.” She was nominated for her TV work on “The
Debbie Reynolds Show.”
Reynolds most recently appeared in the award winning HBO movie “Behind
the Candelabra,” portraying Liberace’s mother.
Reynolds received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors
Guild in January 2015. The honor was presented to her by Carrie Fisher, who
will be forever remembered for her “Star Wars” role as Princess Leia.
“My favorite movie was “Singin’ in the Rain,’ and I had a good time
making that picture, wearing myself out,” Reynolds said at the ceremony. “Of
course I had a wonderful hairdo in that picture. … I had a bun. At the back
of my head I had a big bun, an ugly bun at the back of my head. So I warned my
daughter, Carrie, who had just (received) a part in a picture, Princess Leia in
`Star Wars.’ I said, `Carrie, be careful of any weird hairdos.’ So luckily
George (Lucas) gave her two buns. Thank you, George.”
