DR
Debbie Reynolds
Actor, Producer, Writer
Born April 1, 1932Died December 28, 2016 (84 years)
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, businesswoman, film historian, and humanitarian. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portrayal of Helen Kane in the 1950 film Three Little Words, and her breakout role was her first leading role, as Kathy Selden in Singin' in the Rain (1952). Other successes include The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), Susan Slept Here (1954), Bundle of Joy (1956 Golden Globe nomination), The Catered Affair (1956 National Board of Review Best Supporting Actress Winner), and Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), in which her performance of the song "Tammy" reached number one on the Billboard music charts.[1] In 1959, she released her first pop music album, titled Debbie.
She starred in How the West Was Won (1963), and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), a biographical film about the famously boisterous Molly Brown. Her performance as Brown earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other films include The Singing Nun (1966), Divorce American Style (1967), What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), Charlotte's Web (1973), Mother (1996) (Golden Globe nomination), and In & Out (1997). Reynolds was also a cabaret performer. In 1979 she founded the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in North Hollywood, which still operates today.
In 1969 she starred on television in the eponymous The Debbie Reynolds Show, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In 1973 Reynolds starred in a Broadway revival of the musical Irene and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in A Gift of Love (1999) and an Emmy Award for playing Grace's mother Bobbi on Will & Grace. At the turn of the millennium, Reynolds reached a new younger generation with her role as Aggie Cromwell in Disney's Halloweentown series. In 1988 she released her autobiography titled, Debbie: My Life. In 2013, she released a second autobiography, Unsinkable: A Memoir.
Reynolds also had several business ventures, including ownership of a dance studio and a Las Vegas hotel and casino, and she was an avid collector of film memorabilia, beginning with items purchased at the landmark 1970 MGM auction. She served as president of The Thalians, an organization dedicated to mental health causes. Reynolds continued to perform successfully on stage, television, and film into her eighties. In January 2015, Reynolds received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2016 she received the Academy Awards Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In the same year, a documentary about her life was released titled Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds; the film premiered on HBO on January 7, 2017.
On December 28, 2016, Reynolds was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center following a medical emergency, which her son Todd Fisher later described as a "severe stroke". She died that afternoon, one day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher.
She starred in How the West Was Won (1963), and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), a biographical film about the famously boisterous Molly Brown. Her performance as Brown earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other films include The Singing Nun (1966), Divorce American Style (1967), What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), Charlotte's Web (1973), Mother (1996) (Golden Globe nomination), and In & Out (1997). Reynolds was also a cabaret performer. In 1979 she founded the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in North Hollywood, which still operates today.
In 1969 she starred on television in the eponymous The Debbie Reynolds Show, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In 1973 Reynolds starred in a Broadway revival of the musical Irene and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in A Gift of Love (1999) and an Emmy Award for playing Grace's mother Bobbi on Will & Grace. At the turn of the millennium, Reynolds reached a new younger generation with her role as Aggie Cromwell in Disney's Halloweentown series. In 1988 she released her autobiography titled, Debbie: My Life. In 2013, she released a second autobiography, Unsinkable: A Memoir.
Reynolds also had several business ventures, including ownership of a dance studio and a Las Vegas hotel and casino, and she was an avid collector of film memorabilia, beginning with items purchased at the landmark 1970 MGM auction. She served as president of The Thalians, an organization dedicated to mental health causes. Reynolds continued to perform successfully on stage, television, and film into her eighties. In January 2015, Reynolds received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2016 she received the Academy Awards Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In the same year, a documentary about her life was released titled Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds; the film premiered on HBO on January 7, 2017.
On December 28, 2016, Reynolds was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center following a medical emergency, which her son Todd Fisher later described as a "severe stroke". She died that afternoon, one day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher.
Known For
Filmography
| 2014 | The 7D (TV Series) · as Grandmommers Whimsical (voice) |
| 2013 | Behind the Candelabra · as Frances |
| 2012 | One for the Money · as Grandma Mazur |
| 2011 | |
| 2010 | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil (TV Series) · as Mary Van Der Deth |
| 2008 | The Penguins of Madagascar (TV Series) · as Granny Squirrel (voice) |
| 2006 | Return to Halloweentown · as Agatha Cromwell |
| 2005 | Disney Channel Holiday · as Nana Possible |
| 2004 | Halloweentown High · as Aggie Cromwell |
| 2002 | Rugrats: Babies in Toyland · as Lulu Pickles (voice) |
| 2002 | Kim Possible (TV Series) · as Nana Possible (voice) |
| 2002 | First Monday (TV Series) |
| 2001 | Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge · as Agatha Cromwell |
| 2001 | Rugrats: Acorn Nuts & Diapey Butts · as Lulu Johnson |
| 2001 | These Old Broads · as Piper Grayson |
| 2000 | Rugrats in Paris · as Lulu Pickles (voice) |
| 2000 | Virtual Mom · as Gwen |
| 1999 | Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story · as Shirlee Allison |
| 1999 | Family Guy (TV Series) · as Mrs. Wilson (voice) |
| 1998 | The Christmas Wish · as Ruth |
| 1998 | Halloweentown · as Aggie Cromwell |
| 1998 | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie · as Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer / School Teacher (voice) |
| 1998 | Zack and Reba · as Beulah Blanton |
| 1998 | Will & Grace (TV Series) · as Bobbi Adler |
| 1998 | Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas · as Debbie Reynolds (voice) |
| 1997 | In & Out · as Berniece Brackett |
| 1996 | Mother · as Beatrice Henderson |
| 1994 | Touched by an Angel (TV Series) · as Betty Poplovich |
| 1994 | Sidewalks Entertainment (TV Series) |
| 1993 | Heaven & Earth · as Eugenia |
| 1992 | Battling for Baby · as Helen |
| 1991 | Rugrats (TV Series) · as Lulu Pickles (voice) |
| 1990 | Wings (TV Series) · as Deedee Chappel |
| 1989 | Kiki's Delivery Service · as Madame |
| 1989 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder · as Amanda Cody |
| 1988 | Roseanne (TV Series) |
| 1987 | Sadie and Son · as Sadie |
| 1985 | The Golden Girls (TV Series) · as Truby |
| 1985 | |
| 1983 | Jennifer Slept Here (TV Series) · as Alice Farrell |
| 1983 | Hotel (TV Series) |
| 1982 | Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter · as Molly Brown |
| 1977 | The Love Boat (TV Series) · as Sheila Evans |
| 1976 | America at the Movies · as Lily Prescott |
| 1976 | Alice (TV Series) |
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II · as (archive Footage) |
| 1976 | The Sonny & Cher Show (TV Series) |
| 1973 | Charlotte's Web · as Charlotte (voice) |
| 1971 | What's the Matter with Helen? · as Adelle Bruckner |
| 1969 | Bracken's World (TV Series) |
| 1969 | The Debbie Reynolds Show (TV Series) · as Debbie Thompson |
| 1968 | How Sweet It Is! · as Jenny |
| 1967 | Kraft Music Hall (TV Series) |
| 1967 | Divorce American Style · as Barbara Harmon |
| 1966 | The Singing Nun · as Sister Ann |
| 1964 | Goodbye Charlie · as Charlie Sorel / Virginia Mason |
| 1964 | The Unsinkable Molly Brown · as Molly Brown |
| 1963 | Mary, Mary · as Mary Mckellaway |
| 1963 | My Six Loves · as Janice Courtney |
| 1962 | How the West Was Won · as Lilith Prescott |
| 1961 | The Second Time Around · as Lu Rogers |
| 1961 | The Pleasure of His Company · as Jessica Poole |
| 1960 | The Rat Race · as Peggy Brown |
| 1959 | The Gazebo · as Nell Nash |
| 1959 | Ford Startime (TV Series) |
| 1959 | It Started with a Kiss · as Maggie Putnam |
| 1959 | Say One for Me · as Holly Lemaise |
| 1959 | The Mating Game · as Mariette Larkin |
| 1958 | This Happy Feeling · as Janet Blake |
| 1957 | Tammy and the Bachelor · as Tammy Tyree |
| 1956 | Bundle of Joy · as Polly Parish |
| 1956 | The Catered Affair · as Jane Hurley |
| 1956 | Meet Me in Las Vegas · as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited) |
| 1955 | The Tender Trap · as Julie Gillis |
| 1955 | Ford Star Jubilee (TV Series) |
| 1955 | MGM Parade (TV Series) · as Julie Gillis |
| 1955 | Hit the Deck · as Carol Pace |
| 1954 | Athena · as Minerva Mulvain |
| 1954 | Susan Slept Here · as Susan Beaurgard Landis |
| 1953 | Give a Girl a Break · as Suzy Doolittle |
| 1953 | The Affairs of Dobie Gillis · as Pansy Hammer |
| 1953 | I Love Melvin · as Judy Schneider / Judy Leroy |
| 1952 | Skirts Ahoy! · as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited) |
| 1952 | Singin' in the Rain · as Kathy Selden |
| 1951 | Mr. Imperium · as Gwen |
| 1951 | The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story · as Cast |
| 1950 | Two Weeks with Love · as Melba Robinson |
| 1950 | Three Little Words · as Helen Kane |
| 1950 | The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady · as Maureen O'grady |
| 1948 | June Bride · as Boo's Girlfriend At Wedding |