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Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds

Acting

Born April 1, 1932, El Paso, Texas, USA

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. 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.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (73)
  • 2024Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Commitment to Life — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age — Self
  • 2021Sœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God? — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds — Self
  • 2015Tab Hunter Confidential — Self
  • 2014Committed — Self
  • 2012Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom — Self
  • The Talk — Self
  • 2009Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's — Self
  • 2009Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression — Self
  • RuPaul's Drag Race — Self - Guest Judge
  • 2009The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story — Self
  • 2008Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History — Self
  • 2008The Brothers Warner — Self
  • 2007Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project — Self
  • 2005Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon' — Self (archive footage)
  • The Reichen Show — Self - Guest
  • 2004AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies — Self
  • 2004Connie and Carla — Herself
  • The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
  • 2003Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales — Herself
  • 2002Cinerama Adventure — Self
  • 2002Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer — Self
  • 2002What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of 'Singin' in the Rain' — Self
  • 2001Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
  • 1999Keepers of the Frame — Herself
  • Bravo Profiles — Self
  • Hollywood Squares — Self - Panelist
  • 1997Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years — Self
  • 1994That's Entertainment! III — Self - Host
  • Intimate Portrait — Self
  • 1993Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul — Self
  • Vicki! — Self
  • 1987Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood — Self
  • 1985The Best of Broadway — Herself
  • 1983Do It Debbie's Way — Self
  • 1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • Late Night with David Letterman — Self - Guest
  • Madame's Place — Self
  • 1982Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! — Self (archive footage)
  • Entertainment Tonight — Self
  • Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters — Self
  • 1978Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace! — Herself
  • 1977The People's Command Performance: '77 — Self
  • Dinah! — Self
  • 1974That's Entertainment! — Self - Host / Narrator
  • 1972Hollywood: The Dream Factory — Self (archive footage)
  • Great Performances — Self
  • The Pearl Bailey Show — Self
  • 1969Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children — Self
  • The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour — Self
  • Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In — Self, Self (uncredited)
  • The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
  • The Carol Burnett Show — Self - Guest / Various Characters
  • 1964The Story of a Dress — Self
  • The Merv Griffin Show — Self
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self, Self - Guest Host
  • The DuPont Show of the Week — Self
  • The Mike Douglas Show — Self
  • 1960Hedda Hopper's Hollywood — Self
  • American Bandstand — Self
  • The Steve Allen Show — Self - Recipient
  • Tony Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Memoriam (archive footage)
  • 1954A Star Is Born World Premiere — Self
  • The George Gobel Show — Self
  • The Oscars — Self
  • This Is Your Life — Self
  • The Bob Hope Show — Self
  • The Colgate Comedy Hour — Self
  • What's My Line? — Self
  • The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
  • Golden Globe Awards — Self - Presenter, Self - Hostess, Self - Nominee
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