Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds

Birthdate
April 1, 1932 (92 years old)
Place of Birth
El Paso, Texas, USA
Date of Death
December 28, 2016
Known For
Acting

Details

Birthdate
April 1, 1932 (92 years old)
Place of Birth
El Paso, Texas, USA
Date of Death
December 28, 2016
Known For
Acting

Biography

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.

Debbie Reynolds's LGBTQ+ Titles

Behind the Candelabra
Behind the Candelabra
Frances
In & Out
In & Out
Berniece Brackett
Tab Hunter Confidential
Tab Hunter Confidential
Self

Acting (168)

2024
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes as Self (archive footage)
2024
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes as Self (archive photos/voice)
2021
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age as Self
2021
Sœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God? as Self (archive footage)
2017
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds as Self
2016
The Slippers
2014
The 7D as Grandmommers Whimsical (voice) (1 episode)
2014
Committed as Self
2014
And the Oscar Goes To... as Self (archive footage)
2013
2012
In the Picture as Aunt Lilith
2012
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom as Self
2012
One for the Money as Grandma Mazur
2009
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's as Self
2009
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story as Self
2009
RuPaul's Drag Race as Self - Judge (1 episode)
2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression as Self
2008
The Penguins of Madagascar as Granny Squirrel (voice) (1 episode)
2008
The Brothers Warner as Self
2008
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History as Self
2007
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project as Self
2006
Return to Halloweentown as Agatha Cromwell
2006
The One Show as Self - Guest (1 episode)
2005
The Reichen Show as Self - Guest (1 episode)
2005
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon' as Self (archive footage)
2004
Halloweentown High as Aggie Cromwell
2004
Connie and Carla as Herself
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self (1 episode)
2003
Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales as Herself
2002
Rugrats: Babies in Toyland as Lulu Pickles (voice)
2002
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer as Self
2002
What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of 'Singin' in the Rain' as Self
2002
Cinerama Adventure as Self
2002
Kim Possible as Nana Possible (voice) (4 episodes)
2002
First Monday (1 episode)
2001
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge as Agatha Cromwell
2001
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
2001
These Old Broads as Piper Grayson
2000
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie as Lulu Pickles (voice)
2000
Virtual Mom as Gwen
1999
A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story as Shirlee Allison
1999
Keepers of the Frame as Herself
1999
Family Guy as Mrs. Wilson (voice) (1 episode)
1998
The Christmas Wish as Ruth
1998
Halloweentown as Aggie Cromwell
1998
Zack and Reba as Beulah Blanton
1998
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie as Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer / School Teacher (voice)
1998
Will & Grace as Bobbi Adler (12 episodes)
1998
Hollywood Squares as Self - Panelist (5 episodes)
1998
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Debbie Reynolds (voice)
1997
In & Out as Berniece Brackett
1997
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years as Self
1996
Mother as Beatrice Henderson
1996
Wedding Bell Blues as Debbie Reynolds
1994
Touched by an Angel as Betty Poplovich (1 episode)
1994
That's Entertainment! III as Self - Co-Host / Narrator
1993
Heaven & Earth as Eugenia
1993
Intimate Portrait as Self (1 episode)
1993
Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul as Herself
1992
The Bodyguard as Debbie Reynolds
1992
Vicki! as Self (1 episode)
1992
Battling for Baby as Helen
1991
Rugrats as Lulu Pickles (voice) (2 episodes)
1990
Wings as Deedee Chappel (1 episode)
1989
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder as Amanda Cody
1988
Roseanne (1 episode)
1988
Sidewalks Entertainment (1 episode)
1988
Couples Do It Debbie's Way
1987
Sadie and Son as Sadie
1985
The Golden Girls as Truby (1 episode)
1985
The Best of Broadway as Herself
1985
That's Dancing!
1983
Jennifer Slept Here as Alice Farrell (1 episode)
1983
Do It Debbie's Way as Self
1983
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1982
Madame's Place as Self (1 episode)
1982
Hotel (1 episode)
1982
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! as Self (archive footage)
1981
Entertainment Tonight as Self (1 episode)
1981
Aloha Paradise as Sydney Chase (8 episodes)
1981
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as Alice (voice)
1980
Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters as Self (1 episode)
1978
Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace! as Herself
1977
The Love Boat as Doris Talbert (1 episode)
1977
The Love Boat as Sheila Evans (2 episodes)
1977
The People's Command Performance: '77 as Self
1976
Alice (1 episode)
1976
That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
1976
The Sonny & Cher Show (2 episodes)
1974
Dinah! as Self (1 episode)
1974
That's Entertainment! as Self - Host / Narrator
1973
Charlotte's Web as Charlotte (voice)
1972
Hollywood: The Dream Factory as Self (archive footage)
1971
What's the Matter with Helen? as Adelle Bruckner
1971
Great Performances as Self (1 episode)
1971
The Pearl Bailey Show as Self (1 episode)
1969
Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children as Self
1969
Bracken's World (1 episode)
1969
The Debbie Reynolds Show as Debbie Thompson (26 episodes)
1969
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour as Self (2 episodes)
1968
How Sweet It Is! as Jenny
1968
The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest (3 episodes)
1967
The Carol Burnett Show as Self - Guest / Various Characters (1 episode)
1967
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In as Self (4 episodes)
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
1964
The Story of a Dress as Self
1963
Mary, Mary as Mary McKellaway
1963
My Six Loves as Janice Courtney
1962
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
1962
How the West Was Won as Lilith Prescott
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self (6 episodes)
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self - Guest Host (1 episode)
1962
The Merv Griffin Show as Self (1 episode)
1961
The Second Time Around as Lu Rogers
1961
The Mike Douglas Show as Self (1 episode)
1961
The DuPont Show of the Week as Self (1 episode)
1961
The Pleasure of His Company as Jessica Poole
1960
Pepe as Debbie Reynolds
1960
The Rat Race as Peggy Brown
1960
The Gazebo as Nell Nash
1960
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood as Self
1959
Startime (1 episode)
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
Kraft Music Hall (1 episode)
1958
This Happy Feeling as Janet Blake
1957
American Bandstand as Self (2 episodes)
1957
Tammy and the Bachelor as Tammy Tyree
1956
Bundle of Joy as Polly Parish
1956
The Steve Allen Show as Self - Recipient (1 episode)
1956
The Catered Affair as Jane Hurley
1956
Tony Awards as Self - Memoriam (archive footage) (1 episode)
1956
Tony Awards as Self - Nominee (1 episode)
1956
Meet Me in Las Vegas as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
1955
The Tender Trap as Julie Gillis
1955
Ford Star Jubilee (1 episode)
1955
Hit the Deck as Carol Pace
1954
Athena as Minerva Mulvain
1954
The George Gobel Show as Self (1 episode)
1954
A Star Is Born World Premiere as Self
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
1953
The Oscars as Self (7 episodes)
1952
This Is Your Life as Self (1 episode)
1952
Skirts Ahoy! as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
1952
Singin' in the Rain as Kathy Selden
1951
Challenge the Wilderness as Narrator (uncredited)
1951
Mr. Imperium as Gwen
1950
Two Weeks with Love as Melba Robinson
1950
The Colgate Comedy Hour as Self (1 episode)
1950
Three Little Words as Helen Kane
1950
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady as Maureen O'Grady
1950
The Bob Hope Show as Self (6 episodes)
1950
What's My Line? as Self - Mystery Guest (4 episodes)
1948
June Bride as Boo's Girlfriend at Wedding
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show as Self (4 episodes)
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show as Self (uncredited) (1 episode)
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show as Self - Cameo (1 episode)
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show as Self - Dancer (archive footage) (1 episode)
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show as Self - Singer (1 episode)
1944
Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter (1 episode)