‘PRINCESS LEIA,’ MOM HONORED
Laughter, music and the tapping of dancing shoes reverberated throughout a public memorial to Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, which loved ones say is just how the actresses would have wanted it.
There were few tears throughout the two-hour ceremony Saturday, which honored the mother-daughter duo’s impact on film, culture and those who knew them with a mix of photos, videos, and anecdotes that kept the audience laughing and applauding.
Todd Fisher led the ceremony, which he said was intended to bring fans an intimate view of his mother and sister. He called it a show, saying his mother hated to attend memorials.
Hundreds of fans—some wearing Star Wars attire— attended the public ceremony that featured numerous family photos and Reynolds’ final interview reflecting on her life and philanthropy, and one of Fisher’s high school friends sharing some of her off-color emails to him.
A troupe from Reynolds’ dance studio performed an homage to Singin’ in the Rain, the film that catapulted Reynolds to stardom at age 19. After an opening film that was an ode to Fisher’s Star Wars role, a working R2D2 unit came on stage, mournfully beeped and parked next to a director’s chair with Fisher’s name on it. Across the stage, near a piano, sat an empty chair with Reynolds’ name on it.
Fisher, 60, an actress and writer who starred as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, died Dec. 27 after suffering a medical emergency days earlier aboard a flight from London. Reynolds, an Oscarnominated actress for her role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, died the following day at age 84.
Todd Fisher recounted his mother’s final moments and her remark that she wanted to be with her daughter.
“It was a very peaceful exit that only my mother could have orchestrated,” he said to booming laughter. “She was trained in Hollywood where they teach you to make a great entrance, and exit.”
Fisher and Reynolds had a complex relationship, with some years of estrangement before they reunited and became close confidantes.
Actor Dan Aykroyd described Fisher, his one-time fiancée, as a chatterbox who never let him speak. He described using the Heimlich maneuver on her once, and joked that if he had been on the plane where Fisher fell ill in December, he “might have been able to save her again.”
The ceremony was attended by several stars, including Rene Russo, Beverly D’Angelo, Dallas actress Morgan Brittany, actordirector Fisher Stevens, Brady Bunch actress Susan Olsen and actor Griffin Dunne.
When speakers weren’t delivering one-liners—some that had been uttered or penned by Fisher and Reynolds—music and dance took over the stage. The ceremony featured a new song James Blunt wrote after Fisher’s death, and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performed a somber rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors that celebrated Fisher’s status as a feminist icon.
After the service, fans were invited to see the actresses’ final resting place at Forest LawnHollywood Hills, a storied cemetery where numerous celebrities, including Bette Davis and Liberace, are buried or interred.
Many also paused to snap photos with some of the actresses’ memorabilia that were displayed outside the theater, including two dresses Fisher wore while filming Star Wars and When Harry Met Sally, and two of Reynolds’ costumes from Singin’ in the Rain and Unsinkable Molly Brown.