KINDRED SPIRITS
Fresh H’wood joy & tears for Debbie, Carrie
Three months after their backto-back deaths, mother-anddaughter actresses Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher were honored Saturday at a poignant public ceremony in Los Angeles.
Hundreds of guests filed into an auditorium on the grounds of the Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills cemetery, where the pair’s ashes are buried together.
Comedian Dan Aykroyd and actresses Rene Russo, Ann Blyth and Beverly D’Angelo were among the attending stars.
“She was always my princess,” Todd Fisher said of his sister, who played Princess Leia in five “Star Wars” films.
Fisher died at age 60 on Dec. 27, after suffering a medical emergency during a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Reynolds, 84, died the following day.
“When Carrie left us, my mother and I were talking. My mother said to me many times, ‘I never want to go to my daughter’s funeral service,’ ” Todd remembered.
“She literally just asked for permission. She said, ‘I want to be with Carrie.’
“And then she closed her eyes and went to sleep.”
Pausing for effect, he added, “She was trained in Hollywood, where they teach you to make a great entrance and a great exit.” At one point, a life-sized R2-D2 droid rolled on the stage — beeping mournfully — and Todd gave it a consoling hug. The program included dances performed to “Good Mornin’ ” and “Singin’ in the Rain,” the titular song from Reynolds’ youthful star turn in the hit musical film.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of LA sang Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” and attendees watched as both Fisher’s and Reynolds’ lives flashed before them in photo montages.
Black-and-white images showed Carrie as a chubby-cheeked tot with her movie-star mom, and then as a gap-toothed little girl and cartwheel-turning teen.
Aykroyd spoke with warm humor of his relationship with Fisher, his former fiancé and longtime friend.
He joked that while they were a couple, Carrie spent long hours on the phone in his presence with her ex-husband, singer-composer Paul Simon, trying to rekindle their relationship.
“Now I know both of these magnificent women will have a song for us on our own arrival at the station,” Aykroyd told the crowd. “After all, we’re only seconds behind them.”