Toronto Star

Reynolds, Fisher had sprawling family tree

Mother, daughter left a trail of Hollywood connection­s

- BRUCE DEMARA ENTERTAINM­ENT REPORTER

Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher both left a considerab­le mark on Hollywood.

Mom Reynolds, 84, who died one day after daughter Fisher, 60, this past week was known for her roles in Singin’ in the Rain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (which earned her a best actress Oscar nomination).

Fisher became an indelible member of the Star Wars universe with her portrayal of Princess Leia and went on to become a bestsellin­g author who toured an acclaimed solo stage show based on her memoirs.

Reynolds and Fisher’s lives were inextricab­ly tied to a host of other entertainm­ent notables as well as several not-that-notables.

Here’s a quick look at the extended family tree:

Reynolds married singer Eddie Fisher in 1955 and had two children, Carrie and Todd Fisher. The couple divorced in 1959 after Eddie had an affair with Elizabeth Taylor, following the death of her producer husband, Mike Todd.

Taylor married Fisher less than a year after Todd’s death but divorced him five years later to marry her Cleopatra co-star Richard Burton, whom she divorced in 1974, remarried in ’75 and divorced again in ’76.

Reynolds would marry two more times, businessma­n Harry Karl (1960 to 1973) and real estate developer Richard Hamlett (1984 to 1996).

Reynolds led the Girl Scout troop attended by Carrie and stepdaught­er Tina Karl.

Eddie Fisher later married actress Connie Stevens and had two daughters, actress Joely Fisher and singer/ actress Tricia Leigh Fisher, stepsister­s to Carrie and Todd Fisher.

Carrie married singer/songwriter Paul Simon in 1983, whom she met on the set of Star Wars in 1977. The marriage ended in July 1984.

Fisher revealed she had a threemonth affair with co-star Harrison Ford on the set of Star Wars in 1976.

Fisher was briefly engaged to Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd, whom she met on the set of The Blues Broth- ers in 1980. The pair bonded when Aykroyd performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on Fisher, who was choking on a brussels sprout.

Fisher’s next relationsh­ip was with talent agent Bryan Lourd between 1991 and 1994, although the couple never married. They had a daughter, Billie Catherine Lourd, in 1992, who stars in the TV series Scream Queens and had a cameo alongside her mom in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

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