Debbie Reynolds
Actress who made her name in ‘Singin’ in the Rain’
Born April 1 1932 DEBBIE REYNOLDS, the actress, who died on December 28 aged 84, found fame as a 19-year-old ingénue in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), in which she starred opposite Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. She later overcame marital humiliation and financial ruin and continued to work for some seven decades, always retaining her position in the Hollywood pantheon as “America’s sweetheart”.
Petite and perky, with a button nose and cheeky smile, Debbie Reynolds was described as “the Legion of Decency’s answer to Bardot”. She exuded wholesomeness; and when she sang and hoofed her way through
Good Morning alongside Kelly and O’Connor in Singin’ in the Rain, she almost stole the show, even though she had never danced professionally before.
Her publicity said that she lived by the precepts of “morality, hard work and good, clean fun” and when, in 1955, she married Eddie Fisher, the boyishly good-looking singing star, film fans rejoiced.
When Fisher began an affair with Elizabeth Taylor, however, Debbie Reynolds found herself cast in the role of wronged wife. She fared little better in two subsequent marriages, both of which left her in dire financial straits. established an enduring image of the singer, in leather jacket, ripped jeans, mirror shades and blow-dried hair.
Along with the more rugged exterior there was a striving for greater seriousness. But his talent went with a pronounced selfdestructive streak. In 1998 he was convicted for “engaging in a lewd act” with an undercover police officer in a Los Angeles public lavatory. At first Michael seemed determined to turn this public “outing” to his advantage and made a video mocking the policeman who had dared to arrest him. (“Zip Me Up Before You Go-Go”, as one tabloid put it.)
Though he continued to have success, there followed a string of convictions for drugs and driving offences that brought lurid headlines.