BITTER & SWEET TIES
Mom-child had long periods of animosity
DEBBIE REYNOLDS and Carrie Fisher, a mother-daughter duo who embodied two generations of Hollywood fame, shared a complicated bond that kept them apart for years and yet ultimately drew them together.
Fisher was raised in the spotlight, her mother having already attained fame by starring in “Singin’ in the Rain” and her high-profile marriage to Eddie Fisher.
“When I was little I couldn’t believe my luck, this beautiful, funny, movie star was my mother,” she said in a Turner Classic Movies tribute to Reynolds’ career.
The pair, who lived their ups and downs under the spotlight, died within a little more than 24 hours of one another.
Reynolds, 84, died Wednesday as a result of a stroke. Fisher, 60, died a day earlier after suffering a heart attack.
Fisher, who went on to become a star in her own right, was awed by her mother’s beauty, humor and humility, and her popularity.
“Walking down the street with her was like being in a parade,” she said. “In public I had to share her. She belonged to everybody.”
Reynolds’ determination to excel and the busy career that accompanied that drive forced her to be away from Fisher and her brother Todd for long stretches.
Fisher recalled growing up, her time spent on movie sets, surrounded by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
“It was not like having private time with Mom,” Fisher wrote in her 2008 memoir, “Wishful Drinking.” “And I didn’t like sharing her.” The relationship, already strained, soured as Fisher, in her 20s, began to make her own name in Hollywood and, almost simultaneously, started struggling with substance abuse and depression. She also struggled with growing up in the shadow of her mother’s illustrious career.
Fisher’s life went off the rails as fame, drug addiction, and, later, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder crippled her.
“My lowest point in Carrie and my relationship was probably when we discovered that she was ill, or that she had this mental health problem, and that it was going to be with her forever,” Reynolds told Oprah Winfrey in a joint 2011 interview with her daughter.
“There have been a few times when I thought I was going to lose Carrie,” she added. “I’ve had to walk through a lot of my tears, but she’s worth it.”