The year in heartbreak continues. Just one day following the passing of Carrie Fisher, her mother Debbie Reynolds has died at the age of 84 after suffering a stroke. Her son, Todd Fisher, told the Associated Press the death of Carrie Fisher “was too much” for Reynolds.
“She wanted to be with Carrie,” he added to Variety.
Her career was launched after she won the Miss Burbank contest at the age of 16, and she went on to make a splash in an early film role that remains one of her best remembered in “Singin’ in The Rain.” Reynolds would go on to be nominated for both the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Actress for “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” she’d win the National Board Of Review award for Best Supporting Actress in “The Catered Affair,” and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for her guest turn on “Will & Grace.” In 2015, she also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Other big screen highlights include the epic “How The West Was Won” and her last feature film role in Steven Soderbergh‘s “Behind The Candelabra.”
While Reynolds earned headlines for her tabloid-grabbing marriage and split from Eddie Fisher (with whom she had Carrie and Todd), she also earned notice for her efforts toward film history preservation, while raising awareness for mental health issues alongside her daughter.
Reynolds’ passing is a tragic loss, and our thoughts are with her family and friends.
