Debbie Reynolds
- Teen actor
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, businesswoman, film historian, and humanitarian. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portrayal of Helen Kane in the 1950 film Three Little Words, and her breakout role was her first leading role, as Kathy Selden in Singin' in the Rain (1952). Other successes include The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), Susan Slept Here (1954), Bundle of Joy (1956 Golden Globe nomination), The Catered Affair (1956 National Board of Review Best Supporting Actress Winner), and Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), in which her performance of the song "Tammy" reached number one on the Billboard music charts.[1] In 1959, she released her first pop music album, titled Debbie.
She starred in How the West Was Won (1963), and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), a biographical film about the famously boisterous Molly Brown. Her performance as Brown earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other films include The Singing Nun (1966), Divorce American Style (1967), What's the Matter with Helen? (1971), Charlotte's Web (1973), Mother (1996) (Golden Globe nomination), and In & Out (1997). Reynolds was also a cabaret performer. In 1979 she founded the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in North Hollywood, which still operates today.
In 1969 she starred on television in the eponymous The Debbie Reynolds Show, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In 1973 Reynolds starred in a Broadway revival of the musical Irene and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in A Gift of Love (1999) and an Emmy Award for playing Grace's mother Bobbi on Will & Grace. At the turn of the millennium, Reynolds reached a new younger generation with her role as Aggie Cromwell in Disney's Halloweentown series. In 1988 she released her autobiography titled, Debbie: My Life. In 2013, she released a second autobiography, Unsinkable: A Memoir.
Reynolds also had several business ventures, including ownership of a dance studio and a Las Vegas hotel and casino, and she was an avid collector of film memorabilia, beginning with items purchased at the landmark 1970 MGM auction. She served as president of The Thalians, an organization dedicated to mental health causes. Reynolds continued to perform successfully on stage, television, and film into her eighties. In January 2015, Reynolds received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2016 she received the Academy Awards Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In the same year, a documentary about her life was released titled Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds; the film premiered on HBO on January 7, 2017.
On December 28, 2016, Reynolds was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center following a medical emergency, which her son Todd Fisher later described as a "severe stroke". She died that afternoon, one day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher.
Acted in
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
2024
as Self (archive photos/voice)
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
2021
as Self
Sœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God?
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
2017
as Self
The Slippers
2016
Tab Hunter Confidential
2015
as Self
The 7D
2014
as Grandmommers Whimsical (voice)
Committed
2014
as Self
And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
as Self (archive footage)
Behind the Candelabra
2013
as Frances
In the Picture
2012
as Aunt Lilith
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
2012
as Self
One for the Money
2012
as Grandma Mazur
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's
2009
as Self
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
2009
as Self
RuPaul's Drag Race
2009
as Self - Guest Judge
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
2009
as Self
The Penguins of Madagascar
2008
as Granny Squirrel (voice)
The Brothers Warner
2008
as Self
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History
2008
as Self
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
2007
as Self
Return to Halloweentown
2006
as Agatha Cromwell
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
2005
as Self (archive footage)
Halloweentown High
2004
as Aggie Cromwell
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
2004
as Self
Connie and Carla
2004
as Herself
Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales
2003
as Herself
Rugrats: Babies in Toyland
2002
as Lulu Pickles (voice)
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
2002
as Self
What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of 'Singin' in the Rain'
2002
as Self
Cinerama Adventure
2002
as Self
Kim Possible
2002
as Nana Possible (voice)
First Monday
2002
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
2001
as Agatha Cromwell
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
2001
as Self (archive footage)
These Old Broads
2001
as Piper Grayson
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
2000
as Lulu Pickles (voice)
Virtual Mom
2000
as Gwen
A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story
1999
as Shirlee Allison
Keepers of the Frame
1999
as Herself
Family Guy
1999
as Mrs. Wilson (voice)
The Christmas Wish
1998
as Ruth
Halloweentown
1998
as Aggie Cromwell
Zack and Reba
1998
as Beulah Blanton
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
1998
as Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer / School Teacher (voice)
Will & Grace
1998
as Bobbi Adler
Hollywood Squares
1998
as Self - Panelist
Hollywood Squares
1998
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
1998
as Debbie Reynolds (voice)
In & Out
1997
as Berniece Brackett
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
1997
as Self
Mother
1996
as Beatrice Henderson
Wedding Bell Blues
1996
as Debbie Reynolds
Touched by an Angel
1994
as Betty Poplovich
That's Entertainment! III
1994
as Self - Co-Host / Narrator
Heaven & Earth
1993
as Eugenia
Intimate Portrait
1993
as Self
Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul
1993
as Herself
The Bodyguard
1992
as Debbie Reynolds
Battling for Baby
1992
as Helen
Rugrats
1991
as Lulu Pickles (voice)
Wings
1990
as Deedee Chappel
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
1989
as Amanda Cody
Roseanne
1988
Couples Do It Debbie's Way
1988
Sadie and Son
1987
as Sadie
The Golden Girls
1985
as Truby
The Best of Broadway
1985
as Herself
That's Dancing!
1985
Jennifer Slept Here
1983
as Alice Farrell
Do It Debbie's Way
1983
as Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Madame's Place
1982
as Self
Hotel
1982
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)
Aloha Paradise
1981
as Sydney Chase
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1981
as Alice (voice)
Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters
1980
as Self
Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace!
1978
as Herself
The Love Boat
1977
as Sheila Evans
The Love Boat
1977
as Doris Talbert
The People's Command Performance: '77
1977
as Self
Alice
1976
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
as (archive footage)
The Sonny and Cher Show
1976
Dinah!
1974
as Self
That's Entertainment!
1974
as Self - Host / Narrator
Charlotte's Web
1973
as Charlotte (voice)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
as Self (archive footage)
What's the Matter with Helen?
1971
as Adelle Bruckner
Great Performances
1971
as Self
The Pearl Bailey Show
1971
as Self
Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children
1969
as Self
Bracken's World
1969
The Debbie Reynolds Show
1969
as Debbie Thompson
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
1969
as Self
How Sweet It Is!
1968
as Jenny
The Carol Burnett Show
1967
as Self - Guest / Various Characters
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1967
as Self
Divorce American Style
1967
as Barbara Harmon
The Singing Nun
1966
as Sister Ann
Best of The Dean Martin Variety Show
1966
Goodbye Charlie
1964
as Charlie Sorel / Virginia Mason
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
1964
as Molly Brown
The Story of a Dress
1964
as Self
Mary, Mary
1963
as Mary McKellaway
My Six Loves
1963
as Janice Courtney
The Andy Williams Christmas Show
1962
How the West Was Won
1962
as Lilith Prescott
The Second Time Around
1961
as Lu Rogers
The DuPont Show of the Week
1961
as Self
The Pleasure of His Company
1961
as Jessica Poole
Pepe
1960
as Debbie Reynolds
The Rat Race
1960
as Peggy Brown
The Gazebo
1960
as Nell Nash
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1960
as Self
Startime
1959
It Started with a Kiss
1959
as Maggie Putnam
Say One for Me
1959
as Holly LeMaise
The Mating Game
1959
as Mariette Larkin
Kraft Music Hall
1958
This Happy Feeling
1958
as Janet Blake
American Bandstand
1957
as Self
Tammy and the Bachelor
1957
as Tammy Tyree
Bundle of Joy
1956
as Polly Parish
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self - Recipient
The Catered Affair
1956
as Jane Hurley
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Nominee
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Memoriam (archive footage)
Meet Me in Las Vegas
1956
as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
The Tender Trap
1955
as Julie Gillis
Ford Star Jubilee
1955
Hit the Deck
1955
as Carol Pace
Athena
1954
as Minerva Mulvain
The George Gobel Show
1954
as Self
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
as Self
Susan Slept Here
1954
as Susan Beaurgard Landis
Give a Girl a Break
1953
as Suzy Doolittle
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
1953
as Pansy Hammer
I Love Melvin
1953
as Judy Schneider / Judy LeRoy
The Oscars
1953
as Self
This Is Your Life
1952
as Self
Skirts Ahoy!
1952
as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
Singin' in the Rain
1952
as Kathy Selden
Challenge the Wilderness
1951
as Narrator (uncredited)
Mr. Imperium
1951
as Gwen
Two Weeks with Love
1950
as Melba Robinson
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
Three Little Words
1950
as Helen Kane
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
1950
as Maureen O'Grady
What's My Line?
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
June Bride
1948
as Boo's Girlfriend at Wedding