Debbie Reynolds dies one day after daughter Carrie Fisher passes
By Steve Almasy, CNN
Updated
10:48 PM EST, Wed December 28, 2016
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 24: Debbie Reynolds attends the "One for the Money" premiere at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square on January 24, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 25: Actress Debbie Reynolds, recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, poses in the press room during the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 07: Actresses Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher arrive at the premiere of the HBO documentary "Wishful Drinking" at Linwood Dunn Theater at the Pickford Center for Motion Study on December 7, 2010 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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Story highlights
Actress Ruta Lee calls Debbie Reynolds "generous, wonderful, loving"
Reynolds' daughter, Carrie Fisher, died Tuesday, after four days in the hospital
(CNN) —
Debbie Reynolds, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1950s and 1960s, died Wednesday, one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away, Reynolds’ son Todd Fisher said.
Reynolds, 84, was taken to a Los Angeles hospital Wednesday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Reynolds had complained of breathing problems, an unidentified source told The Times.
“She’s with Carrie now,” Todd Fisher said.
Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Actress Debbie Reynolds poses for a portrait in New York on October 14, 2011.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds was a proud member of the Girl Scouts. At the time of this photo, at age 17, she had earned 42 out of a possible 100 badges in eight years of scouting.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds starred with Gene Kelly in 1952's "Singin' in the Rain." When the movie started production, Reynolds didn't know how to dance and was taught by Kelly, also the choreographer of the film.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds and Gower Champion dancing in a scene from the 1953 film "Give A Girl A Break."
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher were married in 1955 and divorced in 1959. The couple had two children: Carrie, born in 1956, and Todd, born in 1958.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds and Fisher co-starred in "Bundle of Joy," RKO's 1956 Technicolor comedy.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
A family portrait of Fisher, Reynolds and daughter Carrie, circa 1957.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
A family portrait with Debbie holding Todd and father Eddie holding Carrie.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Fisher with Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor in Las Vegas in 1958. The next year Fisher left Reynolds and married Taylor.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds holds her two children, Carrie and Todd, right, during the shooting of 1959's "The Mating Game."
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds and Harry Karl attend an event in Los Angeles in 1962.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Hermione Baddeley points her finger at Reynolds as Harve Presnell and Ed Begley watch during a scene from the 1964 film "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." Reynolds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the role.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds with her daughter Carrie Fisher in 1972.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds makes her first appearance on Broadway in 1973, opening in a remake of the 1919 musical "Irene." Carrie Fisher, seated on floor, also appeared in the musical at age 16.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds appears in an episode of "The Love Boat" with Gavin MacLeod in 1980.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds on stage for for a curtain call after a performance of "Woman of the Year" at New York's Palace Theatre in 1983.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds with Todd and Carrie Fisher at the Thalians Ball in 1985. Reynolds was involved with the Thalians, a group of entertainment professionals who support mental health issues, from the 1950s.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds appears with Bea Arthur in an episode of "The Golden Girls" in 1991.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds in 2001 at the site of the new Hollywood Motion Picture Collection, where her $30 million motion picture costume collection would be housed.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds poses with her second star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 13, 1997.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynold's appears in an episode of "Will & Grace" in 1999 with Debra Messing. Reynolds played the recurring character of Bobbi Adler, mother to Messing's Grace Adler.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds takes part in the ribbon cutting at the opening of of the Casino Club at The Greenbrier on July 2, 2010, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, with West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin; Greenbrier owner and chairman Jim Justice; Brooke Shields; Kathy Justice; and singer Jessica Simpson.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds poses before the auction of her massive collection of memorabilia from classic movies in 2011. Reynolds is siting on the throne from the 1955 movie "Virgin Queen" with a dress worn by Bette Davis, right, and Joan Collins, left.
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Photos: Life and career of Debbie Reynolds
Reynolds poses with daughter Carrie Fisher after receiving the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award on January 25, 2015, in Los Angeles.
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Reynolds. who was born Mary Frances Reynolds, was a bubbly singer, dancer and actress who starred in “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”
Reynolds’ film career began after being spotted in a beauty pageant at age 16. She became famous when she was picked to co-star with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor in “Singin’ in the Rain,” one of Hollywood’s best-known musicals.
“I have no regrets about my career. I’m just thrilled I’ve had it,” she told CNN’s Larry King in 1990. “You know, it stood by me. Marriages failed; my career always stayed. It gave me the fun of life, you know. It allowed me to travel and meet wonderful, funny people.”
On Wednesday, King tweeted: “Debbie Reynolds was pure class. She was loving, talented, beautiful, unsinkable. I feel sorry for anyone who never got a chance to meet her.”
Though she stepped away from film for much of her career, Reynolds continued to entertain on Broadway stages and in Las Vegas nightclubs. She also appeared on many television shows, including one of her own – “The Debbie Reynolds Show” – that lasted just one season.
Fisher’s daughter with actress Connie Stevens, Joely Fisher, tweeted Wednesday before news of Reynolds’ death: “God speed mama.”
Actress Ruta Lee, a longtime friend of Reynolds, told CNN affiliate KABC that Reynolds used her celebrity to help others.
“I was blessed by the almighty in having this wonderful sister who taught me so much in life,” she said. “Debbie was without a doubt one of the most generous, wonderful, loving human beings that God put on this Earth.”
