Debbie Reynolds

by Jason Ankeny
At the peak of her career, actress Debbie Reynolds was America's sweetheart, the archetypal girl-next-door; best remembered for her work in Hollywood musicals, she appeared in the genre's defining moment, Singin' in the Rain, as well as many other notable successes. Born in El Paso, Texas, she entered the film industry by winning the Miss Burbank beauty contest in 1948, resulting in a contract with Warner Bros. She soon exited for the greener pastures of MGM, where 1950's Two Weeks with Love garnered Reynolds strong notices. Reynolds acquitted herself more than admirably in 1952's Singin' in the Rain, a film that remains one of the greatest Hollywood musicals ever produced. A series of less distinguished films followed, with the studio continuing to insert Reynolds into lackluster projects. Finally, in 1955 she appeared opposite Frank Sinatra in the hit The Tender Trap, and two years later starred in Tammy and the Bachelor, the first in a series of popular teen films. In 1959, Reynolds' marriage to Eddie Fisher ended in divorce when he left her for Elizabeth Taylor. The effect was an outpouring of public sympathy which only further increased her growing popularity, and it was rumored that by the early '60s she was earning millions per picture.
Though she earned an Academy Award nomination for 1964's The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Reynolds' star began waning soon after. She essentially retired from movie-making, instead hitting the nightclub circuit and appearing on Broadway. By the 1980s, Reynolds had opened her own hotel and casino in Las Vegas, reguarly performing live in the venue's nightclub. After tentative steps towards returning to Hollywood on a regular basis, she accepted the title role in the acclaimed 1996 comedy Mother, delivering what many critics declared the best performance of her career.