Holy smoke! I first thought there was a mistaken identity on the thread's title...Carrie Fisher just passed away (yesterday); daughter of Debbie Reynolds.
And today is Debbie her mother! This is truly sad; both daughter and mother within a day.
R.I.P. Carrie & Debbie
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What ack just said above is very true: "A loss of a child is very hard on any loving parent."
Debbie's breakthrough role at age 19 was in Singin' in the Rain, where she costarred with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. I think it was the greatest musical movie of all time. Quite amazingly she held her own in both acting and dancing with two of the finest. Reynolds was much more than an adequate singer. I remember when I was 12, Reynolds had the top hit in the country with the song "Tammy" from her movie "Tammy and Bachelor".
Of course, Carrie's dad, Eddie, was one of the top male singer of the early '50's. He and Reynolds were the couple of the mid-50's (like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston) until he divorced Reynolds to marry the widow of his best friend Mike Todd (Carrie's brother is named Todd), Elizabeth Taylor (like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). Fisher later married 3 more times. His last and longest marriage was to Betty Lin, one of my aunt's best friends. Unlike his previous wives, Betty was not a glamorous movie star or beauty queen. She was a successful business woman. She met Fisher when he moved to San Francisco and they lived in the Fontana, a curved multistory building near Ghiradelli Square in SF. They married in 1993 when Eddie was 65 and Betty was 71. They stayed married until Betty died in 2001, 8 years later. Fisher died in 2010 from complications after surgery when he broke his hip. Fisher is buried next to Lin, said to be the love of his life.
When I was in school, I read Gene Kelly's biography, and it turns out both Don (the other co-star and dancer in the scene above) and Gene were both professional tap dancers, whereas Debbie Reynolds had to learn. The prototypical bleeding-feet-endless-practice began before and while she was filming in order for her to be able to hold her own. She did an amazing job.