Debbie Reynolds
Known for: Acting
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. 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.
Filmography
Series
Family Guy
Mrs. Wilson (voice)
1999
Series
Rugrats
Lulu Pickles (voice)
1991
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self - Guest Host
1962
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Memoriam (archive footage)
1956
Series
RuPaul's Drag Race
Self - Guest Judge
2009
Series
The Love Boat
Sheila Evans
1977
Series
The Love Boat
Doris Talbert
1977
Series
The Penguins of Madagascar
Granny Squirrel (voice)
2008
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
Hollywood Squares
Self - Panelist
1998
Series
Alice
1976
Series
Kim Possible
Nana Possible (voice)
2002
Series
Great Performances
Self
1971
Series
Wings
Deedee Chappel
1990
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Hostess
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
The Golden Girls
Truby
1985
Series
Will & Grace
Bobbi Adler
1998
Series
The Talk
Self
2010
Series
The Carol Burnett Show
Self - Guest / Various Characters
1967
Series
Touched by an Angel
Betty Poplovich
1994
Series
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003
Series
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
Hotel
1982
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
Late Night with David Letterman
Self - Guest
1982
Series
Intimate Portrait
Self
1993
Series
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Series
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Recipient
1956
Series
The Bob Hope Show
Self
1950
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
The Reichen Show
Self - Guest
2005
Series
The 7D
Grandmommers Whimsical (voice)
2014
Series
Kraft Music Hall
1958
Series
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self
1968
Series
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self (uncredited)
1968
Series
American Bandstand
Self
1957
Series
This Is Your Life
Self
1952
Series
Dinah!
Self
1974
Series
MGM Parade
1955
Film
Singin' in the Rain
Kathy Selden
1952
Film
The Bodyguard
Debbie Reynolds
1992
Vicki!
Self
1992
Series
Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981
Series
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Self
1969
Film
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Debbie Reynolds (voice)
1998
Film
One for the Money
Grandma Mazur
2012
Film
How the West Was Won
Lilith Prescott
1962
The George Gobel Show
Self
1954
Series
Madame's Place
Self
1982
Series
Bracken's World
1969
Sidewalks Entertainment
1988
Series
Roseanne
1988
Series
The Sonny and Cher Show
1976
Series
First Monday
2002
Film
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte (voice)
1973
Film
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Lulu Pickles (voice)
2000
Film
Halloweentown High
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
2004
Film
In & Out
Berniece Brackett
1997
The Debbie Reynolds Show
Debbie Thompson
1969
Series
Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters
Self
1980
Film
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
2001
Series
The DuPont Show of the Week
Self
1961
Film
Heaven & Earth
Eugenia
1993
Film
Behind the Candelabra
Frances
2013
Film
Halloweentown
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
1998
Series
Aloha Paradise
Sydney Chase
1981
Film
June Bride
Boo's Girlfriend at Wedding
1948
Film
That's Entertainment!
Self - Host / Narrator
1974
Film
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer / School Teacher (voice)
1998
Film
Return to Halloweentown
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
2006
Film
The Mating Game
Mariette Larkin
1959
Film
Connie and Carla
Herself
2004
Film
Commitment to Life
Self (archive footage)
2023
Film
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Ford Star Jubilee
1955
Film
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
Self
2009
Film
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self
1987
Film
Athena
Minerva
1954
Film
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
Self
1997
Film
That's Entertainment! III
Self - Co-Host / Narrator
1994
The Pearl Bailey Show
Self
1971
Film
The Gazebo
Nell Nash
1959
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Self (archive footage)
1976
Film
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976
Film
Tammy and the Bachelor
Tammy
1957
Film
That's Dancing!
1985
Film
These Old Broads
Piper Grayson
2001
Film
Susan Slept Here
Susan Beaurgard Landis
1954
Film
The Singing Nun
Sister Ann
1966
Film
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Molly Brown
1964
Film
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2001
Series
Bravo Profiles
Self
1998
Film
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
Self
2021
Film
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Self
2007
Series
Jennifer Slept Here
Alice Farrell
1983
Film
Tab Hunter Confidential
Self
2015
Film
Three Little Words
Helen Kane
1950
Film
Mother
Beatrice Henderson
1996
Film
The Tender Trap
Julie Gillis
1955
Film
The Catered Affair
Jane Hurley
1956
Film
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
1956
Film
How Sweet It Is!
Jenny
1968
Film
Hit the Deck
Carol Pace
1955
Film
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History
Self
2008
Film
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
1972
Film
Mondo Hollywood
1967
Film
Pepe
Debbie Reynolds
1960
Film
Divorce American Style
Barbara Harmon
1967
Film
Goodbye Charlie
Charlie Sorel / Virginia Mason
1964
Film
The Rat Race
Peggy Brown
1960
Film
Bundle of Joy
Polly Parish
1956
Film
The Second Time Around
Lu Rogers
1961
Film
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
Self
2017
Film
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
Amanda Cody
1989
Film
The Christmas Wish
Ruth
1998
Film
Skirts Ahoy!
Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
1952
Film
Zack and Reba
Beulah Blanton
1998
Film
The Brothers Warner
Self
2008
Film
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
1982
Film
Two Weeks with Love
Melba Robinson
1950
Film
What's the Matter with Helen?
Adelle
1971
Film
This Happy Feeling
Janet Blake
1958
Film
Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace!
Herself
1978
Film
It Started with a Kiss
Maggie Putnam
1959
A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story
Shirlee Allison
1999
Film
The Pleasure of His Company
Jessica Poole
1961
Film
The People's Command Performance: '77
Self
1977
Film
Mary, Mary
Mary McKellaway
1963
Film
Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales
Herself
2003
Film
My Six Loves
Janice Courtney
1963
Film
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Self
2009
Film
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Self
1954
Film
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Self
2002
Film
Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children
Self
1969
Film
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Maureen O'Grady
1950
Film
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Self
2004
Film
Sœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God?
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Give a Girl a Break
Suzy Doolittle
1953
Film
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
Self
2012
The Slippers
2016
Film
Say One for Me
Holly LeMaise
1959
Film
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Self
1960
Film
The Best of Broadway
Herself
1985
Film
Wedding Bell Blues
Debbie Reynolds
1996
Film
Wedding Bell Blues
Self
1996
Film
I Love Melvin
Judy LeRoy
1953
Film
Do It Debbie's Way
Self
1983
Film
Mr. Imperium
Gwen
1951
Film
Virtual Mom
Gwen
2000
Film
Rugrats: Babies in Toyland
Lulu Pickles (voice)
2002
Film
Committed
Self
2014
Film
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's
Self
2009
Film
Battling for Baby
Helen
1992
Film
What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of 'Singin' in the Rain'
Self
2002
Film
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
Pansy Hammer
1953
Film
Cinerama Adventure
Self
2002
Film
Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul
Self
1993
Keepers of the Frame
Herself
1999
Film
Couples Do It Debbie's Way
1988
Film
The Story of a Dress
Self
1964
Film
Sadie and Son
Sadie
1987
Film
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice
1981
Film
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
2008
Film
In the Picture
Aunt Lilith
2012
Film
Challenge the Wilderness
Narrator (uncredited)
1951