Debbie Reynolds
Born
April 1, 1932
Died
December 28, 2016 (84 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
El Paso, Texas, USA
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.
Known For

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
Self (archive footage)
2024

Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
Self (archive photos/voice)
2024

Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
Self
2021

Sœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God?
Self (archive footage)
2021

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
Self
2017
The Slippers
2016

Tab Hunter Confidential
Self
2015

The 7D
Grandmommers Whimsical (voice) · (1 episode)
2014

Committed
Self
2014

And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
2014

Behind the Candelabra
Frances
2013

In the Picture
Aunt Lilith
2012

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
Self
2012

One for the Money
Grandma Mazur
2012

Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's
Self
2009

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
Self
2009

RuPaul's Drag Race
Self - Guest Judge · (1 episode)
2009

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Self
2009

The Penguins of Madagascar
Granny Squirrel (voice) · (1 episode)
2008

The Brothers Warner
Self
2008

Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History
Self
2008

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Self
2007

Return to Halloweentown
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
2006

The One Show
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2006

The Reichen Show
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2005

Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
Self (archive footage)
2005

Halloweentown High
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
2004

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Self
2004

Connie and Carla
Herself
2004

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self · (1 episode)
2003

Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales
Herself
2003

Rugrats: Babies in Toyland
Lulu Pickles (voice)
2002

Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Self
2002

What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of 'Singin' in the Rain'
Self
2002

Cinerama Adventure
Self
2002

Kim Possible
Nana Possible (voice) · (4 episodes)
2002

First Monday
(1 episode)
2002

Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
2001

Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2001

These Old Broads
Piper Grayson
2001

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Lulu Pickles (voice)
2000

Virtual Mom
Gwen
2000
A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story
Shirlee Allison
1999
Keepers of the Frame
Herself
1999

Family Guy
Mrs. Wilson (voice) · (1 episode)
1999

The Christmas Wish
Ruth
1998

Halloweentown
Agatha 'Aggie' Cromwell
1998

Zack and Reba
Beulah Blanton
1998

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer / School Teacher (voice)
1998

Will & Grace
Bobbi Adler · (12 episodes)
1998

Hollywood Squares
Self - Panelist · (5 episodes)
1998

Hollywood Squares
(5 episodes)
1998

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Debbie Reynolds (voice)
1998

In & Out
Berniece Brackett
1997

Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
Self
1997

Mother
Beatrice Henderson
1996

Wedding Bell Blues
Debbie Reynolds
1996

Wedding Bell Blues
Self
1996

Touched by an Angel
Betty Poplovich · (1 episode)
1994

That's Entertainment! III
Self - Co-Host / Narrator
1994

Heaven & Earth
Eugenia
1993

Intimate Portrait
Self · (1 episode)
1993

Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul
Self
1993

The Bodyguard
Debbie Reynolds
1992
Vicki!
Self · (1 episode)
1992

Battling for Baby
Helen
1992

Rugrats
Lulu Pickles (voice) · (2 episodes)
1991

Wings
Deedee Chappel · (1 episode)
1990

Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
Amanda Cody
1989

Roseanne
(1 episode)
1988
Sidewalks Entertainment
(1 episode)
1988

Couples Do It Debbie's Way
1988

Sadie and Son
Sadie
1987

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self
1987

The Golden Girls
Truby · (1 episode)
1985

The Best of Broadway
Herself
1985

That's Dancing!
1985

Jennifer Slept Here
Alice Farrell · (1 episode)
1983

Do It Debbie's Way
Self
1983

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983

Madame's Place
Self · (1 episode)
1982

Hotel
(1 episode)
1982

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
1982

Entertainment Tonight
Self · (1 episode)
1981

Aloha Paradise
Sydney Chase · (8 episodes)
1981

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice (voice)
1981

Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters
Self · (1 episode)
1980

Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace!
Herself
1978

The Love Boat
Sheila Evans · (2 episodes)
1977

The Love Boat
Doris Talbert · (1 episode)
1977

The People's Command Performance: '77
Self
1977

Alice
(1 episode)
1976

That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976

The Sonny and Cher Show
(2 episodes)
1976

Dinah!
Self · (1 episode)
1974

That's Entertainment!
Self - Host / Narrator
1974

Charlotte's Web
Charlotte (voice)
1973

Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
1972

What's the Matter with Helen?
Adelle Bruckner
1971

Great Performances
Self · (1 episode)
1971
The Pearl Bailey Show
Self · (1 episode)
1971

Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children
Self
1969

Bracken's World
(1 episode)
1969
The Debbie Reynolds Show
Debbie Thompson · (26 episodes)
1969

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Self · (2 episodes)
1969

How Sweet It Is!
Jenny
1968

The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · (3 episodes)
1968

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self · (4 episodes)
1968

The Carol Burnett Show
Self - Guest / Various Characters · (1 episode)
1967

Divorce American Style
Barbara Harmon
1967

The Singing Nun
Sister Ann
1966

Goodbye Charlie
Charlie Sorel / Virginia Mason
1964

The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Molly Brown
1964
The Story of a Dress
Self
1964

Mary, Mary
Mary McKellaway
1963

My Six Loves
Janice Courtney
1963

The Andy Williams Christmas Show
1962

How the West Was Won
Lilith Prescott
1962

The Merv Griffin Show
Self · (1 episode)
1962

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · (10 episodes)
1962

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self - Guest Host · (1 episode)
1962

The Second Time Around
Lu Rogers
1961

The Mike Douglas Show
Self · (1 episode)
1961

The DuPont Show of the Week
Self · (1 episode)
1961

The Pleasure of His Company
Jessica Poole
1961

Pepe
Debbie Reynolds
1960

The Rat Race
Peggy Brown
1960

The Gazebo
Nell Nash
1960

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Self
1960

Startime
(1 episode)
1959

It Started with a Kiss
Maggie Putnam
1959

Say One for Me
Holly LeMaise
1959

The Mating Game
Mariette Larkin
1959

Kraft Music Hall
(1 episode)
1958

This Happy Feeling
Janet Blake
1958

American Bandstand
Self · (2 episodes)
1957

Tammy and the Bachelor
Tammy Tyree
1957

Bundle of Joy
Polly Parish
1956

The Steve Allen Show
Self - Recipient · (1 episode)
1956

The Catered Affair
Jane Hurley
1956

Tony Awards
Self - Nominee · (1 episode)
1956

Tony Awards
Self - Memoriam (archive footage) · (1 episode)
1956

Meet Me in Las Vegas
Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
1956

The Tender Trap
Julie Gillis
1955
Ford Star Jubilee
(1 episode)
1955

Hit the Deck
Carol Pace
1955

Athena
Minerva Mulvain
1954
The George Gobel Show
Self · (1 episode)
1954
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Self
1954

Susan Slept Here
Susan Beaurgard Landis
1954

Give a Girl a Break
Suzy Doolittle
1953

The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
Pansy Hammer
1953

I Love Melvin
Judy Schneider / Judy LeRoy
1953

The Oscars
Self · (7 episodes)
1953

This Is Your Life
Self · (1 episode)
1952

Skirts Ahoy!
Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
1952

Singin' in the Rain
Kathy Selden
1952
Challenge the Wilderness
Narrator (uncredited)
1951

Mr. Imperium
Gwen
1951

Two Weeks with Love
Melba Robinson
1950

The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self · (1 episode)
1950

Three Little Words
Helen Kane
1950

The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Maureen O'Grady
1950

The Bob Hope Show
Self · (6 episodes)
1950

What's My Line?
Self - Mystery Guest · (4 episodes)
1950

June Bride
Boo's Girlfriend at Wedding
1948

The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (6 episodes)
1948

Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · (2 episodes)
1944

Golden Globe Awards
Self - Hostess · (1 episode)
1944