π¬ Movies Mates PEOPLE
Debbie Reynolds
Acting
Biography
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 oneβ¦
Read full biography
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.
Biography expanded
BODY OF WORK
Debbie Reynolds's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes
as Self (archive footage)
Commitment to Life
as Self (archive footage)
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
as Self
SΕur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God?
as Self (archive footage)
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
as Self
No Poster
The Slippers
Tab Hunter Confidential
as Self
Committed
as Self
Behind the Candelabra
as Frances
In the Picture
as Aunt Lilith
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
as Self
One for the Money
as Grandma Mazur
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's
as Self
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
as Self
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
as Self
The Brothers Warner
as Self
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History
as Self
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
as Self
Return to Halloweentown
as Aggie Cromwell
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
as Self (archive footage)
Halloweentown High
as Aggie Cromwell
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
as Self
Connie and Carla
as Herself
Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales
as Herself
Rugrats: Babies in Toyland
as Lulu Pickles (voice)
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
as Self
What a Glorious Feeling: The Making of 'Singin' in the Rain'
as Self
Cinerama Adventure
as Self
Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge
as Aggie Cromwell
Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
These Old Broads
as Piper Grayson
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
as Lulu Pickles (voice)
Virtual Mom
as Gwen
No Poster
A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story
as Shirlee Allison
No Poster
Keepers of the Frame
as Herself
The Christmas Wish
as Ruth
Halloweentown
as Aggie Cromwell
Zack & Reba
as Beulah Blanton
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
as Mrs. Claus / Mitzi / Mrs. Prancer (voice)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
as Debbie Reynolds (voice)
In & Out
as Berniece Brackett
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years
as Self
Mother
as Beatrice Henderson
Wedding Bell Blues
as Debbie Reynolds
Wedding Bell Blues
as Self
That's Entertainment! III
as Self - Host
Heaven & Earth
as Eugenia
Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul
as Self
The Bodyguard
as Debbie Reynolds
Battling for Baby
as Helen
Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder
as Amanda Cody
Couples Do It Debbie's Way
Sadie and Son
as Sadie
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
as Self
The Best of Broadway
as Herself
That's Dancing!
Do It Debbie's Way
as Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
as Self (archive footage)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
as Alice
Leapin' Lizards, It's Liberace!
as Herself
The People's Command Performance: '77
as Self
No Poster
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
as (archive footage)
Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular
as Self
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
as Self - Host / Narrator
Charlotte's Web
as Charlotte (voice)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage)
What's the Matter with Helen?
as Adelle
Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children
as Self
How Sweet It Is!
as Jenny
Mondo Hollywood
Divorce American Style
as Barbara Harmon
The Singing Nun
as Sister Ann
Goodbye Charlie
as Charlie Sorel / Virginia Mason
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
as Molly Brown
The Story of a Dress
as Self
Mary, Mary
as Mary McKellaway
My Six Loves
as Janice Courtney
How the West Was Won
as Lilith Prescott
The Second Time Around
as Lu Rogers
The Pleasure of His Company
as Jessica Poole
Pepe
as Debbie Reynolds
The Rat Race
as Peggy Brown
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
as Self
The Gazebo
as Nell Nash
It Started with a Kiss
as Maggie Putnam
Say One for Me
as Holly LeMaise
The Mating Game
as Mariette Larkin
This Happy Feeling
as Janet Blake
Tammy and the Bachelor
as Tammy
Bundle of Joy
as Polly Parish
The Catered Affair
as Jane Hurley
Meet Me in Las Vegas
as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
The Tender Trap
as Julie Gillis
Hit the Deck
as Carol Pace
Athena
as Minerva
A Star Is Born World Premiere
as Self
Susan Slept Here
as Susan Beaurgard Landis
Give a Girl a Break
as Suzy Doolittle
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
as Pansy Hammer
I Love Melvin
as Judy LeRoy
Skirts Ahoy!
as Debbie Reynolds (uncredited)
Singin' in the Rain
as Kathy Selden
Challenge the Wilderness
as Narrator (uncredited)
Mr. Imperium
as Gwen
Two Weeks with Love
as Melba Robinson
Three Little Words
as Helen Kane
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
as Maureen O'Grady
June Bride
as Boo's Girlfriend at Wedding