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Debbie Reynolds: America's Sweetheart - Page 2

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In 1955 Debbie had married singer Eddie Fisher, who was a heartthrob and adored by millions. It was a whirlwind courtship and they were dubbed "America's Sweethearts" by the press. The love was short-lived, however. Fisher became jealous when Debbie's song "Tammy" from her hit movie became a popular song. Fisher felt Debbie was trying to make a mockery of his own musical career. This put a strain on their marriage that Debbie wasn't expecting.

The Fishers also spent a lot of time with Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd, who was Eddie's best friend. After Mike Todd tragically died in a plane crash, Eddie Fisher took it upon himself to "console" Taylor - and eventually they became lovers. By this time their first daughter Carrie had been born, as well as younger sibling Todd. Since the Fisher marriage was already on the rocks, this relationship between Eddie and Elizabeth was the last straw. Debbie obtained the divorce, and Eddie selfishly left Debbie with the kids and went off to marry Elizabeth Taylor.

All Debbie wanted was to be a good wife and mother, and a while later, when she met Harry Karl while attempting to raise money for her charity group The Thalians, she thought she had finally found the man for her. He was an older man who had inherited a fortune from his shoemaker father. Karl doted on Debbie with gifts, love, and much affection for her two children. However, after a decade of marriage, Debbie learned that all the money she had earned during their marriage (for such films as "How the West Was Won" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" - for which she got an Oscar nomination) had been squandered by her gambling husband. She was left with nothing.

By this time, Carrie had made a name for herself in "Star Wars" and was living in her own house, and Todd was off living his own life, and Debbie was required to sell everything she had. The only things she refused to sell were the film memorabilia she had painstakingly bought from the studios in order to save them. After a while Debbie was sleeping in her car because she had no place else to go and didn't want to burden her children. This all while she was making tens of thousands of dollars in her Las Vegas style show - it all went to pay her ex-husband's debts.

In the seventies she starred on Broadway in "Irene", which was a great success. She also did revue called "The Debbie Reynolds Show" - another success. She also threw her hat into the exercise ring and did an aerobics video for older women.

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