Debbie Reynolds – We Are Movie Geeks

GOODBYE CHARLIE – 1964 DVD Review and Tribute to Debbie Reynolds

It was a serious sucker punch to all film fans when we lost Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds within a day of each other. There have been many tributes to Carrie Fisher and rightfully so. I have not seen that many for Debbie Reynolds so I would like to pay her tribute by reviewing one of her lost gems of a movie, GOODBYE CHARLIE from 1964, based on a play by George Axelrod and directed by Vincent Minnelli.

I can recall seeing this on a network movie night in the late 60s or early 70s, I remember liking it but seeing it again after this many years I was astonished at how funny it really is, and how touching.

The setup is simple, Charlie Sorrell is a writer, sometime screen writer and notorious womanizer. At a Hollywood party on a yacht he is shot by a jealous husband (Walter Matthau in an early role and in rare form indeed!) Charlie, by whatever means, immediately comes back as a beautiful young woman, Debbie Reynolds. This causes all sorts of consternation for Charlie’s best friend, George Tracy (Tony Curtis) who has come back to California from his home in Paris to deliver Charlie’s eulogy at his sparsely attended wake. George is also a writer and the story makes it plain these two have done a lot of carousing around and womanizing, together and on their own.

GOODBYE CHARLIE shows its origin as a stage play through most of its running time, a lot of the movie takes place on one set, Charlie’s beach house high above the ocean.

I had not seen Goodbye Charlie in many years and was astonished at how funny it really is. I laughed out loud for most of its running time. It is a great showcase for the versatile talents of Debbie Reynolds, she is hysterical and totally believable as a man stuck in a woman’s body. Her male mannerisms are spot on. We never, ever lose track of the concept that all her dialog is being spoken by a man and Charlie’s learning how to be, and enjoying becoming a woman is precious. She is more than matched by Tony Curtis, who knew a bit about gender bending himself having just been in Billy Wilder’s landmark transvestite comedy Some Like It Hot. His reactions, especially when he is finally convinced that the beautiful young woman who ended up at Charlie Sorrell’s house, is in fact Charlie him/her self is priceless.

Priceless too is the moment when Charlie asks George to “come here and look at this!” and (off camera, in the bathroom) shows George some of her/his “female attributes.” The fact that this is DEBBIE REYNOLDS, second only to Doris Day in being a wholesome, girl next door kind of actress, inviting Tony Curtis to “come here and look at these!” Wonderful! Charlie comes out of the bathroom, buttoning up “her” blouse, takes a long look at herself in the mirror and states “now I don’t have to go to see Bridget Bardot movies anymore, I can just draw the blinds and take a look in the mirror!”

And it gets funnier from there, Charlie comes to actually enjoy being a woman but finds out very quickly the kind of bullshit women have to put up with. I would say GOODBYE CHARLIE was ahead of the curve on being a feminist movie but Charlie herself has a lot of misogynist comments to make before it’s all over.

You expect good work from both Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis but Pat Boone, (of all people!) is also hysterical. He steals every scene he’s in as a rich, spoiled Mama’s boy who immediately has a crush on Charlie. And the movie does more than hint that his character is probably gay, that he is responding more to the man inside Charlie than the woman outside.

We all start out female, in the womb every fetus starts as female and in the third trimester the change will occur that creates a male. Sometimes that process is not finished and thus many people are transgendered. So inside every man, no matter how manly or macho, is a girl trying to get out. Seriously, I’m man enough to admit to my inner girl, her name is Melissa, she likes to jump rope, have tea with her dollies and brush the cat and dog. But if you cross her she’ll burn down your house, more than a bit of Rhoda Penmark (The Bad Seed) in there too! So there are many men who feel their woman trapped inside. Rarely do women feel they have a man trapped inside. And that is the beauty and humor of GOODBYE CHARLIE .

It is a hoot to see Charlie, (again this is Debbie Reynolds!) going to a spa to have her hair and nails done and eyeballing every woman in the place. Pat Boone offers to marry Charlie and presents her with a ring with a diamond the size of the Waldorf. Her reaction is hysterical, touching and sad all at once.

And the ending comes perilously close to very bad taste. The jealous husband (Walter Matthau) who shot Charlie in the first place now has his own crush on Charlie, gets her alone and forces his intentions on her in what can only be described as date rape. Charlie even screams, “This can’t be happening to ME!”

The movie then boxes itself into a corner, but finds a way to bring back both Charlie and Debbie Reynolds, just not in the same body. As a tribute to Debbie Reynolds, and a memorial, you can’t get much better than Goodbye Charlie.

The dvd is a burn on demand dvd-r so there are no extra features, the movie is not even letterboxed but pan and scanned. It is still worth seeing. And this was a rare case of a remake being as good, maybe better, than the original. Blake Edwards Switch from 1991 with Ellen Barkin pushes the envelope much further than Goodbye Charlie ever could. Ellen Barkin (as Roger Ebert pointed out in his review) has always had a mannish look and is one hell of a strong actress. Her man trapped in a woman’s body is even more believable and gets to do things Debbie Reynolds probably wouldn’t dream of. But that is another story.

Debbie Reynolds was a class act. In a career spanning interview she gave to Scarlet Street magazine a few years ago she bore no ill will towards a Hollywood film business that kicked her to the curb when she passed a certain age. She simply reinvented herself as a Las Vegas entertainer and never had a bad word to say about anybody. She was rightfully proud of her entire resume, still astonished that she was picked to star with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor in the landmark musical Singing In The Rain. She was proud of her work in What’s The Matter With Helen a movie some actors would dismiss as a cheap horror movie. And she spent a lot of her own money and time buying props and costumes from Hollywood movies that would have otherwise ended up in the trash. She had a collection of mainstream movie memorabilia to equal the fantasy collections of Bob Burns or Forrest Ackerman. She was a class act, she and her daughter Carrie Fisher will be missed, any of her movies are worth watching, but GOODBYE CHARLIE is something special.

Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds Are SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN at The Hi-Pointe This Saturday Morning

“She can’t act, she can’t sing, she can’t dance. A triple threat!”

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN screens this Saturday morning at 10:30am at the fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117). Admission is $10 and this is a fundraiser sponsored by Health Projects – St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society Alliance, Loyola Academy – St. Louis, St. Louis University Medical School (Match Day Scholarships), and Voices of Excellence.

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN is part musical, part comedy, and part romance, but it is always all of these things at the same time. The story follows Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), a famous silent movie star, and his friend Cosmo (Donald O’Connor) as they brace for Hollywood’s transition into the Age of Sound. This period in film history serves only as a backdrop for one of the most lavish films ever made. In addition to the comedy, what makes SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN so memorable is the dance numbers. Watching O’Connor flail around during “Make ‘Em Laugh” is hilarious and nerve-wracking at the same time, and Gene Kelly’s famous “Singin’ in the Rain” epitomizes the film’s spirit.

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN is a perfect example of that kind of great film that unites its audience through pure, unfettered entertainment. The musical numbers (directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly) are energetic, the sets and costumes are colorful, there are heroes and villains, and many scenes are hilarious. Made in the time when Hollywood was able to produce great art and even satirically look at itself, SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN is one of those timeless classics that still have appeal to the audience, even those younger generations that never experienced the true power of musicals.

And now, lucky St. Louisans will have the opportunity to see SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN on the big screen and raise money for a worthy cause when it plays this Saturday morning (February 25th) at the fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117). Admission is $10. Doors open at 10am.

The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found HERE

http://hi-pointetheatre.com/

Enjoy the SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN Trailer:

A Tribute to Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds

2016 claimed a long list of entertainers, but the grim reaper’s most unexpected one-two punch came between the final two holidays with the death of movie icons Carrie Fisher on December 12 and her mother Debbie Reynolds a mere 36 hours later. With the premiere of the documentary about the pair, “Bright Lights” on HBO this weekend, we at the Geeks site thought we should take a look at their considerable contributions to film.

Let’s start with Carrie, who was born in Hollywood, USA on October 21, 1956, the daughter of Debbie and singer/actor Eddie Fisher. She appeared on stage with her mother throughout the late 60’s and early 70’s, even getting her first small screen credit in the 1969 TV movie “Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children”. It wasn’t until 1975, when she would make her big screen debut opposite Warren Beatty (quite an arrival) in Hal Ashby’s hit SHAMPOO. Watch out, this clip is definitely NSFW!!

Yes, that flick did well at the box office, but it was paled in comparison to her follow-up film, a blockbuster that changed the face of the industry: 1977’s STAR WARS.

Princess Leia Organa was the role that gave Carrie screen immortality. She would return to the character in 1980’s THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK , 1983’s THE RETURN OF THE JEDI, and 2015’s STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. When George Lucas was the recipient of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, she shared some stories of that time…

But Carrie’s film career encompassed more than that blaster-totin’ royal rebel. She appeared in many comedies opposite a long list of impressive leading men. She was the ballistic ex of John Belushi in THE BLUES BROTHERS.

She would co-star with another SNL castmate, Chevy Chase, in UNDER THE RAINBOW. Carrie would work with Tom Hanks twice, first in THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOE, and later in the cult classic THE BURBS.

Woody Allen cast her as Dianne Wiest’s “frenemy” in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, But she was a much better pal to Meg Ryan in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY.

Carrie balanced lots of supporting film roles, like the nun in JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, along with many TV appearances (new episodes of Amazon’s “Catastrophe” will be streaming soon). However the majority of her time the last couple of decades has been devoted to her writing. Carrie adapted her book POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE for director Mike Nichols who assembled a star-studded cast led by Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.

Soon after, she was in demand as an uncredited “script doctor” brought in to “punch up” the dialogue for films such as LETHAL WEAPON 3, OUTBREAK, THE WEDDING SINGER, and STOP! OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT. Happily her work in this December’s next Star Wars flick, Episode VIII, was completed, so fans will get to spend a bit more time with that princess who has a thing for scoundrels.

Now, it’s mama’s turn! She was born Mary Frances Reynolds on April first, 1932 in El Paso, Texas. After making Debbie her official first name, she was a beauty queen (Miss Burbank of 1948) who caught the eye of Hollywood talent scouts, and her first two films were for Warner Brothers (JUNE BRIDE in 48 and THE DAUGHTER OF ROSIE O’GRADY in 1950). Soon the smart folks at MGM scooped her up. She “lip-synced “I Wanna Be Loved by You” as Helen Kane (the inspiration for Betty Boop) in the musical biopic THREE LITTLE WORDS. IN TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE she captivated movie goers with her duet with Carleton Carpenter, “Aba Daba Honeymoon”. MR IMPERIUM followed, but her next film would be her entry into super-stardom. Some say it’s the greatest movie musical of all time, while it was included in the top ten comedies of all time by AFI. We’re talking about that 1952 gem…SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN.

…and here’s one of many memorable musicals numbers, “Good Morning”

Debbie was now one of MGM’s most popular stars. After a couple more musicals, she would branch out into more adult romantic comedies, such as THE TENDER TRAP with Frank Sinatra and SUSAN SLEPT HERE opposite Dick Powell.

After co-starring in THE CATERED AFFAIR, written by Paddy Chayefsky and Gore Vidal, and BUNDLE OF JOY with real-life hubby Eddie Fisher, Debbie launched a film franchise (and later TV series) as an innocent backwoods girl finding love in TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR. Her rendition of the theme song even became a juke box fave.

As the 1960’s began Debbie was at the top of the box office, scoring a major role in the Cinerama spectacle HOW THE WEST WAS WON. In 1964 she would finally be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress as the lead in THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN (a role she would later say was her favorite of all her films).

Two years later she would win praise in the biography, THE SINGING NUN. As the decade ended, Debbie appeared in two very adult marriage comedies, DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE, with Dick Van Dyke, and HOW SWEET IT IS! with James Garner, along with forays into horror (1971’s WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?) and animation (1973’s CHARLOTTE’S WEB). Work on stage and television then occupied most her time, along with collecting movie memorabilia for a possible future museum. Happily she might a triumphant return to the big screen in the 1990’s with a supporting role in Oliver Stone’s HEAVEN & EARTH. Her last truly great movie role might be as the title character in Albert Brooks’s MOTHER in 1996.

The next year Debbie would go on to play Kevin Kine’s mum in Frank Oz’s IN & OUT. Her last feature film role was in 2012’s ONE FOR THE MONEY. Three years later she would be given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Screen Actors’ Guild. And almost a year ago Debbie would finally be honored by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

We at this site join movie fans across the globe in saluting one of the greatest dynasties in cinema history. Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, thank you for being a part of films that will studied and enjoyed forever. Your legacy will never be forgotten.

The Academy Celebrates Spike Lee, Gena Rowlands And Debbie Reynolds At 2015 Governors Awards

Filmmakers, Actors and Actresses and Hollywood’s A-listers turned out for the first Oscar awards show of the season – the 7th annual Governors Awards.

The star-studded evening was held in Hollywood, CA, on Saturday. (Nov 14, 2015)

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award went to Debbie Reynolds, and Honorary Awards were presented to Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs opened the 2015 Governors Awards with a tribute to the Paris tragedy and spoke about The Academy’s response to diversity in the film industry (17 of the 51 Governors are women) and their new initiative, A2020.

Wesley Snipes, Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington spoke as part of the award presentation to Honorary Award recipient Spike Lee.

Gena Rowlands received her Oscar from son Nick Cassavetes.

Zooey Deschanel performed the song “Tammy” to Debbie Reynolds who was unable to attend. Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda paid tribute and Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep presented the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Billie Lourd on behalf of Ms. Reynolds.

Producers Julie Lynn and Bonnie Curtis produced the 7th Annual Governors Awards for the Academy.

See the rest of The Academy’s videos here: www.youtube.com/user/Oscars/videos

Lee, a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers, made an auspicious debut with his NYU thesis film, “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads,” which won a Student Academy Award in 1983. He proceeded to blaze a distinctive trail with such features as “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze” and “Do the Right Thing,” which earned him a 1989 Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay. His work as a director ranges from the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “4 Little Girls” to such mainstream successes as “Malcolm X” and “Inside Man.” Lee’s other feature credits include “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Crooklyn,” “He Got Game,” “25th Hour,” “Miracle at St. Anna” and “Red Hook Summer.” He currently serves as the artistic director of the graduate film program at NYU.

Rowlands, an original talent whose devotion to her craft has earned her worldwide recognition as an independent film icon, received Academy Award nominations for her lead performances in “A Woman under the Influence” (1974) and “Gloria” (1980), both directed by her husband and frequent collaborator, John Cassavetes. She got her start on the New York stage and in live television in the 1950s and has appeared in 40 feature films to date, from “The High Cost of Loving” in 1958 to “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” which she starred in earlier this year. Her other notable films include “Lonely Are the Brave,” “Faces,” “Minnie and Moskowitz,” “Opening Night,” “Another Woman,” “Unhook the Stars,” “Hope Floats,” “Playing by Heart,” “The Notebook” and “Broken English.”

Reynolds, a Hollywood icon since she won hearts with her buoyant performance in “Singin’ in the Rain,” embarked on the role of a lifetime as a founding member of the Thalians, a charitable organization conceived and sustained by entertainers to promote awareness and treatment of mental health issues. She served as the group’s president almost continuously from 1957 to 2011, adding numerous terms as board chair and frequently presiding over its annual fundraising gala. Her tireless efforts have enabled the Thalians to contribute millions to the Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai and to UCLA’s Operation Mend, which helps military veterans recover from the physical and psychological wounds of war. Reynolds has appeared in more than 40 feature films, including “The Tender Trap,” “A Catered Affair” and “Mother,” and received a 1964 Oscar nomination for her lead performance in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

Photos: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Honorary Award recipients Gena Rowlands and Spike Lee

Billie Lourd accepts the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for Debbie Reynolds from Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep.

Zooey Deschanel performs a tribute for Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient Debbie Reynolds.

Honorary Award recipient Spike Lee (left center), actor Will Smith (left), actor Samuel L. Jackson (right center) and actor Wesley Snipes.

Nick Cassavetes (left) presents the Oscar to Honorary Award recipient Gena Rowlands.

Watch Governors Awards Recipients Spike Lee And Gena Rowlands Discuss The Power Of Movies In New Academy Originals

On Saturday evening The Academy is handing out the first Oscars of the season.

AMPAS is hosting its annual Governors Awards where they are honoring film icons Spike Lee, Gena Rowlands and Debbie Reynolds.

Today The Academy released two special “Academy Originals” episodes featuring director Spike Lee and actress Gena Rowlands.

On August 25th, the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to present Honorary Awards to Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Debbie Reynolds.

All three awards will be presented at the Academy’s 7th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 14, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center. Producers Julie Lynn and Bonnie Curtis will produce the 7th Annual Governors Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

“The Board is proud to recognize our honorees’ remarkable contributions at this year’s Governors Awards,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “We’ll be celebrating their achievements with the knowledge that the work they have accomplished – with passion, dedication and a desire to make a positive difference – will also enrich future generations.”

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

Visit The Academy’s site here: http://www.oscars.org/governors

Spike Lee, Gena Rowlands And Debbie Reynolds To Receive The Academy’s 2015 Governors Awards

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Tuesday night (August 25) to present Honorary Awards to Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Debbie Reynolds.

All three awards will be presented at the Academy’s 7th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 14, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs introduces the 2014 Governors Awards

Debbie Reynolds To Be Honored With 2014 SAG Life Achievement Award

Debbie Reynolds – actor, singer, dancer, author, champion for the preservation of the artifacts of film history and for the understanding and treatment of mental illness – has been named the 51st recipient of SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.

Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the union’s highest accolade will be presented to the Oscar, Emmy and Tony-nominated Reynolds at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 at 8 p.m. (ET), 7 p.m. (CT), 6 p.m. (MT) and 5 p.m. (PT).

SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard praised Reynolds’ artistry over her very accomplished career, saying, “I’m thrilled that SAG-AFTRA is presenting our Life Achievement Award to Debbie Reynolds. She is a tremendously talented performer with a diverse body of screen and stage work, live performances and several hit records. Her generous spirit and unforgettable performances have entertained audiences across the globe, moving us all from laughter to tears and back again. Congratulations, Debbie, on your life achievements.”

Star of more than 50 motion pictures, two Broadway shows, two television series, as well as dozens of television, cabaret and concert appearances here and abroad, the 82-year-old Reynolds is celebrating her 66th year in show business. Born Mary Frances Reynolds on April 1, 1932, in El Paso, Texas, she moved with her railroad worker father, mother and brother to Burbank, California, in 1939 and as a young teen performed with the Burbank Youth Symphony and in high school plays. At 16, she entered the Miss Burbank contest in hopes of receiving a free blouse and scarf, and not only won the title, but was seen by talent scouts from Warner Brothers and MGM, who flipped a coin to decide which studio would offer her a screen test. Warner won the toss. Mary Frances gained a studio contract and, courtesy of Jack Warner himself, a new first name.

After an uncredited bit part in June Bride, Reynolds made her official screen debut as June Haver’s younger sister in the 1950 musical The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady. Soon, a successful audition at MGM for the role of “Boop-Boop-A-Doop” girl Helen Kane in the bio-pic Three Little Words, led to a contract for Reynolds at the studio renowned for its glorious movie musicals and earned her the first of five Golden Globe® nominations. Her subsequent performance in a Busby Berkeley musical Two Weeks with Love, which featured Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter’s million-selling rendition of the 1914 ditty Aba Daba Honeymoon, convinced the legendary Louis B. Mayer to choose her to play ingénue Kathy Selden in what become one of greatest screen musicals of all time, Singin’ in the Rain, opposite star and co-director Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.

Over the next 10 years, Reynolds made more than 25 films, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, for which she was nominated an Oscar for her title role performance; the Cinerama epic How the West Was Won, which garnered three Oscars and five nominations; Tammy and the Bachelor, which included the Oscar-nominated title song Tammy, a No. 1 smash hit that earned Reynolds a gold record, The Tender Trap, opposite Frank Sinatra; The Pleasure of His Company, in which she danced with Fred Astaire; the title role the film version of the Broadway hit Mary, Mary; Goodbye Charlie, opposite Tony Curtis and Walter Matthau; Divorce American Style, opposite Dick Van Dyke and Jason Robards; and How Sweet It Is, opposite James Garner.

Reynolds’ first non-musical dramatic role was as a bride-to-be 1956’s The Catered Affair, starring with Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Barry Fitzgerald and Rod Taylor. Her performance earned Reynolds a Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Board of Review. Reynolds was to show her dramatic chops again some 40 years later as the difficult title character in Albert Brooks’ Mother, for which she was lauded with a Golden Satellite Award, a Golden Globe nomination and an Online Film & Television Award nomination.

Maternal roles became more commonplace for Reynolds since the ’90s. In 1997, she starred as Kevin Kline’s mother in Frank Oz’s In & Out, earned a 2000 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Guest Actress nomination for her recurring role as Debra Messing’s mother in the hit comedy series Will & Grace, played Katherine Heigl’s grandmother in 2012’s One for the Money and, in 2013, portrayed Liberace’s mother Frances (the Liberace family were longtime friends of Reynolds) in the award-winning HBO telefilm Behind the Candelabra.

Reynolds was no stranger to television. She received a 1970 Golden Globe nomination for her work in the eponymous NBC series The Debbie Reynolds Show and headlined ABC’s Aloha Paradise in 1981. She has guest starred in numerous series and variety programs and was one of a quartet of iconic actresses, including Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins, who starred in the 2001 ABC telefilm These Old Broads, co-written by Reynolds’ daughter, actress and author Carrie Fisher.

Reynolds is also no stranger to live performances. She debuted her first nightclub act at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas in 1960, and over the years it has evolved to include songs and clips from her most popular films, as well as tributes to Katharine Hepburn, Bette, Davis, Jimmy Stewart, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Jimmy Stewart, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland. Over the next half-century, she has been a headliner on the casino circuit from Reno to Tahoe to Vegas to Atlantic City to the famed London Palladium, performed in concert in every major American city, touring often on the average of 44 weeks a year. She headlined her own showroom, the Star Theatre, at the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which she owned and operated from 1993 to 1998.

In 1973, she took a break from her nightclub appearances to star in the Broadway revival of Irene, at the new Minskoff Theatre. Reynolds became the first person to be nominated for a Tony Award before the show officially opened and Irene went on to break all previous records for a Broadway musical. After a successful national tour, Reynolds returned to the musical stage with another hit revival, Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, which like Irene, was directed by Gower Champion. Reynolds and Champion had previously starred for Reynolds’ Singin’ in the Rain director Stanley Donen in MGM’s 1953 musical Give a Girl a Break, along with Champion’s wife Marge and Bob Fosse, who like Champion became a legendary Broadway choreographer.

In 1993, she returned to Broadway to star in the hit musical Woman of the Year and, in 1989, toured the country in a revival of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Animation fans know Reynolds as the voice of the beloved title character in the 1973 animated feature Charlotte’s Web, as Madame in the English version of Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service or as Lulu Pickles in several of the Rugrats movies.

Younger audiences may also identify Reynolds with the series of four Disney Channel films Halloweentown, which debuted between 1998 and 2006, or may have seen her Daytime Emmy-nominated performance in 2000 in Showtime’s A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story, playing the grandmother whose football-star grandson gave up his promise of a career and his kidney to save her life.

In 1955, Reynolds, along with Jack Haley Jr., Hugh O’Brien and other young stars, founded a charity to fight the stigma of mental illness, calling themselves The Thalians, after the goddess of comedy, Thalia. Over nearly 60 years, The Thalians have raised over $30 million, endowing The Thalians’ Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. With that center’s priorities shifting to other illnesses, The Thalians has shifted its support to UCLA’s Operation Mend, which provides medical and mental health support to returning wounded military personnel. Reynolds was elected The Thalians’ president in 1957, and for many years alternated between that role and chair of the board with Ruta Lee, and currently serves as the organization’s president emeritus. Reynolds has also been a lifelong supporter and fundraiser for the Girl Scouts.

Reynolds other abiding passion has been the collection and preservation of memorabilia from Hollywood’s first half-century of filmmaking. Beginning with the landmark 1970 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer auction, she amassed thousands of costumes, props and mementos of Hollywood’s studios and their greatest stars, building the largest individual collection of Hollywood memorabilia, including Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch, Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress and Richard Burton’s costume from Cleopatra, and Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot gown from My Fair Lady. While the collection was showcased at Reynolds’ Las Vegas hotel in the 1990’s, sadly, after numerous attempts over 50 years to establish a Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Museum to give the collection a permanent home, Reynolds sold the memorabilia to private collectors at a series of auctions in between 2011 and 2014.

In 1979, anticipating a retirement from performing that has yet to materialize, Reynolds established the Debbie Reynolds Studio in North Hollywood to provide a comfortable space for dancers to rehearse and attend professional classes, with then-unheard-of amenities such as free parking, a coffee lounge, dressing rooms, showers and spacious rehearsal rooms with pianos. Among the artists who have graced its facilities are Lucille Ball, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bette Midler, Cher, Usher, Mariah Carey and Johnny Depp.

Over her more than six decades in show business, Reynolds has received numerous accolades for her performing and charitable endeavors. Among them, the Costume Designers Guild honored her with its Presidents Award in 2005 for her collection and conservation of classic Hollywood costumes She has received Lifetime Achievement honors from the American Comedy Awards in 1996 and 1997, the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 1999, the Savannah Film and Video Festival in 2002, and Chapman University in 2006. In 2007, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. Fans can view her stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Palm Springs Walk of Stars as well as her hand and footprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Her philanthropic activities have earned her national honors from the Girl Scouts, a City of Hope Award, The Thalians’ Ms. Wonderful award, the National Film Society’s Humanitarian Award and a Spirit of Hope medallion from the USO for entertaining the troops during the Korean War.

In 1987, Reynolds published her first memoir, Debbie: My Life, and in 2013 brought her personal and professional story up to date and shared anecdotes about the making of her extensive filmography in Unsinkable: A Memoir. Reynolds is proud of her two children, actor and author Carrie Fisher (Star Wars, Postcards from the Edge) and producer Todd Fisher. Reynolds is devoted to Carrie’s daughter and her granddaughter, Billie Catherine Lourd.

ONE FOR THE MONEY New Clip

There is a new clip for ONE FOR THE MONEY, the new film based on the popular novel by Janet Evanovich which hits theaters next Friday, January 27, 2012… and WAMG has it for you!

SYNOPSIS: Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling eighteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s ONE FOR THE MONEY.

A proud, born-and-bred Jersey girl, Stephanie Plum’s got plenty of attitude, even if she’s been out of work for the last six months and just lost her car to a debt collector. Desperate for some fast cash, Stephanie turns to her last resort: convincing her sleazy cousin to give her a job at his bail bonding company…as a recovery agent. True, she doesn’t even own a pair of handcuffs and her weapon of choice is pepper spray, but that doesn’t stop Stephanie from taking on Vinny’s biggest bail-jumper: former vice cop and murder suspect Joe Morelli – yup, the same sexy, irresistible Joe Morelli who seduced and dumped her back in high school.

Nabbing Morelli would be satisfying payback – and a hefty payday – but as Stephanie learns the ins and outs of becoming a recovery agent from Ranger, a hunky colleague who’s the best in the business, she also realizes the case against Morelli isn’t airtight. Add to the mix her meddling family, a potentially homicidal boxer, witnesses who keep dying and the problem of all those flying sparks when she finds Morelli himself…well, suddenly Stephanie’s new job isn’t nearly as easy as she thought.

Starring Katherine Heigl, ONE FOR THE MONEY is a fresh, funny action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson and also starring Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk. Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment present a Lakeshore Entertainment Lionsgate Wendy Finerman production in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Abishag Productions. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Screenplay by Stacy Sherman & Karen Ray and Liz Brixius. Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich.

Like ONE FOR THE MONEY on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oneforthemoneymovie?sk=info

Website: http://oneforthemoneyfilm.com/

ONE FOR THE MONEY hits theaters January 27th

ONE FOR THE MONEY Poster Features Katherine Heigl As Stephanie Plum

ONE FOR THE MONEY, based on the massively popular novel by Janet Evanovich, will be in theaters everywhere January 27th, 2012! Get a first look at Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum in the first official poster.

Katherine Heigl stars as Stephanie Plum, Jersey girl turned recovery agent, in the fun action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The film also stars Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk.

SYNOPSIS:

Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling sixteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s ONE FOR THE MONEY.

Starring Katherine Heigl, ONE FOR THE MONEY is a fresh, funny action-comedy directed by Julie Anne Robinson and also starring Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguiziamo, Debbie Reynolds and Debra Monk. Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment present a Lakeshore Entertainment Lionsgate Wendy Finerman production in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Abishag Productions. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Screenplay by Stacy Sherman & Karen Ray and Liz Brixius. Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich.

Follow Lionsgate on Twitter: http://twitter.com/lionsgatemovies

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ONE FOR THE MONEY hits theaters January 27th

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