The Debbie Reynolds Only I Knew

THE HOLLYWOOD ICON WOULDN'T LET HEARTBREAK, BETRAYAL OR FINANCIAL TROUBLES BREAK HER SPIRIT

- LOUISE A. BARILE

On days when she wasn’t expected anywhere, Debbie Reynolds held court from her king-size bed. With papers, pencils and books strewn about, the actress, dressed in her bathrobe, made phone calls, raised money for her favorite charities and met with old pals. “Debbie was a very tiny little person,” recalls her close friend and frequent visitor, actress Ruta Lee. “She looked minuscule in this big bed.”

Debbie also packed a ton of talent, moxie and a great big heart into her tiny frame. The former Miss Burbank, who became a star with 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain, enjoyed a brilliant, decades-long career that included films, hit recordings, television, cabaret and Broadway. Along the way, Debbie also endured more than her fair share of heartache. “She learned not to get distressed about things she couldn’t control,” Ruta, a star of 1954’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and author of the delicious Hollywood tell-all Consider Your Ass Kissed!, tells Closer. “She would take a deep breath and say, ‘This doesn’t matter. I’ve got to sustain my health. I’ve got to keep my kids going. I’ve got to work.’ That was her.”

Before Debbie became a household name, she was Mary Frances Reynolds, the Texas-born daughter of a carpenter and a laundress. “God, she loved her parents. Her father was quiet, stoic, never laughed,” recalls Ruta, 87. “Her mother had a mouth. I think [Debbie’s daughter] Carrie [Fisher] took after her grandmother. She was a bit of a smart-ass, but hardworking and loving.”