Debbie Reynolds (1932–2016)

Debbie Reynolds is a strong woman with a weakness for morally bankrupt men. I admire her efforts for trying to preserve Hollywood memorabilia from the golden age of movies, especially from big studio musicals. I really wish for her, and for all of us, that it did become a reality. She had some amazing artifacts. There is no doubt she did try very hard to establish the museum, but due to her poor choices in her last two husbands, who basically robbed her blind, she eventually had to auction off nearly all of her memorabilia collection putting an end to that dream. This made me very sad because it seemed she did not learn any lessons from her second marriage, and her poor choices with her third marriage, in my opinion, bordered on self-sabotage against her own life and happiness. The cliched saying..."Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" came to mind several moments as I read of her train wreck of a third marriage. Although, I viewed her third husband as despicable, it sickened me that Ms. Reynolds was so complacent and enabling of the whole situation. Even after she suspected her husband contemplated murdering her, she still harbored faint hopes it might work out. What?! It often amazed me as I was reading the book how strong her son Todd was to always be there to support his mother and scramble to fix the messes that she had a major role in creating. Not to mention the unnamed friends she had to borrow money and services from. This being said, I do admire her work ethic, sense of humor, and love for her children, parents, and brother. I enjoyed the memories she shared of the films she has done over the years. The fact that she has lived to such a ripe old age and still working so hard lives up to her memoir title "Unsinkable", yet it's plain to me she repeatedly and needlessly fired the torpedo on herself.… (plus d'informations)

Debbie—My Life by Debbie Reynolds
This biography is about the life of Mary Frances Reynolds whose name was later changed to Debbie Reynolds. Mary Frances got her start in show business when she entered the Miss Burbank contest. She did not want to win or expect to win. She entered, so she could get a free blouse and scarf. She won and was asked to do a screen test for Warner Brothers studio. Reynolds was an excellent mimic and became a big star. Her biography tells of her three marriages including her tumultuous marriage to Eddie Fisher. She had a good relationship with her two children Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher. Her second husband, Harry Karl was a big gambler. He gambled away nearly everything Debbie had. After her divorce she sometimes lived out of her car. She finally found happiness with her third husband. If you enjoyed Debbie in one many movies Singin’ in the Rain, Tammy or Unsinkable Molly Brown you’ll enjoy this book.… (plus d'informations)

I tore right through this book, and loved it, but the number of times I found myself mentally shaking my head while saying "oh, honey" was ridiculous. Clearly, she lived an interesting and eventful life, and she seems to have retained a trust in humanity long after most would have lost it. I have read Carrie Fisher's autobiographies, and I'd been meaning to read more about Debbie Reynolds for quite a while now. Her memories of working on some of my favorite old Hollywood films were my favorite part of this book.… (plus d'informations)

My second audio book. I liked Carrie's book better. Each was read by the author. It did seem like you got a hint of the author's personality coming through in the reading. I had not planned to read much this year and with a Netflix gift card to use up, that seemed like a sure thing..but I had bought and read Wishful Drinking and Unsinkable was on my TBR list and when they popped up as audio books I decided to give it a try. Not a bad experience. I somehow don't think it counts as reading but others do and I will not now be reading Debbie's book again for a year or two...so I guess it will count as having been read. She must have done something right...her children loved her. She did say loud and clear that if anything happened to Carrie she would not want to live and sure enough she didn't. She said the cattiest things in that relentlessly cheerful tone of voice. It was a good experience and I liked both women. A little name dropping wasn't bad and she listed all her movies and dished on the experience of making them and made pointed remarks about some co-stars...apparently Leslie Nielsen was a 'pill' to work with and she told him he was too grim and should become a comedian. (… (plus d'informations)