Debbie Reynolds dies at 84
Debbie Reynolds has died after being rushed to the hospital Wednesday, her son told The Associated Press. She was 84.
Reynolds lost her daughter, Carrie Fisher, on Tuesday. Fisher died at a Los Angeles hospital days after suffering a heart attack on a plane last week. She was 60.
"She's now with Carrie and we're all heartbroken," Reynolds' son, Todd Fisher, said from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Wednesday evening.
He said the stress of his sister's death "was too much" for Reynolds.
"She said, 'I want to be with Carrie,' " said Fisher. "And then she was gone."
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Earlier in the day, TMZ and the Los Angeles Times said she suffered a medical emergency. TMZ reported Wednesday morning Reynolds was at Fisher's home in Beverly Hills planning her daughter's funeral and may have suffered a stroke. The outlet said Reynolds had been distraught since Fisher's health declined last Friday.
"She held it together beautifully, obviously, for the last couple of days but she was under a lot of emotion and stress from the loss (of Fisher) and it's pretty much what triggered this event," Todd told E! News.
The Los Angeles Times reported Reynolds was rushed to the hospital, adding that she complained of breathing problems. Todd told ABC 7 Los Angeles that she had suffered a stroke at her home at about noon, though no cause of death has been revealed for either woman.
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The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed they responded to a call for medical assistance from a house on Coldwater Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills shortly after 1 p.m. local time. LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart told USA TODAY that an "adult female" in "fair to serious condition" was transported to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, the closest to the address.
Because of a federal privacy law, emergency services can't identify patients.
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USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Reynolds; her 24-year-old granddaughter, Billie Lourd; and Joely Fisher, Carrie Fisher's half-sister.
The world reeled at the devastating one-two punch of losing mother and daughter a day apart – particularly at the close of a year which saw continual celebrity deaths.
Fisher's daughter Billie, a star on Scream Queens, whose father is talent agent Bryan Lourd, has now lost both her mother and grandmother. "Carrie's daughter is 24 years old. To have to lose the girls, it's just horrible," Todd told E! News. "She's got their genes but you can't even imagine. I can't imagine being 24 and having to do this and I'm 59."
Reynolds had previously given periodic updates on Fisher while her daughter was hospitalized, first telling fans Fisher was "stable" and on Tuesday confirming her death with a touching note.
"Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love Carries Mother," Reynolds wrote on Facebook.
Reynolds last suffered a stroke in 2015, which Fisher referenced in an interview with People in May while discussing her upcoming HBO documentary, Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (which her mother participated in).
“It’s a lot of times terrifying, but watching my mother, who’s incredibly resilient, coping with certain health issues that she’s had,” Fisher said of Reynolds. “We were really lucky we got really what probably could be her last (big project)."
In June, Reynolds' son Todd told ABC News that "when (Reynolds) was in the hospital and barely recovering from an operation, she had a small stroke."
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Last year, Reynolds received a Governors Award (though couldn't attend) and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. The latter was presented to her on stage by Fisher.
In a November interview with for the NPR show Fresh Air, Fisher spoke of her admiration for her mother.
"She's an immensely powerful woman, and I just admire my mother very much," Carrie Fisher said. "There's very few women from her generation who worked like that, who just kept a career going all her life, and raised children, and had horrible relationships, and lost all her money, and got it back again. I mean, she's had an amazing life, and she's someone to admire."
Reynolds' celebrated career in Hollywood lasted more than 65 years. The Oscar-nominated actress starred in memorable films including 1952's Singin' in the Rain, 1962's How the West Was Won and 1956's Bundle of Joy.
The outspoken Reynolds made a specialty playing offbeat mothers onscreen, alongside Albert Brooks in 1996's Mother and on the sitcom Will & Grace (1999 to 2006) as Debra Messing's screen mom.
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But the most famous is her true-life role as Carrie Fisher's mother, the subject of Fisher's semi-autobiographical novel and 1990 film Postcards From the Edge.
"It was her story. It was not my story," said Reynolds. "We've had our ups and downs, and we survived it all."
In 2015, she told USA TODAY there was one screen character she related to the most: the indomitable, outspoken heroine of 1964's The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
"I feel akin to that character who says, 'I ain't down yet,' " said Reynolds. "In life, I'm like Molly Brown. I've had tough times along the way and gone through experiences that many women have gone through. But I ain't down yet."
Reynolds was married three times, to singer Eddie Fisher (1955 to 1959), the father of Carrie and Todd; to businessman Harry Karl (1960 to 1973); and to real estate developer Richard Hamlett (1984 to 1996). Her messy divorce from Fisher, who left her for Elizabeth Taylor, made headlines in the late 1950s.
Contributing: Bryan Alexander, the Associated Press
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