PATRICIA SHERIDAN'S BREAKFAST WITH:

TO DEBBIE REYNOLDS 

By Patricia Sheridan

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette 

September 27, 2004

She's a movie star who just keeps twinkling. Through hit movies such as "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" to guest appearances on "Will and Grace," Debbie Reynolds doesn't stop. She weathered a storm of press when husband Eddie Fisher left her for Elizabeth Taylor, then when her second husband put her in debt, and finally when her casino closed and she had to declare bankruptcy. That was then. Now she is working on her Hollywood Motion Picture Museum near Dolly Parton's amusement park Dollywood in Tennessee. She stars in the Disney Channel's "Halloweentown High" at 8 p.m. Oct. 8.

Q
Were you surprised at how well you seemed to adapt to life in the fishbowl, as you have described it?

A
Looking at other people, I think I really did. First of all they wanted to become a star -- I never wanted to be a star. I wanted to be a gym teacher. I had no aspirations for acting. Other people did, so as they did become big stars, it seems a lot of them couldn't handle the adulation, the press and all the fishbowl existence. I just felt that I was lucky and that was just part of the deal. I had to get along with the press. You just have to be patient and actually talk to them -- not to run away and hire a million guards. Just walk right in the middle of the fray, the middle of the zoo, the middle of the circus and answer questions and take it on the chin.

Q
How did having the girl-next-door image affect your dating life? I mean did Frank Sinatra or Gene Kelly ever ask you out?

A
No, of course not. I wasn't a very sexy gal. I was very square, and I was raised very strict. Those kind of men would never have asked me out, nor would I have wanted them to, because I would have been terrified! I didn't date first until I was at MGM; they arranged dates and had chaperones. Tab Hunter was a date. Mr. Mayer put me in "Singin' in the Rain" because I was that kind of girl.

Q
When Jack Warner changed your name to Debbie, was it weird?

A
Well it was unexpected. I liked my name, and my name is Mary Frances Reynolds. Mr. Warner said, "Mary is too plain," and he didn't like Frances. He liked the name Debbie.

They told me I was going to be Debbie, and I said, "I won't answer to it." They wanted it to be Debbie Morgan, but I said, "I'll never change Reynolds. That's my father's name, and I'll never, never, never." So I didn't answer to the name Debbie for like a year. I fought hard to stay Reynolds. I always think of myself as two people: Mary Frances Reynolds is a normal girl, you know, a homebody type. Then there's Debbie Reynolds, who is really much more like me. I really like fun and to laugh a lot.

Q
Is it true you ended up being better friends with Elizabeth Taylor than Eddie Fisher

A
Well certainly. Isn't that always the case? The women stick together, and the men seem to just disappear or wander back into the cave somewhere. But yes, Elizabeth and I are good friends now, and we have been since the Richard Burton days.

Q
Your private life has never been dull. How do you maintain your equilibrium?

A
Well, you know, I've gone through a lot of different things in my life. A lot of attention-getting scandal and really difficult times with a huge amount of press coverage. They were on my front yard and in my back yard rooting through trees and looking in my windows. It was an awful experience. As in life, if you go down with the blow, you are out for the count. I want to go out fighting. I can't say in my personal life it's been easy on me or my children. We've had to fight the whole way. That doesn't mean you can't have a good time within the fight. I just married rotten men. But that's my choice. I have only myself to blame for that. It's a shame, because I would have loved a lovely marriage. It just wasn't in the cards. Now I've given up. So I won't ever remarry. I don't date. I just don't have time for any more of that kind of pain. The life I live is very full.

Q
You've got a positive attitude, Debbie Reynolds.

A
I am, yes I am. It takes a lot to knock me down, and if they do I'll just be right back up. I travel with my work 40 weeks a year. I'm creating a museum in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., by Dollywood - it's been a dream of mine.

Q
Why do you think you need the energy of live performing?

A
Well, don't we all like friendship? Don't we all want to be admired? Don't we all want to be loved? When you walk on the stage and you perform, you feel that love and energy. After 56 years in show business, it's like you grew up with all these people. You just feel a lot of love. Who wouldn't want that?