Debbie Reynolds Net Worth: What Were Her Last Words?

By Aarush Sharma On Jun 20, 2022

Debbie Reynolds was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas on April 1, 1932. Her mother’s name was Maxene, and her father was Raymond, a carpenter. Reynolds is of Scottish-Irish and English ancestry.

She and her lower-class family first lived in a shanty in Texas before relocating to Burbank, California, in 1939. Reynolds attended Burbank High School and won the Miss Burbank beauty pageant as a teenager.

Following that, she was offered a contract with Warner Bros. Studios, and studio chief Jack L. Warner gave her the stage name Debbie. Reynolds received her first recognized appearance at Warner Bros.

In the 1950 musical “The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady.” However, when the company stopped producing musicals, the actress transferred to MGM. Throughout the decade, she was a regular star in film musicals.

“Three Little Words,” “Two Weeks with Love,” “Mr. Imperium,” “I Love Melvin,” “The Affairs of Dobie Gillis,” “Give a Girl a Break,” “Athena,” “Hit the Deck,” “Bundle of Joy,” and “Say One for Me” are just a few of her film credits.

Reynolds’ most notable role of the decade was in Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” which she co-starred in with Gene Kelly.

Debbie Reynolds’ only son, Todd Fisher, has revealed his mother’s poignant final words, one day after her untimely death at the age of 84 on Wednesday, Dec. 28. “I really miss her.” “I want to be with Carrie,” Debbie remarked before having a stroke, according to Todd.

Further Film Career

“The Rat Race,” “Pepe,” “The Pleasure of His Company,” and “The Second Time Around” was among Reynolds’ first films in the 1960s. She starred as one of 14 leading ladies in the epic “How the West Was Won” in 1962, in which she also performed three songs.

Reynolds gave one of her most celebrated performances in 1964’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” for which she won her first and only Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Then came “Goodbye Charlie,” “The Singing Nun,” “Divorce American Style,” and “How Sweet It Is!” for Reynolds. “What’s the Matter with Helen?” and the animated musical “Charlotte’s Web,” in which she voiced the eponymous part, were among her film credits in the 1970s.

Reynolds made a cameo appearance in 1992’s “The Bodyguard,” after taking a sabbatical from the big screen in the 1980s. She then appeared in “Heaven & Earth.”

Reynolds played Beatrice Henderson, Brooks’ widowed mother, in Albert Brooks’ “Mother” in 1996, her first main film role in almost 20 years. Following that, she had a noteworthy role in the comedy “In & Out.”

In the 2000s and 2010s, Reynolds worked in the film less frequently. She appeared in the comedy “Connie and Carla” as herself, and in the crime comedy “One for the Money,” she played Grandma Mazur.

Television Career

Reynolds’ NBC comedy “The Debbie Reynolds Show,” which aired from 1969 to 1970, is her most well-known work on television. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Reynolds, on the other hand, made news when she clashed with the network about cigarette advertisements on the show. She eventually dropped out, prematurely terminating the program.

“Aloha Paradise” and “Will & Grace” are two of Reynolds’ other prominent television credits. She played Lulu Pickles, a recurrent character on the latter, from 1999 to 2006, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work.

From 2000 to 2002, Reynolds also voiced ten episodes of the animated children’s show “Rugrats.” She appeared in a variety of television movies, including “Sadie and Son,” “Halloweentown,” “The Christmas Wish,” “These Old Broads,” and “Behind the Candelabra,” in which she played Frances Liberace.

Career in the Theater

Reynolds made her Broadway debut in a 1973 revival of the musical “Irene,” due to a lack of film and television options in the 1970s. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance.

Following that, Reynolds featured in “Debbie,” a revue, then toured with “Annie Get Your Gun.” She starred in “Woman of the Year” in the 1980s and repeated her starring film role in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” on stage.

Other Projects

Reynolds led a live show at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas for a decade, among other things. In 1979, she founded her own dancing studio in North Hollywood, which she still owns today.

She later bought the Clarion Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in the early 1990s but declared bankruptcy in 1997. Aside from his business pursuits, Reynolds has been associated with the Thalians, a humanitarian group that helps people with mental illnesses, for more than 50 years.

Personal Experiences

Reynolds married singer Eddie Fisher in 1955, and the couple had two children: actress Carrie Fisher and a son called Todd. When it was revealed that Fisher had been having an affair with actress Elizabeth Taylor, the couple split four years later.

Reynolds later married businessman Harry Karl, but the couple separated in 1973. Finally, she married Richard Hamlett, whom she had been seeing since 1984.

Carrie Fisher, Reynolds’ daughter, experienced a medical issue on a flight from London to Los Angeles in December 2016 and died shortly after. Reynolds suffered a major hemorrhage the next day and was rushed to the hospital, where she died at the age of 84.

What was Debbie Reynolds’ Net Worth?

Debbie Reynolds had an almost 70-year career as an actress, singer, and entrepreneur. Debbie Reynolds had an estimated net worth of $85 million at the time of her death.

Her most well-known roles include “Singin’ in the Rain,” “The Affairs of Dobie Gillis,” “Tammy and the Bachelor,” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” among others.

Reynolds starred in “The Debbie Reynolds Show” on television and in a Broadway production of the musical “Irene” on stage.

Financial Ups and Downs and Ups

Debbie married Harry Karl, a shoe mogul, in 1960. Debbie found out in 1973 that Harry had gambled away the majority of her personal belongings. Debbie married Richard Hamlett, a Virginia businessman, in 1984.

Debbie spent $10 million on a casino in Las Vegas in 1994 with Richard’s help. She rapidly transformed the property into a showcase for her priceless memorabilia collection. Debbie was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1997 after her casino venture failed.

Fortunately, in the latter two decades of her life, she was able to turn her financial situation around. She was allowed to keep a number of homes in Los Angeles, including a huge Beverly Hills estate valued at least $20 million.