Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds's film career began at MGM after she won a beauty contest at age 16 impersonating Betty Hutton. Most of her film work has been in MGM musicals, as perky, wholesome young women.

Debbie wasn't a dancer until she was selected by Gene Kelly to be his partner in Singin' in the Rain (1952). Not yet 20, she was a quick study. Twelve years later, it seemed like she had been around forever but she was only 31 when she gave an Academy Award nominee performance in, The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). Having survived losing her first husband to Elizabeth Taylor, she was becoming the unsinkable Debbie Reynolds. Her second husband lost his fortune and hers, too.

She had to keep working and turned to stage musicals when Hollywood stopped making musicals like Singin' in the Rain (1952). Now she has her own casino in Las Vegas, a home for her Hollywood museum. She's as down to earth as Molly Brown and took time to personally write a long letter that is on display in the Judy Garland museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and to provide that museum with replicas of Judy Garland costumes. The originals are in the Las Vegas museum.

She continues to use her dancing skills with stage work. Nearly all the money she makes is spent toward her goal of creating a Hollywood museum. Her collection numbers more than 3000 costumes and 46,000 square-feet worth of props and equipment.

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