Debbie Reynolds has been in show business for over six decades. She talks to Alec about her big break in Singing in the Rain. “I slept in my dressing room,” recalls Reynolds. “I didn't take any days off because I’d practice on Saturday and Sunday.”
Reynolds went on to appear in Tammy and the Bachelor, The Unsinkable Molly Brown—and more recently, Mother. Reynolds talks about working with different directors and says she’s not one to hold a grudge, but warns that she does have a memory like an elephant.
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This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing. Stop stop stop. If you're a baby boomer, that might be the version of Singing in the Rain. You most remember Malcolm McDowell and Stanley Kubrick's satiric masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, But if you were born before the nineteen fifties, you probably prefer this just sing. It's rare when a movie comes along and inspires a whole generation of actors, singers, and directors. Singing in the Rain is one of those movies. It also transformed the lives of its stars. Debbie Reynolds was just a twenty year world actress under contract at MGM, but after her performance and that iconic film, Debbie Reynolds was destined to become a star. Some of the highlights of her career include Tammy and Tammy and The Bachelor, with a song that reached number one on the Billboard Charts, I Hear the Cottonwoods Whisperingable Jimmy jem je j Love. Reynolds was nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown and received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in the musical Irene Over. Twenty years later, Reynolds played Albert Brooks mother in his film entitled Mother The Other One Is he staying with me for a while. Debbie and I Sell braided our birthdays earlier this month, just two days apart. We share an astrological sign aries I'm still living. Isn't that extraordinary? Well? I couldn't believe it when my birthday came again. It just was and there were the world and eighty one. I said, hold it. I didn't want to be eighty How did we get to eighty one? And Debbie Reynolds has stayed busy, Unlike a lot of her contemporaries. My friends, a lot of them just gave up because there weren't any good rules and everything they read was sort of a moron and that was depressing to a lot of them. So the opportunities they just walked away, and everything just wound up to be like nothing, you know, And so they took up different hobbies. Some of them became example teachers. Agnes Moorehead was one of my best girlfriends, and she was a great actor's really great and she had a lot of students at her house, come over and she taught acting. She taught acting, and she taught singing. She taught impressions to California, California on Roxbury. Right across the street was Jimmy Stewart and Lucille Ball and everybody was on that one street. It was like, let's have a party every night. George Burns and Eddie Candor lived on one block because I would drive over there because that street was more fun than my phone. No, I'm going to mention certain people, and not for the obvious reasons, but I you remained friends with Elizabeth Taylor until she died. Why do you think she stopped working? And why do you think she stopped taking care of it? Had to stop working. She became quite ill. She wouldn't have ever quit working all. Elizabeth loved to work, Yes she did, and she was a very good actress. We did a picture Carrie wrote, My daughter Carry These Old Broads. It was called and as Shirley McClain, Joan Collins and Elizabeth and myself, So I made this movie. We made a movie was that called These Old Broads That Carry Missing this movie, Well, maybe you're one of the lucky ones out. It was a cute movie was you know, four old broads that gave up was what you're talking about. They gave up working and you know, just kind of dillied around with the rest of their US movie You Elizabeth Taylor College and Shirlie McCain. It was funny. Well, we had a lot of fun working together that Joan. Nevertheless, you watch her makeup and she hides in her trailer and all her makeup. But we all kind of quite an operation. Well it is an operation for all of us at a certain point when you look in the mirror and everything is moved someplace else and all you broads, shall we say, came these four broads came from an error when everything was just was at its height. It's kind of heightened. Doing your hair and your makeup and your costumes and everything that's thought is things super important and everything is done for you. When we were under contract, most of us, Shirley McClain and Elizabeth, they were at MGM, and everything was done for us, you know, the makeup of hair, It sent cars for us. We were very spoiled. We didn't kind of know what to do when they dropped everybody, Like when television came in and remember what year around that was. Studio system kind of died as you get into the fifties, it's slowly died a death. You know. It was like interesting to watch it was. I didn't realize it was the end, you know, I didn't know that it was that you didn't know what the change meant. Well, I was a young girl, so I didn't. And I wasn't an intellectual. I wasn't educated. I'm from Burbankbank and originally from teacher. That's me. You know what. I always aim high too. I love Jim, you know I love I wanted to be a live guard son girls. Well yeah, yeah, Well I was never that ambitious that I wanted to be a lifeguard. But I wanted to be a gymnast. I wanted to work on the bars and enterpedes work. I loved all that stuff. And what's the link for you as a young girl, because she started very young as a young girl in Burbank and you're athletic, no doubt. What's the first thing that happened that says show business to you? Well, I never thought about me being in show business. I was a fan and I would go to the movies because my mother let me, but no one else in our church was allowed to go to films because movie stars were all evil creatures, just dreadful. My mother let me go to films. Mother was very religious, very my family said my dad. My father used to say, no, no, no, I'm not going to go to church with you. I've told you that I'm not going to go because all those good people will be killed. If I walked down, the roof would fall. And he was always teasing if you by asking what church did you go to? Church of the Nazarene, which is like hard shell Baptist, kind of like your mom was a heart. She was a Texan. She was a Texan Texan Baptist. She was tough and strict, and there were so many rules. How many kids in the family. Just my brother and I were in the family. And then my mother discovered what's your brother's name? Bill? And do you know who Bill is? To me? You don't know. Do you know that Billy Reynolds was my makeup artist on nuts Landing for a year? Oh my gosh, was he your brother? Billy? Isn't he my makeup artist? And he's one of the people that helped me survived that experience because those three broads were from the Joan Colins School where they were having the makeup put on with a trowel every day. I had to have federally funded programs to pay for the makeup for them. Billy Reynolds would turn to me and he'd sit there and say, you know, did you bring a book with you to go? We're in a be here for a while. These girls are two or three hours in the chair. And then he told me that he was Elvis's makeup artist. As you know that every time he mentioned Elvis, he didn't mention it a lot because he was very shy, very shy. He mentioned Elvis once or twice and he started to cry. He would turn away from me and hide to say. He said to me, Elvis was the greatest man I ever worked with. Well, the only used to play. Elvis used to tease him a lot and put snakes down his pants and popcorn and pop pop popcorn and put it in his drawers. You know, they used to kid my brother. They used to just pick on him kind of, but he didn't care. My brother was a baseball player, really man's man. He lives men in my house with me. Will you give him my love? I don't even know if he'll remember me. Yes, Oh he remembers everything. He just doesn't talk about it. You know some men that are like almost reclusive, but not really, because underneath all of that is a great sense of humor. I adore my brother. I think he helped save my life. The ladies here, by the way, who we work with, made us a cupcake. I see, I know that the candle. I just said, the candle just burned my finger. Candles and strawberries and cupcakes. It's our birthday that has to be nice to us, so it has to be nice to us. They made the cupcake gluten free, but you and I both know the gluten free really is bullshit. Well, I think you're allowed on the radio, you know, I always I used to be a disc jockey when I was sixteen years older. Was it Warner Brothers. I first went there when I first won this a little contest? What contest in Burbank, California, where I was raised. So we came from Texas because we were really poor, and my dad wanted us to have a better life, so he moved us to California. Work. He's looking for he railroad. He worked for the railroad. He repaired underneath the engines. He would repair all kinds of a railroad happening there in California. Well, my my dad worked really hard, but I did the most boring job in the whole wide world. I retired him as soon as I came As luck changed in my whole life changed, and I came into show business. I discovered a whole different world and that people really had fun and people laughed. And our life was rather tedious and hard because we didn't have any money. I mean, my dad made two hundred a month. Now that's better than nothing, but it's still also AD buys very little, so our life was a little bit meager. You know. We never had a Christmas tree. We never had So when the opportunity came along for you to get into the business, and I'm from the same school, actually, I'm wondering where you was enticed by and where you was thrilled by as much about making money to help your family as you were about your own glory. Well, honestly, I thought it was a joke that I won this contest, and then all of a sudden, I'm in movies. The silliest thing was the contest. It was a Miss Burbank. Mrs Burbank. Don't don't, don't, don't downplay that. No, I like it changed my whole life, had made my whole life wonderful and marvelous. Travel all over the world and meet all these fabulous, interesting people and see different countries as so I'm very proud to say I was Miss Burbank and had a hole in my bathing suit and there my rear end was hanging out, and I didn't have shoes, high heeled shoes, so I had I'm very agrateful for stumbling in the show business. Yeah, Miss Burbank. What happened? They took me to Warner Brothers and made a little screen test and asked me why I wanted to be a movie star. So of course I told him I didn't want to. And after they laughed and they said, of course you do, I said, no, I don't. I don't really, I mean, this is just fun. You're just this is you're kidding around, right. I was very square and my family were very virginal, you know, very go to church Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You're glad they were square. I'm grateful for that kind of upbringing throughout your career. And I'm not just saying this, I mean I wouldn't waste your time of mind. You know, you're a gorgeous woman, and everybody thinks of you and think of you being three things, beautiful and talented, but also being very straight laced. I mean, your career was something where there's a kind of a in the sensuality quote and there's a gardener over here. It's kind of working that whole thing, and then there's you, who you didn't work that whole thing. Did you find that was something that was because of your childhoo? I just think that that's the way you're raised, you know, it's what you hear. What you hear is sinful, and what you hear is not proper for young girls to behave in that manner. So you were pretty strict, you know, I mean you were, and I just grew up that way, so I thought that's the way everybody was until after three husbands now I realized that as it's totally wrong concept. We're going to get to that unlucky and love unlucky? What else happens when you're unlucky and I just made it up. You just wrote that just for you. Okay, well we should record you laterning. Good morning. We've danced the whole night through. Good morning, good morning to you, and you and you and you're good morning, good morning. It's great to stay in late. Good morning, good morning to you. What fun you see? I can't sing to save my life. If you put a gun to my head and said saying, you almost sang on key? When did you know you could sing? When did you know? You just started singing like other people? So what you're saying? So you started by doing mimicry. I started mimic Jeanette McDonald's I've never tried and that recash. She's a soprano, but I would do the alto and ethel mermon anybody with a big voice. You know, I don't always do their voices because I I enjoy comedy, comedies, everything a Pratt fall sticklach, that's everything to me. I love vaudeville, that's my favorite thing. I enjoy drama. Somebody else doing it, I personally don't want to do it Debbie Reynolds because it's so serious. It makes me sad, It takes me where it goes, and so I don't accept any parts that are devastating because I don't want to be unhappy in my life. I'll just live my life is that's tough enough, So I don't need any parts that make me miserable. Ball So when you're at Warners and you say to them I don't want to be an actress and they do the screen test, what happens there that you wind up banking over to MGM. What happened? Well, Jack Warner, here's the boss. So he said, We're not going to do more musical, so I'll send the kid over to MGM. They drove me, they sold me like a horse. Well, are donkey? I was sort of stubborn, and I say a donkey. So I go to MGM, which is l will be Mayor and they're still making musicals like mad because they were the biggest studio of all. Everybody in the world was there, Clark Gable, Vyan Johnson, you know, Gear Gars and Lana Turnery, every I mean, the doors opened and like all these stars spilled out. It was the only one, the only one that ever really left on her own was Garble. So all I won't be alone. I won't will be alone. So we left her alone. She's gone. She's her car. She's weinted a car and shipped off. She went to New York. She saved a hundred thousand dollars. She went to the bank. She met the president. His name is Shelee, Mr Shelee, and he's gone now. But I know this story. I love stories. You could call me a gossip. Garbs with Mr Shelee with a hundred grand and she asked, don't please, don't help me, don't take care of my money. So Mr Shelee falls in love with Greta Garbo and it takes care of her the rest of her life. She lived in New York City and they used to go for a walk. Garbo would walk and Mr Schlei didn't like to walk, so he had drive in the rolls roys of the Dusselberg or whatever it was beside her while she did her shopping antiquing. You know, she loved anti. Mr Shelee taking care of Greta Garbo or was her money? No, he was taking care of her money. Money. Now what they did on the side of her tea or lunch, I never inquired because got this girl from Texas doesn't tell you know, I didn't want to even think about that, because I just wanted to think about what a romantic situation. The whole thing as a man trailing along in his with this movie star and she's walking looking in old and windlows and then he's in a in a car right with the door open, driving along beside her. These stories don't happen anymore. She walked away forever, She walked away forever. She's never made another film ever, And you should open an MGM. And what happens, Well, what happens is they send me to a meeting. And so they called Gene Kelly in the room and Mr Mayer says, here, Jean, this is a new girl that you're going to have as you're leading lady. And I'm seventeen, and but I had never danced before, I'd never acted before, nothing, nothing, person, just a girl's scout. So there was a Gene Kelly a movie. So I couldn't believe the whole scene. I mean, I just thought the whole thing was silly. I really thought it was silly. So Mr Kelly said, can you do a time step? I said, oh, oh, yes, I learned that a girl scout cab so he said to do time step. So I did a little awful time step. Then he said, can you do a Maxi Ford? And I said I don't have a car. Well, obviously that was the wrong answer. He looked at Mr Mayor and he said, you're kidding me, boss, And Mr Mayer said, now I'm not getting you meeting you. This is this is the leading lady. She's going to do the part. And that was it. He was stuck with me, poor thing. Can you imagine Jane Gillen and these guys were I'm assuming, like like many of the actors I know today, they're pretty no nonsense people when it comes to the quality of their their product, and they're very hard. But Gene Kelly, of course, when it is the most brilliant dancer. Jean said, all right, I'll take her. I can I can fix her. I can fix it up because she's right for the part. The acting, bar and but the dancing. My god. It was an interesting time, but I was too young to know about it. Stare taught you too. He helped me. I was trying to learn everything, like with Donald run up the wall and flip backwards you. I knew I was a flip. But you know, I had to learn how. I wanted to learn everything, and then I'd be crying under the piano. One day, a pair of legs go by and I'm some crying away and the legs say, who is that under the piano? Who is crying? So I said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just me, Debbie. So it was a fred Is stare. He said, Debbie, get out, get out from underneath. They pulled me out and he said, now you come and watch me with hers. I never allow anybody. He always had a guard at the gate and security guard. No one was ever allowed. But he let me watch and for maybe over forty minutes, and his face turned already just used a cane and a drum. After about half an hour in his face turning red, and he's doing brilliant work. Of course, he looked over at me, says, now, Debbie wants you to go back in there, stop crying and be great. In order to be a great dancer, you have to practically kill yourself. This is what it takes to be a great dancer. Now running there, just running there, shut up and do it help you? Oh? Yes, I just felt like I was a big sissy, and I don't like to be a big sissy in those days or any other day. When you you finished the movie, when it was and how did you feel to how and how did you feel when it was over? I think you you've learned a great deal. Either that or you already quit, because in order to keep up with these great talents, you had to devote yourself totally. I didn't go home. I slept in my dressing room. I wasn't off any days. I didn't take any days off because I practiced more while I was on Saturday and Sunday. We didn't have Saturday off. We only had Sunday off, and not practice all the time. And I don't think I changed at all. I just learned how to apply myself. And what about people's perception of you? That must have changed. The picture came out what year, I don't remember what year, something like that. Well, it was not a hit. It was not a hit. It was just a mediocre hit. And then it was discovered. We discovered through the schools and the teachers that taught drama and class and lessons that the movie became a it through school and for teachers, university teachers, and all that Seeing in the Rain has remained a hit or became a hit meditan years, fifteen years. Is it safe to say that the girl who's crying under the table by the time the movie comes out, in that process is complete. You're a movie star now, correct? Well, I was popular. They couldn't believe a young girl had gotten that far and no talent, no no experience. So I was newsworthy. But in those days we had movie magazines and they'd write all kinds of stories for free, you know, studios would give It was the golden era. So what kind of story did they write about you then? When you're only seventeen eighteen years old? What did they make it up? You know, they'd give a little party. They'd give a party. They had Rock Hudson going out with his secretary. You know Rock didn't want to go out with the secretary. Yes, John, Sam and Joe. What's the next picture you did? After singing in the Ring? After Singing in the Rain? I did? How the West was one? With every star you've ever heard about? The first movie I ever saw in the movie theater my life. Ever, it was a wonderful picture. Spencer Tracy narrated the whole thing Stars You'll never see again. That was Tracy's last appearance and he didn't even go on film and he just narrated it and John Wayne was in that everybody. It took two years to make that picture. I started out playing a sixteen year old and ended up a ninety year old, so it felt like my life. There's things. I worked very hard on that picture, and Henry Hathaway was the director, and he was really tough and very hard on everybody. You know, it's not very kind of actors, but we were all a little bit stupid and slow. He thought it was slow. So he uh, I had heard this about him, you know that he was a very tough director. So when he came over to Fox Studio where I was making another film with Andy Griffith, I said to him, he wanted me to do it the first part of it, how the West was on. I said, well, sir, the truth of it is that I've heard really such bad things about you. I don't want to work with you. So he just stared at He said, what the is that? What? He's cussed like crazy? Oh yeah, cuss? He said, what the what? You little snot nose it little. Oh. Yes, he attacked aggressive, he bawled me out, but he just said, you have no right to say that I'm boss here, that I cuss and all that. I said, well, what are you doing now? For goodness sake, what do you think You're yelling at me in the commissary there are people staring at everything. I said, this is why I would never work for you, because I don't want to be miserable. So I turned it down, and and he wouldn't let me turn it down. He said, no, you're going to do it. And he talked to the president of Fox and MGM, which owned my contract. They said I had to do it, So I had to do it. There's a one where I'll build you a home in the mid So back then, you signed those contracts and people, I think the the distance that the studio system has now, which we seated so far for audiences today, they don't understand that notion that you signed a contract him, you didn't get to pick the films. You were him your own. It's like a bondage, the indentured servitude. That's exactly how did the picture go with him? Was he was? He was? He? Well, I went on, I did. The first section is the one that I was signed for and went on location and he said there, all right, walk over there. I and where am I walking? To sir? You just walk where? I said, pointing to I said, I have to understand where Why am I walking? What am I saying? He said, no, you know, you just do what I say. I said, this is what I told you that day we had the lunch that you were going to be rude and terrible to work with then, So I'm going to go lie down to rest. He said, no, you're not. You're going to walk over there and you're going to shut up. I said, no, I'm not. I'm going to faint because you've upset me too much. So I fainted and what happened. I'm gonna do that one. I'm going to do that. You just pass out when I mean a director like I'm gonna faint? Oh my god, you've upset me some boom boom fall. Just fall down. Just let him kick you. It doesn't matter, so lay down. So if you're lame, dude, hath a way come up and kick you? Did he kind of poke you with his boots. He poked me. He poked me with a boom. Seriously, No, he was his foot. You know. He poked me because you wake up your silly some what custing kidding me. I wouldn't open my eyes at all because I was just in my mind. I said to stay here all day, just say they can't wake make you wake up. So they put some that chlora what's that stuff under ether under your nose. So yeah, well I didn't still wake up. I just breathed really deeply like yoga. You know, no, I was. I was doing this iron vedic breathing of smelling souls. That's how obstinate you were. I was not going to wake up. He couldn't get me up for a conclusion of this. What happened? Did you? I'm assuming because you're here. You eventually got up. He walked away from it. He said, she's faking. I know she's faking it. I'm gonna kill a little kid. And then he became amused by it because he thought he knew I was faking, but I wasn't going to wake up. He respected you a little bit. He knew I wasn't going awake, he knew I wouldn't do it. I was a lot like Hathaway say, so, so, how many months did you have to go on this goddamn picture? A year, year and a half. About ten times. I was going to say, how many more faith did you? Did? Your dresser not a lay down a cushion or something. When you did you wink at her. I would just kind of wink and I'd fall. You know, the same thing happened on Broadway. I was doing a play here called Irene, and they wouldn't give us two more days to rehearsal Gower Champions going nuts. We're not quite ready or ready to open, but we're not quite ready. So I went over to Gary. I said, listen, Garret, if we need another two days, I'll get it. He says, you can't get it. They wore they're out of money. I said, no, no, if I disappear, if I get sick or something happened, if I fall, you know. He said, well, how can you do that? I said, watch. I said, okay, let let's rehearse that what first number? So we were the one way I do the flip? So I did, and they said all right, all right, go ahead, go ahead. Gars looking he can't believe what I'm going to do. He doesn't know what I'm going to do. So I run and run forward to the wings and flip in the air and crashed down and knock myself out. But I'm not really out. No, So I opened one eye to gower and winked AM and went back out. You really aren't this wholesome? That Mazarine from Burnbank. You to me with me? You can fool trouble day trouble, But no, I just get a very wilful who is the director that you loved? I really loved all the directors I loved Hathaway through I became very dear friends and visited together. Aries, aren't you You're an Aries? I'm Aries. I'm born April Fool's Day. Aries is is very stubborn but very really good person. I mean, I don't think that there's a bad bone in the body other than our temper. That I you're known for your temper. That's not true. But it's not true, right, it's just if the press making up things, you know, Oh, the press love to make up thing. Well, luckily see, I'm not popular in this sense for the press. I see a picture of me going to it says I'm going to hit or push the photographer. I'm going to help them, they might fold. I'm reaching to help them, or I'm reaching. Well. I think the photographers today are terrible when they chase people. Say they didn't do that in my day. Now, I'm so happy I was in a golden era. They keep calling it show business and we didn't have Papa Rozzie like this. Speaking of which, when you say about being an aries and I'm not big on astrology, but people who are areas there, we say they love to bury the hatchet and have people get along. And even though you can have a bad temper and you can have grudges against people, they don't laugh. You just speak up right. You're kind of rigorously honest if we if you will, but for you, you buried the hatchet with Hathaway and he became a friend. You're someone that doesn't like the hold of grudge with people. No, I don't. But I'm rather like an elephant. I remember everything. And Debbie Reynolds has had her share of hatchets to bury. In nineteen five, she married singer Eddie Fisher. It was the show business wedding of year. Four years later, Fisher famously left rentals for her best friend Elizabeth Taylor. Soon after Taylor's husband was killed in an airplane accident, but years later she patched things up with Elizabeth. They had known each other since they were kids. We were friends, we went to school together. Elizabeth and I were kids together, and so what happens about our relationship was out of their desire to be together. Eddie Fisher and and she so that you know, when a man wants to go, he wants to go, he goes. I've learned that that certainly. So of course I forgave her years after that, because she she forgave her. So marriages two and three were less public, but no less painful for Reynolds. Now she's sworn off the institution. In a minute, she'll talk about her daughter, Carrie Fisher and their relationship. I'm Alec Baldwin, and you're listening to here's the thing. This is Alec Baldwin. Carrie Fisher's solo show, Wishful Drinking discusses her battles with substance abuse, manic depression, and being the child of Hollywood Royalty. It's poignant and hilarious. Having waited my entire life to get an award for something you know anything. I don't care. All right, fine, not acting, but what about like a tiny one for writing? I now get awards all the time for being mentally ill. So she is so funny. Oh, yes, she's brilliant. She's a brilliant. The children were really little. I was very worried about my health. I have been on the road and I was just working like mad in vaudeville. And I was concerned, and the children were very all And I called up Jane Dixon, who is a prophet and lived in Washington, and I mean she did you know she did with the government and all kinds of and she was it was the truth. She was sensational. Gave me an appointment and I sat down and she told me exactly what my children have become and everything that happened. She told me I was married to Harry Carl at the time. She said, when you go home, you're going to have to face the divorce, and he has taken all of your money. When you go home, you will find that out. So you don't know anything about it. I said, well, no, I I let him take care of the money. She said, well he is Kerry was going to be in white robes and sand on a stage. Is the astrologer Gene Dixon estroller just Jane Dixon, who is very world famous. Did she predict Kennedy's assassination as well? She predicted everything? Yes, Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Jack Kennedy. Yes, she was very famous. And then she Omi Todd would would be a builder and go to architectural school, and they have exactly my son turn architecturals. Well, he's a Bill's where does he live? He lives in the valley around it. Yes, there are. We all live sort of together because we adore each other. You wrote in your book that you're unlucky in love? Why were you unlucky in love? What do you mean? Because I'm just too old fashioned? You know? Well, of course I picked the wrong man, but that's because I am easy. You know, I'm easy. I don't ever argue. I mean, you need the money here, you take it? Oh you need that? Well? Do you trust people? Well, I'm very trusting. How was Carrie like you? And how it was Carrie like Eddie? Can you see the lines that? Well, Carrie was born with Eddie as the father, and he was on speed. So Carrie was born was manic, depressive, bipolar, so she will have that for the rest of alive and it's a dread disease. Cart from him, Yes, from Eddie, it was very sweet of him. Carrie has an illness that is a severe problem over the whole world, and they do not have any answers for you. She's taking shock of treatments right now. It is a family's pain. We all have it because we so want carry to be well, and that's what we pray for all the time. And she's so funny. Her daughter is divine, and she goes to school here in New York and she's the most beautiful young smart, really smart, and she's taking accounting. So I think we'll be all right. She won't come to me for about money. And Carrie's going to be fine. She's brilliant and she's a great writer. From you, from me, what did she get laughter? If you could give people laughter, that would be the ideal thing. I know this is going to sound really cliched and kind of silly, but you know, you come from such a great era of movie stardom. Your name means something. When you say someone's name, you kind of go okay, But your name, you say a certain kind of a film, people automatically think, like the big Golden Age of Hollywood musicals, and you and Kelly and all these movies and Unsinkable Molly Brown and all these great films. Even though people don't realize that you stopped making films. I wrote this down. You stopped making films by and large and around What's the Matter with Helen in seventy one, and then from ninety one to six, according to your biography, most of what you do is voiceovers or retrospective releases, like that's entertainment. You know. You don't work a lot during that period in films. I just do nightclubs. I work theater. I would do a club act o were forty two weeks a year every day. Where would you go? Everywhere? Colorado, Texas, Yes, Australia, England. I did uh five a day in England. So I came a vaudevillion for twenty years to make a living from my children. And then and then you go and do the movie with Albert Brooks. Yes, I did. Mother. He convinced you to do that movie. No, Carrie called me, she's a mother. I read a script Albert Brooks, who they were very good friends did and it's so funny. You have to do it. I said, well, you know, nobody wants me for movies anymore, Dear. She said, well, mother, I want you to fly up here. I was in Vegas and I owned a little hotel and I had a nightclub and I was happy as a hog in heaven. So she said, well, no, I don't care, mother, you have to fly. So I flew in and I met Albert and I read a scene for him and he said to me, you've got it. And I said what does that mean, Albert? He said, well, you've got it. You've you've got the part. I said, Albert, I have to meet the director. Oh I am the director, Debbie. Oh I didn't know, Albert, I said, because you know I know him since he's a young boy. And then I said, well you have to see the producer, then, dear, you can't just suddenly hire Debbie. Well, I yes I can. I'm the producer. I'm the producer, I'm the director. I wrote it. And yes, you're going to do it, I said, Albert, you'll get into trouble. He said, no, you really are going to get it now, because you're bossing me. Now, you're just like my mother. So you've got the Parker. Sure, can you eat lamb chops? What the hell is a lamb? It's meat. I told you I don't eat it. That's not a cow. I didn't know it was the animal. You were siding with the whole thing. It's a whole thing. Wasn't cheese. Albert was first with if he wanted Doris today, but she just wouldn't do it because she would have been terrific. But as we all know, Doris doesn't want to go back on the screen. And I didn't want to because I was in Vegas and I was running my hotel and I was having a lot of trouble with my husband and he wanted to, you know, take over my business and throw me over the balcony. And I was having a lot of problems. But I left and I did the movie Mother, and I'm happy I did. I think it made a lot of films and a lot of TV shows since then. Will and Grace did you play well? What do you mean? I played Grace's mother. You were Grace's mom Adler. Her name was Adler and so she sang a lot, did impressions. It was a lot of fun to do. And the you have you stopped the club actor, you're still doing that. You still I still do my club act. I've been under the weather for about four months, so I've been kind of taking it easy and getting my health back. Contest. And you look fantastic, well you have. You look gorgeous. You give me me my birthday party. You look beautiful. Thank you, dear, and I wish you all the happiness with your new wife and a baby to camp. Your life is all ahead of you. I love my baby so much. And even though they're all grown in your age, practically, you know, there's nothing like it. This is so special. I'm really looking forward, you know when I think of you and you being part of that, you know, great era of studio filmmaking. Did you ever watch your stuff that you did you ever go back and watch those films you don't bother? Well, some of the films I watch everybody else's films. Betty Davis so I loved her and Katherine hepburnna. I love when you watch a movie, you watch a movie from back then? Oh, yes, I only watch all movies you don't go to see. You don't exactly so You don't go see movies today, not really don't, not even screeners from the Academy or DVDs at homes. If someone tells me it's really wonderful, I'll go. Like Titanic, you'd watch or something. No I did go to see. No I I did that movie. No I, I just did a film with It was about Liberaci behind the Candelabra, Michael Douglas, Michael Douglas and uh, that'll be out soon. I played Mrs Lieberacci and because I like to do di election, and I knew Mrs Libaraci and I knew Lee. We were working a now very good friend. Yes, we were really dear friends. And he always called me up after the show and we go out together and he said, were white, all white Danby and your jewelry. And then he'd arrived in the limousine with the chauffeur's hat on and he drive me. I mean, he was so much fun. I loved Libaracci was great, So I did his mother. How was Soderberg to work with? Did you like Soderberg? Oh, he was wonderful. The director was wonderful director. I just had a little part, you know, And she had any she well, she was. The only thing is dialected to be real, and you have to do doon when you're doing their dialect is Polish, and so you have to talk about really the really one And to me unbelievable because I am very good at dialects. I love to do them. You know what's amazing to me is you still enjoy doing this. You still love this? Yes, even though this is something that you came into almost accidentally. You know, you won the contest and you went over to Warner and we want you to be in the movie business. And you laughed when they said that. And yet here you are when you were sixteen years old, and now you're eighty one years old, sixty five years later. You still enjoy doing this, don't you. Absolutely? If you're blessed enough to be able to have something to do that you love. Besides marriages, I mean, that's the only thing that's been a disappointment to me in my life. Honey, you're looking at the man you should have married. Here, it's me here I am. I wouldn't have stolen your money, will you? And I would be home right now watching Turner classic movies, eat popcorn. I'll be giving you a foot rub. I have a wonderful life, I really do. God bless everybody. I really am very Another thing you have and you don't have to confirm us, but I bet you I know another thing you have, which is when you meet people you're fans. I bet you they just love you. They're my friends. Are not my fans? You know, everybody I meet, I just feel like I know them sixty five years and they made me, they gave me my work, and they stay by me all these years. You know, I work in Vegas all the time, and I work in Laughlin, which is called is in Nevada? Right, Yeah, anywhere there's a job I work. You enjoy doing it live that way? How long is your show? Sure? The whole act of our hour and a half an hour and a half. I do a lot of comedy. Well, I mean I try it to. They make it funny. Let me end with this. Acting for me is very strange. Now I'm kind of done with it, you know. I mean, I don't think I want to do it much longer. And the world has changed now, as you well know, it's very different. The way is that your phone? I think it is your phone? Where is my isn't that odd? Yeah? Where's Oh? But what you're listening to? Taking her phone up? It's my it's my son. Yes, I never turned this is now taking out all the akuchum on her little asia. But I don't. I can't find this. You can't find it. Let's find it here. It is there, it is well, and this is this is how my son was born, nine pounds three ounces. Took a long time to get it out. I was nine. Hello, good heavens it's hard to find. Can you say it again? Hello? Did I get you too late? That's the story of my life, isn't it must be a man? Well, I'm going to hang up now. I'm visiting with Alec Baldwin. He's a big star. Yes, he's in Broadway, lives in New York. Just got married again, a young girl. They always pick him younger. Yeah, I'm might as well. That's one thing that hasn't changed. Yeah, then nothing has changed. Now. What I want to say to you is, I've been doing this and I wanted to say I'd love to work with you one day. I've not anytime. I'd love to work with you one day. If there's a movie and there's a partner for you to play my crazy aunt. Will you come in? There'd be fun to do the crazy ant or the street lady or anybody you like that. I like to do characters where I could fake. Debbie Reynolds has a new book, Unsinkable, and she has a huge collection of Hollywood memorabilia that you too can have a piece of. I'm selling it online. So if thank Debbie Reynolds. What Debbie mill studio store dot com. Debbie Reynolds studio store dot com. You're selling lots of wonderful things. I'm going to go buy something on there. Okay, Charlie Chaplin's hat, how about that reel hat? Is any of your underwear for sale online? No? But if you really want it, Babby, I'll give it to you. We're done branding there by. This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing.