Unsinkable by Debbie Reynolds
If there's one word to describe Debbie Reynolds, unsinkable is certainly a top choice.
Her autobiography mainly focuses on her later life and career, namely as she sets up a hotel and casino with her garbage human third husband.
What I've always loved about Debbie Reynolds, and watching her old movies, is her tenacity and stubbornness. She's plucky and optimistic, never truly down in the dumps when you watch Tammy and the Bachelor, Bundle of Joy, The Mating Game, The Unsinkable Molly Brown or any other number of films she starred in throughout her career.
That spirit shines through as she recounts how hard she hustled and worked to open the Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Hotel in Las Vegas. How she worked through illness, shady business dealings from her third husband, her daughter's struggles with addiction, through financial ruin.
There's hardly a chapter that doesn't reference her money struggles so that she can get the hotel open and build a museum showcase to display all of her movie costumes and memorabilia (seriously, the woman hoarded everything she could get her hands on!), and rather than being like, "Debbie, maybe just...give up?" I found myself rooting for her, and hoping that she'd come through; and this is despite knowing that she eventually had to sell the hotel and auction off her movie collection.
There's also some tea in this book, if that's your jam. The veiled digs at Eddie Fisher are a particular favourite of mine. (Goes to show you what having the power of studio publicity behind you can do, because Debbie was always presented as the jilted woman in the Liz-Eddie-Debbie affair, but behind the scenes she was all steel.)
There's also gossip about Elizabeth Taylor, who Debbie later reconciled with (on a cruise, of all places!) and remained friendly with until Liz's death in 2011. Her statement after Liz died was truly tender.
And Gene Kelly warrants a mention, for the drill sergeant-like way he ran rehearsals for Singin' in the Rain. Debbie once hid on the lot and was found by Fred Astaire, who taught her how to dance so she could keep up with Gene and Donald O'Connor. Good man!
There's also a bonkers story of how she got ready for Oscar night in 1958, when she went to perform the title song for Tammy and the Bachelor, and how her father put his foot on her ribcage and pressed to help her into the tight dress (anything for that trim waistline, I guess!). Imagine wanting to fit into a dress that badly.
If you're a fan of Debbie Reynolds, you'll love this slightly optimistic, slightly barbed tale of bouncing back after all the events that should make a person sink. Enjoy!
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