Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher’s Love Triangle

Reynolds Met Taylor for the first Time as a Teen

At age 16, Reynolds gained the Miss Burbank magnificence pageant and was scouted by studio heads from Warner Bros. and MGM. Quickly after, she met the England-born movie star for the primary time.

“I went to MGM after I was round 17, and Liz was there too, however she was already a star,” the Three Little Phrases actress advised Individuals in January 2015. “We went to highschool collectively on the lot when she was in between movies. I used to be only a newbie, and he or she and I weren’t in any method alike, however we bought alongside very nicely as a result of I used to be in awe of going to highschool with Elizabeth Taylor. And if anybody mentioned they weren’t, then they have been mendacity. Or blind.”

Reynolds Married Fisher in 1955

Reynolds walked down the aisle with Fisher, a teen idol and singing sensation, in 1955. In 1957, Taylor married her third husband, Mike Todd. Reynolds served as a bridesmaid whereas Fisher was the most effective man on the wedding ceremony. One 12 months after their nuptials, Mike died in a airplane crash. After the tragedy, Fisher and Taylor grew nearer, taking their friendship to the subsequent degree with intimacy in secret.

“I by no means felt bitter about Elizabeth,” Reynolds advised Individuals in 1983. “A person doesn’t depart a lady for an additional girl except he desires to go. You understand, when Mike Todd died, I despatched Eddie to assist Elizabeth. I don’t assume she ever actually cherished Eddie. He was an interim curiosity throughout her mourning interval.”

Reynolds Discovered Out About Her Husband’s Affair

“I used to be the final to seek out out concerning the affair,” Reynolds advised Day by day Mail in April 2010. “There had been hints within the papers and I had seen that after I turned up at capabilities or events alone, my mates have been whispering.”

Reynolds and Fisher, who shared youngsters Carrie and Todd, formally divorced in 1959. The “Pondering of You” crooner married Taylor that very same 12 months. Whereas filming Cleopatra within the early ‘60s, Taylor started an affair with costar Richard Burton, finally resulting in the demise of her marriage in 1964.

Reynolds and Taylor Rekindled Their Friendship

Regardless of the drama that surrounded them, Reynolds and Taylor patched issues up throughout an opportunity encounter years later.

“We bought on the identical boat to go to Europe — the Queen Elizabeth. I despatched a be aware to her, and he or she despatched a be aware to me in passing, after which we had dinner collectively,” Reynolds as soon as mentioned, per Vogue. “She was married to Richard Burton by then. I had been remarried at that time. And we simply mentioned, ‘Let’s name it a day.’ And we bought smashed. And we had an ideal night, and stayed mates since then.”

A Friendship Fueled by Forgiveness

By way of her years within the highlight, Taylor was married eight occasions to seven totally different males. Reynolds was married and divorced two extra occasions after her cut up from Fisher.

“I had one other individual after that who was a louse and one other husband after that who was one other louse. So, I’ve had my share of louses,” Reynolds mentioned of her marriage historical past. “So, it wasn’t all Elizabeth’s fault. I had way more ache to go. I had many extra bumpy paths to go alongside the best way.”

They Shared the Display screen Collectively

Reynolds and Taylor costarred within the 2001 tv movie These Outdated Broads, proving that they put the previous behind them.

A Remaining Goodbye

They remained mates up till the Academy Award winner’s dying from congestive coronary heart failure at age 79 in 2011.

“She was very in poor health. She was feeling actually depressing, simply attempting to outlive, to rise above it … She expressed how scary it was,” Reynolds recalled of her last dialog with Taylor. “We talked about that for some time, that it’s actually hell getting older. We have been complaining to one another about that. Like two women would.”

Reynolds died in 2016 at age 84 after struggling a stroke simply sooner or later after the dying of her daughter, Carrie.

Todd Tells All

Greater than 60 years after information of the dishonest scandal rocked Hollywood, Todd opened up about his mother and father’ marriage.

“My father left my mom for Elizabeth Taylor,” he mentioned in an October 2023 interview with Fox News. “Lots of people have been mad about that … Lots of people have been like, ‘So your dad left the great woman for the unhealthy woman.’ … Liz made no bones about being the unhealthy woman. She got here a great distance from Nationwide Velvet … So, when my mom was put within the place of being humiliated by my father … my mom was an aesthetic individual.”

Above all, Reynolds didn’t let the drama outline her and continued her illustrious profession with prime billing till the very finish.

“My mom cherished to entertain. She cherished reside leisure greater than the films,” Todd continued, including, “What stored her going was a ardour for loving to [perform]. If she didn’t love to do it at any given level, she might have retired way back and he or she by no means did as a result of it drove her.”

New Particulars Unearthed

Forward of the discharge of Elizabeth Taylor: The Misplaced Tapes on HBO in August 2024, director Nanette Burstein advised Nearer that Taylor was “happiest” throughout her marriage to Mike.

“I can let you know that very actually,” she mentioned.

“I believe that was her real love,” she added. “I believe that he made her assured. I believe he made her really feel particular. I believe she felt like she might do something on the planet and I believe he would’ve been and continued to be – he was and would have continued to be – the nice love of her life, however then he died in a airplane crash.”