Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor were two of the biggest stars in classic Hollywood cinema. However, what started as a beautiful friendship ended up unleashing an intense rivalry that lasted almost a decade.
There is no more iconic era than that of classic Hollywood cinema because, in addition to having left behind some of the most important films in history, it shaped some of the most significant and recognizable faces in cinema forever. That era not only marked a new turning point in cinema but was also full of anecdotes and true sc@ndals.
If we were to mention great icons and figures from that era we could be around for a while, but we definitely can't ignore two names: Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds. The former had been active in the industry since 1942 when quickly obtained a contract to work with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. As for Reynolds, she joined MGM a few years later, and they quickly became good friends with her.
They were both the same age and had started acting while still in their teens, so they found a lot of common ground despite having such different personalities. For a long time, their friendship was going from strength to strength, until the arrival of a third party distanced them.
In 1955, Debbie Reynolds married singer Eddie Fisher, with whom she had her only two children: Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher. In turn, in 1957, Taylor married film producer Mike Todd, Fisher's best friend. There, both couples began to spend time together, to the point that Reynolds and Fisher officiated as bridesmaid and best man at Taylor's wedding.
However, in 1958 everything changed when Mike Todd died in a plane crash. In the blink of an eye, Todd Fisher began reaching out to Taylor to comfort her, but that friendly approach quickly turned into a romance, and Todd filed for divorce from Debbie Reynolds, ending 4 years of marriage and a beautiful friendship. among the actresses.
Taylor and Reynolds went from best friends to enemies, kicking off an extensive rivalry that lasted for years. It was one of the biggest sc-ndals of the time, and Elizabeth Taylor earned the nickname "husband stealer" because of it. Even so, the marriage was not very long-lasting, because after getting married in 1959, they divorced in 1964 after the actress began an affair with another of her future husbands: Richard Burton.
They say that time heals everything and that was indeed what happened with the mythical actresses. One night in 1966, the two met by chance aboard the same cruise ship. Since there was no escape from the awkward situation, Debbie Reynolds decided to be frontal and asked Taylor to meet for dinner and talk about everything that had happened between them.
So it was. Both actresses dined on board the ship, leaving the past behind and reminiscing about the good times. From one day to the next, the rivalry was over, and the actresses chose to forgive each other and move on. The friendship continued for decades, coming to an end with Taylor's death in 2011.
In 2001 they had the opportunity to work together in the TV movie These Old Broads, where they also shared the cast with Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins. That experience together helped them to finish curing all the harm they had caused, and it was there that Elizabeth Taylor apologized once again for having betrayed her friend, who did not hesitate to forgive her because, after all, her friendship was more important than a man. Debbie Reynolds passed away 5 years later, in 2016, and curiously, both actresses were buried in the same place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
