2013-04-16 10:05:26 +02:00

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culture
music
music-news
8022014
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# Eddie Fisher, former husband of Elizabeth Taylor, dies
## Eddie Fisher, whose huge fame as a 1950s pop singer was overshadowed by
his marriages to actresses Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, has died aged
82.
![Eddie Fisher, former husband of Elizabeth Taylor, dies][1]
The Fisher-Taylor marriage lasted only five years. She fell in love with co-
star Richard Burton during the Rome filming of 'Cleopatra' Photo: AP
6:44AM BST 24 Sep 2010
[Comments][2]
Fisher died on Wednesday night at his home in Berkeley of complications from
hip surgery.
"Late last evening the world lost a true America icon," Fisher's family said
in a statement.
"One of the greatest voices of the century passed away. He was an
extraordinary talent and a true mensch."
Fisher's clear dramatic singing voice brought him a devoted following of
teenage girls in the early 1950s.
He sold millions of records with 32 hit songs including "Thinking of You,"
"Any Time," "Oh, My Pa-pa," "I'm Yours," "Wish You Were Here," "Lady of Spain"
and "Count Your Blessings."
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* [Eddie Fisher in pictures][3]
24 Sep 2010
His fame was enhanced by his 1955 marriage to movie darling Debbie Reynolds --
they were touted as "America's favourite couple" -- and the birth of two
children.
Their daughter Carrie Fisher became a film star herself in the first three
"Star Wars" films as Princess Leia, and later as a best-selling author of
"Postcards From the Edge" and other books.
When Eddie Fisher's best friend, producer Mike Todd, was killed in a 1958
plane crash, Fisher comforted the widow, Elizabeth Taylor. Amid sensationalist
headlines, Fisher divorced Reynolds and married Taylor in 1959.
The Fisher-Taylor marriage lasted only five years. She fell in love with co-
star Richard Burton during the Rome filming of "Cleopatra," divorced Fisher
and married Burton in one of the great entertainment world scandals of the
20th century.
After being discarded by Taylor, Fisher became the butt of comedians' jokes.
He began relying on drugs to get through performances, and his bookings
dwindled. He later said he had made and spent $20 million during his heyday,
and much of it went to gambling and drugs.
Fisher's career never recovered from the notoriety. He married actress Connie
Stevens, and they had two daughters. Another divorce followed. He married
twice more.
He had added to his notoriety with an autobiography, "Eddie: My Life, My
Loves."
Of his first three marriages, he wrote he had been bullied into marriage with
Reynolds, whom he didn't know well; became nursemaid as well as husband to
Taylor, and was reluctant to marry Connie Stevens but she was pregnant and he
"did the proper thing".
Another autobiography, "Been There, Done That," published in 1999, was even
more searing.
He called Reynolds "self-centered, totally driven, insecure, untruthful,
phoney." He claimed he abandoned his career during the Taylor marriage because
he was too busy taking her to emergency rooms and cleaning up after her pets,
children and servants.
Both ex-wives were furious, and Carrie Fisher threatened to change her name to
Reynolds.
At 47, Fisher married a 21-year-old beauty queen, Terry Richard. The marriage
ended after 10 months. His fifth marriage, to Betty Lin, a Chinese-born
businesswoman, lasted longer than any of the others. Fisher had two children
with Reynolds: Carrie and Todd; and two girls with Stevens: Joely and Tricia.
He was born on August 10, 1928, in Philadelphia, one of seven children of a
Jewish grocer.
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