Unsinkable

by Debbie Reynolds

  Carrie wrote a campy and fun “Movie of the Week” that aired in February 2001, featuring Elizabeth Taylor as a high-powered Hollywood agent and Shirley MacLaine, Joan Collins, and me as aging film actresses. Naturally she called it These Old Broads.

  If the title fits . . .

  Elizabeth was in very poor health, and her doctors didn’t want her to do the role. She had arthritis in her spine, which caused her constant pain and made it very difficult for her to walk. But Elizabeth agreed to do the movie for Carrie. She had to be helped onto the set, and you’ll notice that there are few scenes in which she is walking. I was a bit surprised that she would do this. I felt it was an attempt to make amends to Carrie and me for her part in my first divorce decades before. She and Carrie had become good friends over the years, and it was very sweet of Elizabeth to do this for her.

  “Can you believe the way we look?” Shirley said when she arrived on the set the first day.

  “You look great,” I responded. “All things considered, I think we all look pretty good.”

  Shirley sniffed. “We’re so old.”

  Shirley always was the beautiful vixen, but her looks had matured. Joan Collins just showed up and did a hundred sit-ups every day. We all had a lot of miles on us—half of them on our faces.

  Elizabeth’s trailer was near mine, and during breaks we would visit. I usually went to her rooms because of her health difficulties. Being on the lot together reminded us of our MGM days. We’d never worked together at the studio, but we’d both gone to the MGM high school, which was one room with a tiny bathroom where Elizabeth would hide to avoid lessons. The teacher would wait about fifteen minutes and then knock on the door and ask if Elizabeth was all right. Elizabeth always had some excuse for why she needed to be locked in the little girls’ room. She’d been a star at MGM since she was a youngster. She was growing from a beautiful child into a beautiful woman who didn’t think she needed to spend time on lessons. I was only seventeen and still planned to be a gym teacher when I finished college, so I did my best to learn.

  Elizabeth got married to Nicky Hilton when she was very young, just eighteen. She and Nicky spent their honeymoon on a cruise. Nicky was an alcoholic who loved to gamble. He behaved terribly when he was drunk, treating Elizabeth roughly, in a disrespectful way. When they returned from their honeymoon, Elizabeth was still bruised from Nicky’s abuse.

  After Elizabeth’s marriage to Nicky Hilton inevitably ended, she married a British actor named Michael Wilding. Michael was charming and funny and sweet and kind—and he adored Elizabeth. They had two sons together, which made them both very happy. But their marriage was doomed to fail. When you’ve been hurt by a man as Elizabeth had been by Nicky Hilton, you can find other men too placid. This was true of Elizabeth with Michael.

  Elizabeth invited me to a dinner party at her house on Beverly Estates Drive, which is a winding road above Beverly Hills. The house had been designed by architect George MacLean and had an indoor swimming pool. After dinner, Elizabeth and Montgomery Clift went for a swim. They laughed and giggled while making out in the water in front of us all. They were having a great time. Even though Monty had boyfriends as well as girlfriends, it was obvious that he and Elizabeth had been intimate. Elizabeth could seduce any man, gay or straight. She and Monty were great pals and very dear friends. After I left the party, there was a horrible accident. Monty’s car crashed into a utility pole as he drove down the winding road outside Elizabeth and Michael’s home. His face was smashed through the windshield. Everyone at the house heard the crash. Elizabeth ran down the dark street to Monty’s car and got into the wreck to be with him. When he signaled that he was having trouble with his throat, Elizabeth stuck her hand in his mouth, felt the back of his throat where some of his teeth had become lodged after being knocked out, and pulled them out to prevent him from choking. He might have died if she hadn’t come to his aid.

  Monty was never the same after that accident. His handsome face remained disfigured in spite of plastic surgery. Elizabeth always stood by him. When she loved you, she was a steadfast friend.

  One night sometime later Elizabeth went to visit Evelyn Keyes and her lover, Mike Todd. Evelyn was best known for playing the role of Scarlett O’Hara’s sister Suellen in Gone with the Wind. She believed that she and Mike would get married someday. But destiny had other plans. Mike left Evelyn immediately for Elizabeth, breaking Evelyn’s heart.

  Mike and Elizabeth were a great match. They both were strong and very passionate and had no compunctions about showing it. Eddie Fisher was Mike Todd’s best friend, so we spent a lot of time with the Todds. When Elizabeth and Mike got married in Acapulco on March 8, 1957, Eddie was Mike’s best man, and I was Elizabeth’s matron of honor.

  Their wedding was comparatively modest. In addition to Eddie and me it was attended by Elizabeth’s mother and Cantinflas, a leading Mexican actor who costarred in Mike’s hit film Around the World in 80 Days.

  The night before the ser­vice I washed Elizabeth’s hair for her. Elizabeth had gotten pregnant by Mike while she was still married to Wilding. To settle her divorce quickly, she sold a very expensive painting and gave the proceeds and all her savings to Wilding.

  One night Elizabeth and Mike came for dinner at Eddie’s and my house on Conway Drive in Beverly Hills. At some point, Elizabeth said something to Mike that caused him to haul off and hit her, knocking her to the floor. They got into a big argument and began screaming at each other. This upset me terribly. I went after Mike, jumping on his back and pummeling him so he would stop fighting with Elizabeth.

  Suddenly everyone turned on me. Eddie accused me of being naive. Mike told me that Elizabeth could “take it.” I honestly thought he was hurting her, but Elizabeth told me to stop being a Girl Scout. How did this turn into something I did wrong?

  I didn’t know that this was foreplay for Mike and Elizabeth. At the time Eddie was my first and only lover, and needless to say, we didn’t carry on like that. Elizabeth liked it rough. Maybe that was caused by her relationship with Nicky Hilton, or maybe that’s just how she’d learned to make love. Other girls at MGM liked rough sex. Lana Turner often came to the makeup room with bruises or a black eye. Sometimes they would have to reshoot things after she’d been knocked around.

  Frank Sinatra was strong with women. It really was “my way” with him. Ava Gardner told me that they often hit each other when they were married, but I had never witnessed it. Ava shot Frank once, and lucky for Frank, her aim was lousy. She only hit him in the leg.

  My lack of experience in this department made it difficult for me to please Eddie. He wasn’t a very good teacher, even though he’d been around a lot before we were married. Carrie was only an infant when things became strained between America’s Sweethearts. Eddie was spending a lot of time away from home. He was clearly unhappy. I wasn’t happy either. I sensed that our marriage was in trouble and that pretty soon I’d be alone with our new baby.

  More than anything, I wanted another baby so that Carrie could have someone to grow up with and share her life, as I’d had with my brother, Bill. The problem was, Eddie and I hardly ever had sex after Carrie was born. There were plenty of other men I could have had sex with, but I wasn’t that kind of girl—and besides, I wanted my kids to have the same father.

  Time was running out and I had to do something. I was on a mission to get pregnant.

  It was May 1957. Eddie and I were visiting Elizabeth and Mike in Italy, where Mike was promoting Around the World in 80 Days. Elizabeth was pregnant with their first child, and their happiness was contagious. Eddie was in a great mood. We all stayed in a charming villa. At dinner one night I saw my chance. Opportunity was knocking, and I planned to get knocked up.

  Elizabeth and Mike were up to their usual antics. She was on the second floor of the villa, yelling over the balcony to Mike to come upstairs. He yelled back in his normal profane way. When Mike finally climbed the stairs to satisfy Elizabeth, he did the job well. We coul
d hear their raised voices as their fight continued, followed by the equally loud sounds of their lovemaking. I decided to make a move of my own.

  I ordered Eddie a beer, and he drank it, even though he preferred the highs provided by his friendly physician, whom I called Dr. Needles. Then I asked the server for another beer for my sperm bank—uh, husband. Eddie being a nondrinker, it was enough to put him in the mood.

  After dinner Eddie and I went up to bed. Sure that I was fertile, I was excited about getting my hands on Eddie. I soon got Eddie excited too, even though he was half asleep. I was swift, and so was Eddie. When the deed was done, I used the beautiful headboard on our bed to prop up my legs all night, determined to keep every molecule of baby ingredients inside me until the last possible moment. I stayed that way until I left for the airport the next morning.

  Eddie remained in Italy while I flew home with my friend Jeannette, who’d accompanied us on the trip. When Eddie returned to LA, he was distant once more. He was stunned when he found out he was going to be a father again, but he became a good husband as we waited for our new baby. Nine months later, Carrie had a brother and my wish came true. Two beers, in and out—I got Todd. Todd Emmanuel Fisher, named after Mike Todd.

  Mission accomplished.

  It was February 1958, and Eddie was actually thrilled to have a son. Mike and Elizabeth’s daughter, Lisa, had been born in August, and Elizabeth’s two sons from her marriage to Michael Wilding were also living with them. Early one morning in March I was at my dressing table combing my hair when my housekeeper knocked on the bedroom door. I had gotten up before seven to take care of the children. Eddie, who was then a major singing star with many hits, was working out of town.

  “Did you hear what happened?” Mary asked. “Mr. Mike Todd was killed in a plane crash. I just heard it on the radio.”

  My heart sank. No one was as full of life as Mike Todd, and now he was gone. What a tragedy for Elizabeth. I left immediately to go to her.

  When I arrived, there were reporters and police everywhere. Michael Wilding and a doctor had been called. I sat quietly downstairs, where I could hear the police giving Elizabeth the horrible news upstairs. Elizabeth screamed. She appeared at the top of the stairs, wailing, “No! No! It’s not true! It’s not true!” It broke my heart. The doctor tried to calm her, but she was hysterical.

  Elizabeth’s babies shouldn’t be around all this commotion, I thought. Our house was set up for kids. Carrie entertained her friends on a toy carousel that I’d installed in the living room. The addition of three more children wouldn’t faze us. So I packed up Elizabeth’s three- and five-year-old sons, little baby Lisa, and two nurses for the short trip back to our house.

  Michael Wilding came too. He spent his time sitting at the bar in the living room, drinking everything we had in the house. Eddie and I weren’t drinkers then, so I had to keep calling the liquor store to deliver more bottles of whiskey. Eddie flew back to Los Angeles and went to Elizabeth with my blessing. The four of us were so close, I was sure he could comfort her. Eddie would come home every few days to get clean clothes, and then return to Elizabeth.

  If things weren’t intense enough, I’d already agreed to sing “Tammy” at the Academy Awards show, to be held only a few days after Mike Todd was killed.

  On the afternoon of the Oscars, I went to the Pantages Theater for rehearsal. I told the conductor to follow me as I sang my popular hit song. I knew it would be so difficult for me to get through this during the show. When the moment arrived, it was all I could do to keep from crying as I sang the romantic and innocent lyrics. Offstage, my life was filled with grief and loss. I did my best not to let it show. The moment the song was over, I left the stage and got into the car to go home. There was no time to think about anything other than my friends and all the children at home.

  Michael Wilding spent the next two weeks on our couch, still upset about his divorce from Elizabeth. I got the feeling that he thought he might be able to reconcile with her now that she was a widow. He loved her completely. Elizabeth had that effect on people. It didn’t bother him that she had been unfaithful to him with Mike Todd. To love Elizabeth was to love her forever.

  Performing “Tammy” at the Academy Awards a few days after Mike Todd was killed in a horrible plane crash. It was so sad for everyone concerned. Photofest

  After two weeks, I asked Wilding to go home. He wasn’t much trouble, but I felt we all needed to get back to normal. Shortly after that, Elizabeth was able to take her children home, and then she took a trip to New York.

  Eddie decided to follow her. The rest, as they say, is history.

  Even though Eddie and Elizabeth and I shared headlines for a year, I knew that their marriage wouldn’t last. Eddie wasn’t her type. He wasn’t strong enough to keep up with Elizabeth. She was so devastated by Mike Todd’s death that she looked for comfort in a convenient person who also was Mike’s best friend. That connection made her grab on to Eddie in an attempt to get over the loss of her true love.

  When Elizabeth met Richard Burton while they were on location in Italy filming Cleopatra, it was Eddie’s turn to be left behind. At that point, Eddie was drinking heavily. He went into a rage when he discovered that all the gossip he heard about Elizabeth and Burton was true. Maybe that was because Elizabeth had found someone as charming, intelligent, and fiery as she was.

  Elizabeth, Eddie, and I were a love triangle that became one of the biggest scandals of its day. In my heart, I hoped that Eddie would come home to his children once Elizabeth got tired of him. As much as I had loved him, I hated the way he abandoned Carrie and Todd.

  Several years after all of our divorces and remarriages, I was in New York City with my second husband, Harry Karl, about to sail to Europe for a vacation. As the bellboy took our few suitcases through the lobby, I saw a dozen bellmen taking care of countless trunks, suitcases, birdcages, and animal carriers—all matching and all headed for limousines in front of the hotel. I asked someone what group they belonged to and was told, “The Burtons.” They were crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth.

  I told myself this couldn’t be happening. Harry and I were booked on the same ship. There would be no way to avoid the press. There were six first-class suites on the top deck of the luxury liner. Elizabeth and Richard had booked five of them; Harry and I were in the one remaining suite.

  We both decided to contact the other at the same moment, each of us sending notes to the other’s cabin. Elizabeth and Richard came to our suite for cocktails. Once Elizabeth and I saw each other, we were back to being girlfriends again. I don’t think we even mentioned Eddie Fisher more than in passing. We drank champagne and had a lovely time. Richard Burton was a delight. We all decided to go down to the dining room for dinner, which caused quite a sensation. Photographers hiding behind potted plants were waiting to grab a shot of us. It was a wonderful reunion that led to many fun evenings together.

  In 1967 Elizabeth and Richard were my guests at the annual ball given by the Thalians, a charity that Jack Haley Jr., Hugh O’Brian, and I, along with some other then-young stars, had founded in 1955. The Thalians’ mission is to educate and enlighten the world about mental illness in order to eliminate the stigma attached to it. Each year, to raise money, the Thalians honor someone extraordinary from the Hollywood community with their “Goofy” award, designed by Walt Disney in the shape of one of his cartoon characters. This particular year it was Peter Ustinov, who was making a film called The Comedians with Elizabeth and Richard. After the ceremony, everyone came back to the Karl house on Greenway to finish off the evening. Elizabeth and Richard got into a fight, carrying on as if they were doing a scene from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? By now I knew what this meant.

  “Just drag her off to one of the bedrooms, Richard,” I yelled at them. “And don’t wake the kids!”

  Elizabeth and I had shared so many happy times since then, and it was good to be working on Carrie’s movie together. One day Elizabeth asked to s
ee me. There was a scene in the script about her character stealing my character’s husband while in an alcoholic blackout.

  “I’m so sorry for what I did to you with Eddie,” she said.

  Elizabeth sounded very emotional. It seemed clear to me that she’d been thinking about what she wanted to say.

  “That was another lifetime,” I assured her. “You and I made up years ago.”

  “I know, I know,” she said. “I just feel so awful when I think of how I hurt you and your children.”

  We spoke often, sometimes spending time together. One night I went to her house to watch a movie with her and took along a pumpkin pie for us to eat. The movie was The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise. It features a lot of sword fights, which really didn’t interest us. We sat in Elizabeth’s bed, eating pie and chatting, while Elizabeth’s nurse sat quietly beside us.

  During our visit, a man dropped by with a diamond tennis bracelet for Elizabeth, asking to see her as he handed the trinket to her friend and assistant, Tim Mendelson. When Tim brought the bracelet to the bedroom and conveyed the message, Elizabeth instructed him to tell the man to come back another time.

  “I don’t really like him much,” she explained to me as she put on the bracelet.

  It was a bit tight.

  “You may have to add a diamond or two to that, so it fits better,” I said.

  “That won’t be necessary,” she said. “I’ll just wear it early in the day, when I’m not so swollen.”

  Elizabeth had jewels for every occasion—and every stage of water retention.