Debbie Reynolds Biography

Fast Facts

• At 16, won the Miss Burbank beauty contest, which resulted in a contract with Warner Bros
• Allowed studio head Jack Warner to change her name from Mary Frances to Debbie, but refused to change her last name to Morgan
• Transferred to MGM and eventually landed a star-making role in the classic movie musical Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• Co-founded the Thalians Mental Health Center for children with mental health issues at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1955
• Scored a radio hit with the song "Tammy," which was featured in her 1957 comedy Tammy and the Bachelor
• Broadway debut as the lead in a 1973 revival of the 1919 musical Irene won her rave reviews and an Outer Critics Circle award
• Released an autobiography, Debbie: My Life, in 1988
• Notable TV work included a recurring role as Grace's mother, Bobbi Adler, on Will & Grace and voicing Lulu Pickles on the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats