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Watch: Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Amazing ‘Oprah’ Interview from 2011
2 hours ago
Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, who both died this week, rose to some of the highest peaks in Hollywood during their fabled movie careers. But life wasn’t always glamorous for this mother-daughter duo. In fact, both Reynolds and Fisher became almost as famous for their off-screen challenges as for their onscreen triumphs: Debbie’s relationships with men, Carrie’s drug abuse and mental health issues, the Elizabeth Taylor scandal.
In this interview in which they appeared together on “Oprah” in 2011, Reynolds and Fisher show off their razor-sharp wit and humor in recalling the darker days and show why, as a family, they have been so resilient.
In the 40-plus minute footage, the duo also perform a medley of “You Made Me Love You” and “Happy Days Are Here Again” to the delight of the audience.
Reynolds, 84, died suddenly on Wednesday only one day after her daughter, 60, died of heart failure. »
- Variety Staff
Stars Pay Tribute to Debbie Reynolds, Hollywood Icon and Carrie Fisher’s Mom
4 hours ago
There’s been an outpouring of grief on the web as celebrities pay tribute to Debbie Reynolds, Hollywood icon and mother of Carrie Fisher. Reynolds died Wednesday afternoon, one day after her daughter passed away at the age of 60. She was 84.
A talented singer and actress, Reynolds appeared in many movies and stage productions spanning decades. She is survived by a son Todd and her granddaughter Billie.
Younger audiences will remember Reynolds as Grace Adler’s showbiz mom from “Will & Grace.”
Close friend Carol Channing wrote: “She was beautiful and generous. It seems like only yesterday she was having lunch here at the house and we were discussing
the possibility of working together in a new show. I have such fond memories of appearing with her here at the McCallum Theater in Palm Springs. So many laughs. My prayers go out to the family. She will be missed.”
Added Reynolds »
- Lawrence Yee
Debbie Reynolds, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ Star and Carrie Fisher’s Mother, Dies at 84
4 hours ago
Debbie Reynolds, the Oscar-nominated singer-actress who was the mother of late actress Carrie Fisher, has died at Cedars-Sinai hospital. She was 84.
“She wanted to be with Carrie,” her son Todd Fisher told Variety.
She was taken to the hospital from Carrie Fisher’s Beverly Hills house Wednesday after suffering a stroke, the day after her daughter Carrie Fisher died.
The vivacious blonde, who had a close but sometimes tempestuous relationship with her daughter, was one of MGM’s principal stars of the 1950s and ’60s in such films as the 1952 classic “Singin' in the Rain” and 1964’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” for which she received an Oscar nomination as best actress.
Reynolds received the SAG lifetime achievement award in January 2015; in August of that year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences voted to present the actress with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Nov. 14 Governors Awards, but she »
- Carmel Dagan
‘La La Land,’ ‘Bfg,’ ‘Hidden Figures’ and More Tune Up Original Score Oscar Race
5 hours ago
It wouldn’t be an Oscar season without a scandal of sorts from the Academy’s music branch. We got one this year: Johann Johannsson’s “Arrival” score was disqualified after it was decided the use of pre-existing music (namely Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight”) diluted the impact of his original compositions, which are quite progressive in the realm of film music.
Bummer. But…typical.
At present, the presumed frontrunner in the field is Justin Hurwitz, whose lively “La La Land” music only really had one hurdle to clear: the mercurial nature of the branch. It might have easily been decided that the abundance of songs overwhelmed the interstitial scoring, but happily, that didn’t happen. Left to the Academy to decide, Hurwitz may well be primed for a pair of Oscars, both here and in the original song category.
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Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score
A »
- Kristopher Tapley
Carrie Fisher Roasts George Lucas at 2005 AFI Tribute (Watch)
6 hours ago
As fans pay tribute to the late Carrie Fisher, many videos from her past are resurfacing. One such video is from 2005’s AFI Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony, which honored “Star Wars” creator George Lucas.
In the four-minute clip, Fisher takes the stage to roast the filmmaker, highlighting her signature dry humor and wit as she pokes fun at Lucas.
“George Lucas ruined my life and I mean that in the nicest possible way,” Fisher began. “George is a sadist — but like any abused child wearing a metal bikini, chained to a giant slug about to die, I keep coming back for more.”
Related
10 Things You Might Not Know About Carrie Fisher’s Life
Joke after joke Fisher delighted the audience, which included Steven Spielberg, John Williams, Warren Beatty, and more.
Towards the end of the speech, Fisher lightened up to call Lucas a “once in a generation” talent, before making »
- Arya Roshanian
Carrie Fisher Could Still Receive an Official Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
7 hours ago
Since Carrie Fisher died on Tuesday, the grieving process for those left behind has taken different forms — sharing photos, writing tributes and posting “Star Wars” quotes among the most popular — and, for some, the Hollywood tradition of visiting the Walk of Fame to commemorate the deceased with flowers and other mementos. Only, for Fisher, the star doesn’t exist.
The realization that Fisher doesn’t have a place on the Walk of Fame prompted fans to create a makeshift one on an untapped plot at the corner of Orange Drive and Hollywood Blvd. They inscribed her name and quoted, “May the force be with you. Always hope,” and laid flowers, candles and cinnamon rolls (in honor of Princess Leia’s signature hair style) on the sidewalk. George Michael got a similar treatment. He also died recently, on Christmas Day, and does not have a star. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce »
- Seth Kelley
Debbie Reynolds Reportedly Hospitalized the Day After Carrie Fisher’s Death
8 hours ago
Debbie Reynolds was reportedly rushed to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher, according to TMZ.
The L.A. Fire Department confirmed to Variety that it received a call for a medical emergency in the 1700 block of Coldwater Canyon Drive at 1:02 p.m. An adult female patient was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in fair-to-serious condition, said spokeswoman Margaret Stewart, who declined to confirm the identity of the patient due to federal privacy law. She may have suffered a stroke, reports TMZ.
This news comes after Fisher died Tuesday morning from what was described as a massive heart attack on Friday while on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Reynolds posted a short message regarding her daughter online on Tuesday. “Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful »
- Seth Kelley
‘Rogue One,’ ‘Sing’ Push Domestic Box Office to Yearly Record
8 hours ago
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Sing” pushed the 2016 North American box office to a yearly record — with four days still left on the calendar.
The domestic box office crossed the $11 billion milestone on Dec. 26 and will surpass the record $11.14 billion mark from 2015 to $11.17 billlion on Wednesday, according to industry tracker comScore.com.
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The final box office for 2016 revenue is expected to reached $11.3 billion at the close of 2016, comScore projected.
The one-two punch of Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and Illumination-Universal’s animated comedy “Sing” provided the final push to beat the record.
The eighth Star Wars movie grossed $22.5 million domestically at 4,157 locations on Tuesday, giving it $340.6 million in its first 12 days. It should become the sixth highest domestic grosser of 2016 on Wednesday, surpassing the $341.8 million taken in by “Zootopia.”
“Sing” came in with $17.6 million on its seventh day in »
- Dave McNary
George S. Irving, Tony Winner and Voice of Heat Miser, Dies at 94
10 hours ago
George S. Irving, a veteran comic and voice actor who won a Tony for “Irene,” died Monday in New York of natural causes. He was 94.
The gruff-voiced Irving was born in 1922 as George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Mass. He received the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre in 2008.
He was also known for a variety of voice acting roles such as the Heat Miser in Rankin/Bass’s stop-motion Christmas movies “The Year Without a Santa Claus” and “A Miser Brothers’ Christmas.” He also narrated the 1960s animated series “Underdog.”
Irving’s TV credits included sitcoms such as “Car 54, Where Are You?,” “The Patty Duke Show,” “All In The Family,” and the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope.”
He first appeared on Broadway in 1943 in the first run of “Oklahoma !” He received a Tony nomination for “Me and My Girl” and appeared on numerous plays and musicals including “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, »
- Dave McNary
The Top 10 Shots of 2016
11 hours ago
For a decade now I’ve written about the year in single images. It’s an annual tradition that started on a whim — certain shots from “No Country for Old Men” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” spurred a desire to seek out other potent imagery and chew on it — and it has developed into my own little way of adding to the usual year-in-review cavalcade.
The rise of press screeners has certainly helped me to be thorough. Re-watching the year’s movies and scrubbing them for stand-out shots I might have missed has become its own unique form of absorbing movies. Other outlets have come along and taken similar approaches, which is great, because this is as subjective as anything else. But many have bailed after giving it a go, too, which I understand: this can be sort of taxing.
But I’ve cherished it. I’ve delighted, and continue to delight, »
- Kristopher Tapley
‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ Hits $615 Million at Worldwide Box Office
12 hours ago
Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” has remained a major force at the box office, hitting $615 million worldwide following Tuesday screenings.
The eighth Star Wars movie grossed $22.5 million domestically at 4,157 locations on Tuesday, giving it $340.6 million in its first 12 days. It should become the sixth highest domestic grosser of 2016 on Wednesday, surpassing the $341.8 million taken in by “Zootopia”
“Rogue One” outdistanced Illumination-Universal’s animated comedy “Sing,” which came in with $17.6 million on its seventh day in release at 4,022 domestic sites. “Sing” has earned $93 million in its first week.
“Rogue One” grossed another $19.7 million internationally on Tuesday to reach $275.3 million, led by the U.K. with $48.9 million, Germany with $26.2 million, France with $23.6 million, Australia with $21.6 million and Japan with $18 million.
“Rogue One” opens in South Korea on Wednesday and in China on Jan. »
- Dave McNary
Film Review: ‘Railroad Tigers’
13 hours ago
When was the last time you saw a good Jackie Chan movie? Sure, the “Kung Fu Panda” movies are great, but they don’t really count, since that’s just his voice. What has it been — 10 years? 15? — since the chance to see Chan in action really justified the price of admission?
After a long stretch in which he made one, maybe two, movies a year, Chan is scheduled to release five more movies in 2017, after the Chinese action-comedy “Railroad Tigers” (granted, two are voice roles in animated movies). More importantly, though “Railroad Tigers” itself is a tired, often incomprehensible mess about a group of Chinese resistance fighters who use a train loaded with Japanese ammunition as a weapon against their unwelcome invaders, for genuine Jackie Chan fans, it’s evidence that he wasn’t ready to retire from action movies after all, despite comments made to that effect back in »
- Peter Debruge
Paul Simon Breaks Silence on Ex-Wife Carrie Fisher’s Death
14 hours ago
Paul Simon spoke out about the death of his ex-wife, Carrie Fisher, on Wednesday. Simon, who has been married to Edie Brickell since 1992, shared his second marriage with Fisher between August 1983 and July 1984.
Fisher died Tuesday morning after suffering what was described as a massive heart attack on Friday while on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, confirmed the death on Tuesday. “She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly,” the statement read. Lourd was Fisher’s daughter with talent agent Bryan Lourd who Fisher referred to as her second husband in interviews, although the two were never officially married.
Related
Hollywood Mourns the Loss of Its Princess Leia, ‘Star Wars’ Actress Carrie Fisher
“Yesterday was a horrible day. Carrie was a special, wonderful girl. It’s too soon,” Simon wrote on Twitter early Wednesday morning, adding his voice to »
- Seth Kelley
‘Alien: Covenant,’ ‘Emoji Movie’ Dominate Social Media Buzz
15 hours ago
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi thriller “Alien: Covenant” topped social media buzz last week with an impressive 63,000 new conversations, according to media-measurement firm comScore and its PreAct service.
Fox released its first trailer for “Alien: Covenant” late on Christmas Eve, replete with monsters bursting into scenes. It’s the sixth “Alien” film for Scott, who is directing from a script by Jack Paglen, Michael Green, and John Logan with the colony ship Covenant as it heads toward a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy.
Crew members discover what they believe to be an uncharted paradise, which turns out to be a dark, menacing world in which the only inhabitant is the synthetic David (Michael Fassbender), clad in all white as a survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The film arrives in theaters on May 19, 2017.
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Watch Ridley Scott’s First ‘Alien: Covenant’ Trailer
Sony’s animated “The Emoji Movie »
- Dave McNary
Pathé’s ‘Dalida’ To Open 2017 UniFrance Rendez-Vous With French Cinema in Paris
17 hours ago
Marking an appropriate curtain-raiser to an event distinguished this year by the large number of movies directed by women and often about women, “Dalida” Lisa Azuelos’ time-shifting bio of the tragic superstar chanteuse, will open the 19th UniFrance Rendez-Vous With French Cinema,
The biggest national film market in the world, the 2017 Rendez-Vous runs from Jan. 12 to Jan. 16 in the august Intercontinental Paris-Le Grand, abutting the Place d’Opera.
Co-produced, distributed and sold internationally by Pathé, and hitting the Rendez-Vous with a good buzz, partly accrued through an Olympia music hall preview, broadcast at cinema cheaters throughout France on Nov. 30, the fifth feature from France’s Azuelos (“Lol: Laughing Out Loud”) presents in part the on-stage triumphs of Dalida who sold 170 million records before her suicide in 1987.
A dead ringer, Italian model-turned-actress Sveva Alviti incarnates Dalida. Equally, “Dalida” also covers the singer’s professional or romantic involvement with the men in her life, »
- John Hopewell
‘Lion’ Wins Zurich Festival’s Diversity in Film Award
20 hours ago
Garth Davis’s “Lion” has received the Diversity in Film award from Zurich Film Festival, which opened with “Lion”‘s s European premiere in September.
“Lion,” which was produced by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman at See-Saw Films and was released domestically by The Weinstein Company, will be given the Diversity award on Dec. 28th during a special screening of ‘Lion’ hosted by Harvey Weinstein in Gstaad.
The award will be presented by Karl Spoerri, the co-director of Zurich Film Festival.
Starring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and Sunny Pawar, ‘Lion’ tells the true story of five year old Saroo Brierley who was adopted by an Australian couple after being tragically separated from his family, and embarked into a journey to find his birth mother 25 years later.
Zurich Film Festival’s co-directors Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht said, “At a time when we’ve seen so much divisiveness across the globe, »
- Elsa Keslassy
Carrie Fisher: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Her Life
27 December 2016 5:07 PM, PST
Carrie Fisher was born in the spotlight, the Hollywood offspring of two stars, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, who were red-hot at the time their first child arrived on Oct. 21, 1956. That notoriety colored her life and career. But here are some things you might not have known about the actress, writer and advocate, who died Tuesday at the age of 60.
Reynolds and Fisher had completed production on their first movie together — Rko’s aptly titled “Bundle of Joy” — just two months before Carrie was born. The cast and crew gifted the couple with a bassinet at the wrap party. Reynolds and Fisher gave director Norman Taurog a faux gold record with the inscription: “To Dr. Norman Taurog who delivered our first production, ‘Bundle of Joy,’ ahead of the Stork,” according to Variety. In the department of odd coincidences, about six weeks after she was born, Variety’s Army Archerd reported »
- Cynthia Littleton and Dave McNary
What Carrie Fisher, Bowie, Prince and Muhammad Ali Taught Us
27 December 2016 4:36 PM, PST
Nothing I can say will make the losses of 2016 hurt less. But it’s possible to take something from this year’s long parade of deaths (which, for me, include a personal loss).
When someone famous dies, and we mourn and feel the pain of a lost connection, it’s because that celebrity transmitted something important into the world. They didn’t just make art that we remember and cherish, they put messages into the world in the way they lived their lives. These were ideas we needed to hear, and those wild and unruly transmissions changed us — and the culture around us.
As 2017 dawns, we will undoubtedly still be in mourning, and quite probably afraid that this difficult year was a mere tune-up for what’s to come. A terrifying thought, that. Scraps of comfort are hard to come by.
But when I can, I’m thinking about how »
- Maureen Ryan
Carrie Fisher Had Been Developing Sequel to One-Woman Play ‘Wishful Drinking’
27 December 2016 4:18 PM, PST
Carrie Fisher had been developing a sequel to her autobiographical, one-woman play “Wishful Drinking,” with plans to present the show at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
The new play — titled “Wishful Drinking Strikes Back: From Star Wars to, uh, Star Wars!” — would have re-teamed Fisher with Josh Ravetch, who directed “Wishful Drinking” in 2006 when it premiered at the Geffen.
The theater issued a statement following Fisher’s death on Tuesday: “All of us at the Geffen Playhouse are devastated by the news of the passing of our dear friend and alum, Carrie Fisher. She was a wickedly funny force of nature and it was a privilege and a pleasure to have her on our stage. We send our love to her family and friends as we all mourn this tremendous loss.”
Related
Carrie Fisher Completed Work on ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ Before Her Death
Fisher and the Geffen Playhouse »
- Dave McNary
WME Agent Rob Carlson Joins UTA
27 December 2016 3:00 PM, PST
Veteran Hollywood agent Rob Carlson, who spent the last 25 years with WME, has joined UTA as an agent in the motion picture literary department.
“Rob is a great agent whose reputation in the filmmaking world speaks for itself,” said David Kramer, UTA managing director and head of the motion picture literary department. “We’re thrilled to welcome Rob to our team, and we know he and his clients will thrive at UTA.”
While at Wme, Carlson’s notable clients included directors Michael Bay, Jon M. Chu, Ian Bryce, and Jack Thorne. He also repped toymaker Hasbro, which has teamed with Bay on the “Transformers” franchise.
Carlson’s other clients included Mike Lesslie, Clay Kaytis, David Slade, Matt Shakman, Adam F. Goldberg, Tom Harper,Paul Tibbitt, Richard Tanne, Jeff Wadlow, Scott Speer, the Spierig brothers — Peter Spierig and Michael Spierig — Mark Burton, and Wash Westmoreland.
UTA did not indicate whether the »
- Dave McNary
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