1950's pop singer Eddie Fisher dead at 82

Friday, 24 September 2010 21:56 administrator
Print
Hollywood Archive photo Eddie FisherEddie Fisher, the 1950s pop singer, actor and father of Carrie Fisher known for his high-profile string of marriages with Hollywood starlets, has died, according to media reports in Los Angeles. He was 82.

Fisher died Wednesday at his home in Berkeley, California, from complications of a recent hip surgery his daughter, actress and singer Tricia Leigh Fisher, told The Associated Press.

Fisher rose to fame in the early '50s with hit songs like "Thinking of You" and "Wish You Were Here." He also headlined his own variety series, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher and The Eddie Fisher Show, both on NBC.

He was married to Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor from 1959-64. Fisher sparked an international scandal after he left his first wife, musical actress Debbie Reynolds, to become the fourth of Taylor's eight husbands.

Fisher was later married for three years to singer-actress Connie Stevens. He had five marriages in all.

He hosted successful television shows during the '50s and parlayed his musical fame and youthful looks into Hollywood acting roles.

Having earned 2 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording found on 6241 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television on 1724 Vine Street, he also wrote two autobiographies, Eddie: My Life, My Loves in 1984 and Been There, Done That in 1999.

His roller coaster personal life was also plagued by substance abuse. He suffered addictions to prescription drugs, cocaine and methamphetamine.

In his autobiography Fisher said the doctor who provided him drugs also tended to President John F. Kennedy and he wrote that "Jack Kennedy and I shared drugs and women." (Photo: The Hollywood Archive)


Eddie Fisher Trivia according to IMDB:


Father, with actress Debbie Reynolds, of actress Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher who was named after Michael Todd.

Father, with singer-actress Connie Stevens of actresses Tricia Leigh Fisher and Joely Fisher.

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, according to Eddie, the family's surname was originally either Tisch or Fisch. Between Ellis Island and Philadelphia, it had become Americanized as Fisher

In Suddenly, Last Summer  (1959), he appeared uncredited as a street urchin begging for food from Catherine Holly, the character played by his wife at the time, Elizabeth Taylor.

Left first wife Debbie Reynolds for second wife Elizabeth Taylor who was the widow of his close friend Michael Todd.



Last Updated on Saturday, 25 September 2010 00:42
More...