Hollywood veteran bids fond farewell to her ‘babies’

AUDREY Hepburn’s Ascot Races dress in “My Fair Lady”. Photo by Ruben Nepales

LOS ANGELES—It was a film lover’s dream afternoon. Imagine seeing up close Yul Brynner’s majestic tunic in “The King and I,” Julie Andrews’ dress and guitar in “The Sound of Music” and hundreds of other Hollywood memorabilia, most of them harking back to our movie-going childhood.

But the best part was having no less than veteran actress Debbie Reynolds talking, joking, sometimes even singing and acting out a few lines as she gave us a personal tour of her “babies,” a dazzling collection of costumes and props she has amassed for over four decades. She even dished an amusing zinger or two from her love life that’s very much a part of Hollywood lore.

Tomorrow, Debbie’s Hollywood treasures—Marilyn Monroe’s famous pleated dress in “The Seven Year Itch,” Judy Garland’s blue cotton dress in “The Wizard of Oz” and Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot dress in “My Fair Lady”—will be auctioned off.

‘Kodak’ moments

Arriving on time at the lobby of the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, the star of such classics as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” was the epitome of old school Hollywood: coifed, made-up, dressed in lavender from head to toe. Best of all, Debbie was gracious and mindful of the “Kodak” moments, holding a pose here and there and flashing a radiant smile.

Debbie shook her visitors’ hands and made small talk. The actress told us she remembers going to the Philippines during the Korean War in the 1950s when she entertained US troops in Asia.

The star of MGM musicals had hoped to build a museum to house her collection but development deals over the years kept falling through. Now, at 79, Debbie, faced with the financial challenge of the maintenance and the insurance costs of keeping about 5,000 tangible pieces of film history, is forced to say goodbye to her “babies” beginning this weekend. A second auction is scheduled on December 3.

DEBBIE Reynolds with costumes from her classic film “Singin’ in the Rain” . Photo by Ruben Nepales

“It will be a sad day,” Debbie said of tomorrow. But this afternoon, she was her usual perky self as she walked us through the collection displayed on two floors.

Film clips of scenes being shown on monitors that highlight some of the costumes and props on display were edited by her son, Todd Fisher, Debbie proudly pointed out. “I just don’t like that last name,” she quipped to laughter. Of course, it was Debbie’s winking reference to Todd’s father, singer Eddie Fisher and a well-known chapter in her life. In the ‘50s, Debbie was married to Eddie (the union produced another offspring, writer and actress Carrie Fisher).

Eddie had an affair with Elizabeth Taylor, who was then mourning the death of Michael Todd, her husband and Eddie’s best friend. Eddie divorced Debbie and married Elizabeth. It was one of the biggest scandals and controversies in that era.

‘When I’m gone…’

When we asked Debbie if she is keeping an item from her collection, she said Todd convinced her to save a dress or two. “He wants something to look at and remember me by when I’m gone,” said the actress, whose two dresses in “Singing in the Rain” will also go under the hammer. During the tour, she often said “When I’m gone…,” that her publicist lovingly told her to stop saying it. Debbie is still sharp and sprightly, not to mention lovely. She still commands attention in any room.

Debbie volunteered that, in addition to financial reasons, she wanted the auction to be held “now, while I’m still alive. Everything should be done now.”

Like most Hollywood actors, she’s had her share of ups and downs. After divorcing Harry Karl, Debbie reportedly lived for a while in her car, a Cadillac. She was known at one point, especially during the peak of the original “Star Wars” movies, as the mom of Carrie, who played Princes Leia.

She flashed her radiant smile and held up her right hand, demonstrating how she raised her hand at auctions and bought many of the items on sale. “This is the currency,” she joked, looking at her raised hand.

In one of her interesting stories of how she amassed her collection, Debbie cited how she called 20th Century Fox and asked if she could buy items before a scheduled public auction. She was “shocked” when Fox said yes. “I picked myself up on the floor,” she said, adding that she hurried over to the studio lot, excited to be the first to go over the items being sold.

Some of the items that will go on the auction block, like Julie Andrews’ guitar in “The Sound…,” have extra value because Debbie asked stars to sign them. She’s known to doggedly pursue actors for autographs.

Debbie volunteered that a friend of Barbra Streisand’s has dropped by. It seems Barbra is interested in buying the bejeweled gold gown she wore in “Hello, Dolly!” that is reportedly one of the most expensive dresses made for a movie.

One bought back

It was like a quick guide through cinema history as Debbie shared more personal observations about the staggering items on display (her memory is razor sharp), from Ingrid Bergman’s armor suit in “Joan of Arc” (once stolen from her collection; she had to buy it back in an auction), Marlon Brando’s elaborate coronation costume in “Napoleon Bonaparte,” Charlie Chaplin’s signature bowler hat… to the 1918 Ford Model T used in Laurel and Hardy films.

Debbie mimicked Tallulah Bankhead’s raspy voice as she stood by the latter’s cognac gown in “Catherine the Great.” The actress sat beside one of a pair of golden chairs in “Ben-Hur” as she shared more anecdotes, including how she passed out several times during the filming of “The Unsinkable…” (she earned an Oscar nomination for this film) because of fatigue from standing for long periods of time.

With costumes of the most memorable leading men during the golden age of cinema in the background, she was asked which actors today were as handsome and magnetic as their earlier counterparts. She replied: Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp.

As the tour ended, we shared Debbie’s lament that her dream for many years to display all these memorable costumes and props in a single museum is not going to come true. But, ever the true movie star, Debbie flashed her winning smile and asked how we say “goodbye” in our language. “Paalam!” she exclaimed. “That’s easy!”

Readers, if you have a few thousand dollars or more to spare, log on to profilesinhistory.com to bid online.

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