Name: Debbie Reynolds on Letterman, 1987, 1997
Uploaded: 2016-12-29T06:08:44.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Debbie Reynolds on Letterman, 1987, 1997' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2016-12-29. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Debbie Reynolds on Letterman, 1987, 1997' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2016-12-29. Transcript available.

Ah, big show tonight, kids.
Our first guest has been a star of Motion Pictures,
Broadway, and nightclubs for some 39 years.
Her films include the classic "Singing in the Rain"
and, of course, "The Tammy Pictures."
Folks, please say hello to Debbie Reynolds.
This is Dick Tufeld speaking.
You know, I get nervous when somebody dances on.
It makes me terrible.
I don't know, because I'm afraid that maybe somehow
I'm expected to dance with that group.
No, no.
Thank God.
No, I know you wouldn't like that.
You look great.
Thank you.
I think the music is wonderful, you guys.
Really great.
Thank you.
Were you at one time America's sweetheart?
Have I got that right?
I was, and I'm still living, so that means I still am.
Well, yeah.
Unless there's been another vote we don't know about.
Well, now I've gotten much older.
No, now I'm Mrs.
Uh-huh.
Well, as the years go on, you know, I stepped out.
Where did all of this begin?
Well, well, I originally was born in Texas,
but raised in California.
Right.
How old were you when you moved west?
Well, I was only seven, so I'm raised in California,
and I'm in California, raised in showbiz.
Did you have any family?
No, one brother, but a lot of uncles that we lived with.
In Texas, we were really poor, so we all lived together.
Oh, I see.
So the whole family right there in the same dwelling.
Yeah.
And then you got to California, and how did you suddenly become,
I guess you first started working in films, huh?
I know.
Yeah, well, first of all, I was just like a normal person, right?
Studying to be a gym teacher, poor family, going to school.
Uh-huh.
In those days, they had the star system before television.
I know you don't remember that.
Well, I've heard of it.
It was in this little box called TV, called Movies.
Yeah, but the star system was what?
It was terrific.
Well, it took a lot of young people that had talent, but no money,
and they trained them, and they developed their talents and put them into films,
and so that's what's called Movies Star in those days.
And they don't really do that now, per se, do they?
No, they don't do it because there are no more systems.
You know, there's no more individual big studios.
You all have independent productions.
Everybody works independently, produces independently, and most of the
producers today are stars.
You know, Ackroyd and Belushi became a star.
Oh, I see.
You get very famous.
Mark Reynolds became a star.
Sure.
Well, I mean, the talent, like yourself, becomes the star.
Thank you for including me.
Like Carson, you know.
Uh, uh, but now--
You all become the producers.
But is it-- is there any difference in the quality of films today as opposed to
in the old system?
Well, I think it's different.
I mean, I just think the world goes on.
It's a different tempo.
Everything is different as far as the stories are a little wilder.
You can say words that you couldn't say before.
You show explicit scenes.
When I did films, you couldn't be in the same bed.
You had to have two beds.
It was all very shocking, and they had sensors on the sets.
And so any-- everything was monitored right there as you were making the film?
On the set.
Yeah. Well, and then how did you-- how did you start in your first film, though?
Where did they find you?
Where did somebody come in and say, "Well, this is the lady we--"
Well, it's the old story where you enter local beauty contests, which girls
still do today,
Miss America and all that stuff.
What was the pageant you were in?
I was Miss Burbank.
Mm-hmm.
Of 1948.
So it's older than everybody here put together.
And you-- and from that, they hired you to be in a film?
Well, you won the contest, and then they took you to-- where I went was Warner
Brothers,
and I made a screen test. And then Jack Warner, who ran-- in those days, you
had heads of studios.
So Jack Warner changed my name to Debbie, 'cause from the south, most people
are another name.
You know, Mary Frances, Elizabeth Sue, you know, Selma, all this fun.
And you were a different name. What was your name?
I was Mary Frances.
Oh, you were Mary Frances.
And he-- he changed my name to Debbie.
Yeah.
Did that bother you to have somebody changing your name?
Bothered me for about six years, and then I got used to it.
Could-- could you have said, "I'd rather not be Debbie, I want to be Mary
Frances"?
Well, he wanted me to be, first of all, Debbie Morgan.
Mm-hmm.
Because at that time, there was another star called Dennis Morgan.
Sure.
So anyway, I said, "No, uh, he isn't your name, Warner."
He said, "No, Warnerstein." I said, "So you changed your name, too."
Yeah.
I stayed at a Reynolds, but I had to become a Debbie,
and I'm used to it naturally all these years.
So then the first movie that you...
What were the first words you said on screen?
Your first actual speaking part in the film.
Well, yeah, my first words were...
I did a film where I sang,
I wanna be loved by you, poo-poo-pee-doo.
So that was my first big movie where I sang about poo-poo,
and my second big film was where I sang a song called
Abba-dabba-dabba-dabba-dabba, so that was with monkeys.
I went from poo-poo to monkeys, and that started my career.
From there, I could only go up.
And look where I landed, here, right?
You've done all right for yourself, haven't you?
And still, the undisputed sweetheart of America.
Oh, yeah, no matter how you argue about it.
Yeah.
Do a commercial?
All right, we'll be back here with Debbie Reynolds.
I just wanna say, this group of musicians right here could beat up any other
assemblage of music talent anywhere in the world.
If I could...
And if I might say, we could whip the guns of Navarro.
That's right, Paul.
Tell me about this deal.
This is Do It Debbie's Way.
It's one of these exercise videos.
That's it?
He didn't say Debbie does Dallas.
No.
This is a tape.
And we're upstairs talking, or later, or earlier, yeah, later.
Today, today.
But we will be upstairs later talking, if you'd like to drop by.
Doing it my way.
And I said, how many tapes are out there, and did this thing do good business?
And they said, it sold more than any other home video, whatever, whatever, in
the history of man.
Well, because it's easy.
It's exercise tape for people totally out of shape.
I brought it for you.
But no, no.
Oh, I did not.
I did not.
Oh, shut up.
I brought it for his mother.
It's for your mother.
But is this something that you always did?
Was this part of your regular life that you exercised a great deal?
Have to do that, because I'm a dancer.
I have been for years.
So I had to stay in shape after I passed 40 when everything started to drift.
Uh-huh.
So in order to hold it together and kind of keep it up a little bit there,
I started an exercise program that they asked me to do on tape.
So I did.
It's called Do It Debbie's Way.
But aren't you surprised that it sold so well?
I was.
I still am, because it's been out, it's three years now,
and the ladies like it, because they can do it.
Yeah.
I just don't know what kind of person exactly says,
oh, yeah, I think I'll go buy a videotape, put it in the machine,
and that will help me.
You know?
Well, one of my customers says,
Josh always calls me every day, and my hips are moving in, darling.
Uh-huh.
So you're making a lot of dough off this baby right here.
Well, it's nice.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, more than nice.
It's a killer.
What other impressions do you do?
How did you start doing impressions?
Well, I started years ago when I made a film with Glenn Ford and Ava Gabor,
and we were in Spain.
And I never did impressions.
You know, I always just liked the way people talked or sounded.
Didn't know I could.
And Ava knocked on our dressing room.
It was pouring down rain, and she says,
hello, darling, is anybody in there?
Because I'm very, very lonely.
I want to talk to somebody.
I said, well, open the door and come in, sweetheart.
So she came in.
We spent days and then weeks on the movie,
and that's how I started.
So she was your first one.
Well, and Ava taught me all about sex, she said to me at the time.
Well, I mean, she said, darling, your marriage just failed,
and obviously something went really wrong.
It was nice of her to point that out, wasn't it?
Well, close friends.
You let her in out of the rain,
and right away she starts ragging the marriage there.
Close friends do this for you.
Why did it fail, darling?
So she asked me about jewelry.
She's my advisor.
I said, jewelry?
I don't know what you mean.
Well, in other words, always sexy women, darling.
Always they wear the pearls around the neck.
You know, do you have long pearls, Debbie?
I said, no, I have short pearls.
She said, well, I knew it.
That's why the marriage failed.
Oh, length of the strand of pearls.
Yes, because the pearls must fall between the bosom.
Then when the man is kissing the bosom, he says, how very rich you are.
Ah.
These are the things you'll never have to know, Davey.
That Ava, that darn Ava.
I meant the jewelry.
Let's show this picture.
You want to show this?
I don't mind.
Look at Tacky's Tacky.
You paid for it.
This is, I guess, right after.
This must have been the honeymoon, right?
That's right.
This is you and Eddie Fisher.
And one of the original bodybuilders.
Not many people realize that.
All right.
That's silly.
That's silly.
This is so silly.
Now I introduce myself to Carrie Fisher's mother.
That's what I mean.
You know, she's great.
Don't you think she's great?
Well, I want to tell you, you were terrific with her when she came on your show.
Well, she's very entertaining.
And I was trying to explain to her how I thought it was neat and exciting that
somebody who had
a very successful career has completely gone a different direction and also
been quite successful.
Well, she's very talented.
You must be terribly proud of her.
I am.
She's very bright.
She never wears sequins like her mother.
So she dresses.
She's entirely different.
Her own person.
And I am very proud of her.
Do you ever run into Elizabeth Taylor?
No, because it's been too many years.
You know, we never, we were close friends.
Then when it all happened, so long ago, though, it's such a snore.
Who cares?
Is it a snore now?
It's a snore.
I think she's doing great.
I think she looks great.
And everybody's for a survivor.
It makes us always look at someone that gets over all of their adversities and
makes it
happen for themselves.
Life goes on.
Yeah, but, you know, she took husbands like Hitler going through Poland, don't
you think?
I mean...
You're really tacky, right?
No, she's doing great.
I'm proud of her, too.
I just think it's nice for women to survive all the crises that they have, and
men, too,
but it seems like women have more.
You tell me later what you're really thinking.
You and I can talk later, sweetheart.
Now, tell me, you're working in the area this weekend?
I am.
Donald O'Connor and I have a new act together, and we're at Trump's Plaza this
weekend, 13,
14, 15.
They were going on a little tour to everywhere, Milwaukee and Roanoke.
And you're enjoying things.
Your life is great.
Yeah, it's very good.
You look terrific.
Thank you very much, Debbie, for being here.
Thanks for having me.
Debbie, we'll be right back after station identification.
Our next guest is a legend of both stage and screen, and after taking a 25-year
break from starring in films,
she has returned to widespread acclaim in the motion picture mother.
Here she is, the lovely and ebullient Debbie Reynolds.
How you doing?
Fine.
You know, I was watching this movie, Mother, you and Albert Brooks.
What a lovely piece of work this is.
Thank you.
Are you proud of the film?
Yes, and surprised.
Albert picked me, and I haven't done a film, feature film.
25 years.
It's 27 years.
27 years.
Wow.
How many had you done before you took a quarter of a century off?
I've made like 42 or three films.
Wow.
So then you don't do any for a while.
You do other things.
Long time, I just hit the road.
Well, everything changed.
You know, musicals went out, comedies went out in my style that I did.
As far as I'm concerned, musicals never went out.
You're right, I think.
Oh.
Would you like some popcorn?
People love them.
I would like popcorn.
I love musicals.
I like comedies.
Well, this is a comedy, but it's about a mother and her son, a relationship.
It's a very nice piece of acting.
You and Albert are on screen the whole movie, and it's a great combination of
wonderful writing
and wonderful acting.
You do a terrific job in it.
Well, he's very talented, and you have a wonderful mother, so I'm sure that
there's parts of the
movie that you could relate to.
Well, you know what it is.
No, it does.
I mean, it's true for everybody.
There are certain aspects of any relationship, no matter how good or how
positive, that just
drive everybody nuts.
And that's that way with, you know, me and my mother, she drives me a little
nuts.
I drive her a little nuts.
And the same with you and Albert in the film.
I think you drive a lot of women nuts.
You like that, don't you?
Just a kid trying to make a buck.
Now, you knew Albert from before, didn't you?
Albert is a friend of my daughter, Carrie.
And, you know, Carrie's a wonderfully talented writer and everything, and they've
been pals
for many, many years.
But I didn't know Albert Brooks as a star.
I knew Albert as Carrie's friend.
Just a guy who would show up.
Well, a nice guy, funny guy, sweet guy, darling, cute.
And my daughter Carrie calls me up and says, Mother, Albert's doing a picture,
and it's
called Mother, and I think you should fly in and audition for Albert.
I said, well, why would I, Albert Brooks, you know, he was a comic.
He was on the road, stand-up, doing comedy and everything.
I didn't know Albert was a big star.
Because I don't go out much.
That's, I'm always on the road working.
I just really don't get a chance to see all, I don't hear who's all the new,
young, wonderful
stars.
But it turned out nicely.
And you auditioned for Albert, and he liked you immediately.
He was here, and he told us the story.
Did he?
You came in, and right, and he said, fine, you got it.
And you said, what do you mean I got it?
I was so shocked, because I said, Albert, how can you give me the job?
Where's the producer, and where's the head of the studio?
He said, you're looking at him.
Yeah, yeah, that's nice.
So he has power.
I saw you years and years ago, a bunch of us went to, we were in Las Vegas.
I don't even know what we were doing.
And we went to some hotel, forgive me the name, was it the Hacienda or
something?
I don't know what it was.
The Riviera, maybe, where I worked?
Something.
You and Don Rickles were the headliners of the big show.
Man, that was a lovely evening.
Good.
Well, he's so funny.
I love Don.
He was a personal friend.
Yeah, but you stole the show, really.
Because Don comes out, and he just sweats, and he makes fun of people.
But you, you, you know, put on like a full show.
It was very nice.
Well, I love performing.
I love singing.
I love dancing.
No, I don't do that in this film.
This is Mother.
And it was really hard for me, because I am outgoing.
I love performing.
This lady is much more subtle.
Yeah.
And the whole performance had to be the comedy within the script, not going for
shtick,
and what I really ordinarily like to do, because I like to have fun.
And this is fun, but it's in a very real way.
But in addition to this, you also own a casino.
I do.
Well, now, there you go.
Well, you got all the money, then.
You got all the money.
No, my ex-husband took it.
Yeah.
How many times have you been married?
Don't get married, Dave.
I've been married once, you know.
You were?
Yes, yes.
Just once, once?
Ten years.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, ten years.
It lasted that long.
We, uh...
How many times have you been married?
I've been married three times.
My, uh, last husband...
Run them down here.
Who do we have?
Oh, Eddie Fisher, singer.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, second husband was Harry Carl's shoe man, so I have a lot of old records
and old shoes.
It's, uh, no money.
It's not how the money goes.
And then my third husband recently, I was married 12 years.
Well, Eddie was five years I was married, and then he went down the Nile.
Then, uh...
There's some material coming in, I think, huh?
A little bit.
I shouldn't do that.
That's great.
I'm supposed to be dignified tonight.
No, it's fine.
They told me, Debbie, you're an actress, you should be dignified.
But you own a casino now, for heaven's sakes.
I do.
I bought a hotel in Las Vegas, and, uh, that ended my marriage, so I kept the
hotel.
Wow.
This is big-time stuff, though.
It's fun.
It's fun to have your own little place to be, you know?
I love the stage.
A little place to be.
It's eight acres.
It's a money machine.
It's a money machine.
Yeah, it is.
Well, good.
Good for you.
And I can't get fired, because I own the joint.
Now, we have some, uh, pictures here.
And, uh, this was, uh, this was a, uh, production, uh, in 1972, I think.
72, 73, right.
Broadway.
And this is you in the, uh, musical Irene.
Now, Irene, uh, was a big, big hit.
Yeah, it opened the Minskoff Theater in New York.
And ran for how long?
Two years.
Two years.
And then we toured it.
It was a really great show, musical.
Now, you know, we found out something very interesting about this.
Why?
When we were talking about your appearance, and, of course, about this photo.
And you know what I'm talking about.
Let's see the picture again, if we could.
Okay, now, just go.
Teddy Q.
Let's go over there.
There, right there.
Who is that?
Right there.
This guy right there.
This is our cue card kid, Tony Mendez.
Aw.
Right over there, Tony.
Hey, thank you.
Tony.
Hey.
Well, well.
Are you still dancing, Tony?
Are you?
Oh, is he ever.
Well, if he's your cue card man, he's dancing.
Here was, uh, here was something.
I guess this was at, like, a cast party or something.
But look at this kid.
How old are you there?
I don't know, 20 years ago, at least.
Yeah, so what would that make it?
What are we talking about here?
Late 20s?
Oh, man.
Do you remember him?
Cute, yes.
Oh, you're so, and you're still darling.
Good to see you, Tony.
Thank you.
So, from dancing, now you're doing the cue card bit here.
Yeah.
She owns a casino.
I own the cue card.
Yeah.
You smell like ink.
I run the show.
She smells like money.
It's great to have you here.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for having me.
And, you know, I think everybody is delighted
because the movie turned out to be lovely.
And I think people are very, very happy
to see you back in the films again.
Well, we have the Golden Globes Award this weekend.
Good luck.
Good luck.
I hope things go your way.
Thank you, Dave.
Thank you.
Give my best to your daughter
and also to Albert when you see him.
Albert, I will.
Debbie Reynolds, ladies and gentlemen.
We'll be right back.
.

Debbie Reynolds on Letterman, 1987, 1997

Ah, big show tonight, kids.
Our first guest has been a star of Motion Pictures,
Broadway, and nightclubs for some 39 years.
Her films include the classic "Singing in the Rain"
and, of course, "The Tammy Pictures."
Folks, please say hello to Debbie Reynolds.
This is Dick Tufeld speaking.
You know, I get nervous when somebody dances on.
It makes me terrible.
I don't know, because I'm afraid that maybe somehow
I'm expected to dance with that group.
No, no.
Thank God.
No, I know you wouldn't like that.
You look great.
Thank you.
I think the music is wonderful, you guys.
Really great.
Thank you.
Were you at one time America's sweetheart?
Have I got that right?
I was, and I'm still living, so that means I still am.
Well, yeah.
Unless there's been another vote we don't know about.
Well, now I've gotten much older.
No, now I'm Mrs.
Uh-huh.
Well, as the years go on, you know, I stepped out.
Where did all of this begin?
Well, well, I originally was born in Texas,
but raised in California.
Right.
How old were you when you moved west?
Well, I was only seven, so I'm raised in California,
and I'm in California, raised in showbiz.
Did you have any family?
No, one brother, but a lot of uncles that we lived with.
In Texas, we were really poor, so we all lived together.
Oh, I see.
So the whole family right there in the same dwelling.
Yeah.
And then you got to California, and how did you suddenly become,
I guess you first started working in films, huh?
I know.
Yeah, well, first of all, I was just like a normal person, right?
Studying to be a gym teacher, poor family, going to school.
Uh-huh.
In those days, they had the star system before television.
I know you don't remember that.
Well, I've heard of it.
It was in this little box called TV, called Movies.
Yeah, but the star system was what?
It was terrific.
Well, it took a lot of young people that had talent, but no money,
and they trained them, and they developed their talents and put them into films,
and so that's what's called Movies Star in those days.
And they don't really do that now, per se, do they?
No, they don't do it because there are no more systems.
You know, there's no more individual big studios.
You all have independent productions.
Everybody works independently, produces independently, and most of the
producers today are stars.
You know, Ackroyd and Belushi became a star.
Oh, I see.
You get very famous.
Mark Reynolds became a star.
Sure.
Well, I mean, the talent, like yourself, becomes the star.
Thank you for including me.
Like Carson, you know.
Uh, uh, but now--
You all become the producers.
But is it-- is there any difference in the quality of films today as opposed to
in the old system?
Well, I think it's different.
I mean, I just think the world goes on.
It's a different tempo.
Everything is different as far as the stories are a little wilder.
You can say words that you couldn't say before.
You show explicit scenes.
When I did films, you couldn't be in the same bed.
You had to have two beds.
It was all very shocking, and they had sensors on the sets.
And so any-- everything was monitored right there as you were making the film?
On the set.
Yeah. Well, and then how did you-- how did you start in your first film, though?
Where did they find you?
Where did somebody come in and say, "Well, this is the lady we--"
Well, it's the old story where you enter local beauty contests, which girls
still do today,
Miss America and all that stuff.
What was the pageant you were in?
I was Miss Burbank.
Mm-hmm.
Of 1948.
So it's older than everybody here put together.
And you-- and from that, they hired you to be in a film?
Well, you won the contest, and then they took you to-- where I went was Warner
Brothers,
and I made a screen test. And then Jack Warner, who ran-- in those days, you
had heads of studios.
So Jack Warner changed my name to Debbie, 'cause from the south, most people
are another name.
You know, Mary Frances, Elizabeth Sue, you know, Selma, all this fun.
And you were a different name. What was your name?
I was Mary Frances.
Oh, you were Mary Frances.
And he-- he changed my name to Debbie.
Yeah.
Did that bother you to have somebody changing your name?
Bothered me for about six years, and then I got used to it.
Could-- could you have said, "I'd rather not be Debbie, I want to be Mary
Frances"?
Well, he wanted me to be, first of all, Debbie Morgan.
Mm-hmm.
Because at that time, there was another star called Dennis Morgan.
Sure.
So anyway, I said, "No, uh, he isn't your name, Warner."
He said, "No, Warnerstein." I said, "So you changed your name, too."
Yeah.
I stayed at a Reynolds, but I had to become a Debbie,
and I'm used to it naturally all these years.
So then the first movie that you...
What were the first words you said on screen?
Your first actual speaking part in the film.
Well, yeah, my first words were...
I did a film where I sang,
I wanna be loved by you, poo-poo-pee-doo.
So that was my first big movie where I sang about poo-poo,
and my second big film was where I sang a song called
Abba-dabba-dabba-dabba-dabba, so that was with monkeys.
I went from poo-poo to monkeys, and that started my career.
From there, I could only go up.
And look where I landed, here, right?
You've done all right for yourself, haven't you?
And still, the undisputed sweetheart of America.
Oh, yeah, no matter how you argue about it.
Yeah.
Do a commercial?
All right, we'll be back here with Debbie Reynolds.
I just wanna say, this group of musicians right here could beat up any other
assemblage of music talent anywhere in the world.
If I could...
And if I might say, we could whip the guns of Navarro.
That's right, Paul.
Tell me about this deal.
This is Do It Debbie's Way.
It's one of these exercise videos.
That's it?
He didn't say Debbie does Dallas.
No.
This is a tape.
And we're upstairs talking, or later, or earlier, yeah, later.
Today, today.
But we will be upstairs later talking, if you'd like to drop by.
Doing it my way.
And I said, how many tapes are out there, and did this thing do good business?
And they said, it sold more than any other home video, whatever, whatever, in
the history of man.
Well, because it's easy.
It's exercise tape for people totally out of shape.
I brought it for you.
But no, no.
Oh, I did not.
I did not.
Oh, shut up.
I brought it for his mother.
It's for your mother.
But is this something that you always did?
Was this part of your regular life that you exercised a great deal?
Have to do that, because I'm a dancer.
I have been for years.
So I had to stay in shape after I passed 40 when everything started to drift.
Uh-huh.
So in order to hold it together and kind of keep it up a little bit there,
I started an exercise program that they asked me to do on tape.
So I did.
It's called Do It Debbie's Way.
But aren't you surprised that it sold so well?
I was.
I still am, because it's been out, it's three years now,
and the ladies like it, because they can do it.
Yeah.
I just don't know what kind of person exactly says,
oh, yeah, I think I'll go buy a videotape, put it in the machine,
and that will help me.
You know?
Well, one of my customers says,
Josh always calls me every day, and my hips are moving in, darling.
Uh-huh.
So you're making a lot of dough off this baby right here.
Well, it's nice.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, more than nice.
It's a killer.
What other impressions do you do?
How did you start doing impressions?
Well, I started years ago when I made a film with Glenn Ford and Ava Gabor,
and we were in Spain.
And I never did impressions.
You know, I always just liked the way people talked or sounded.
Didn't know I could.
And Ava knocked on our dressing room.
It was pouring down rain, and she says,
hello, darling, is anybody in there?
Because I'm very, very lonely.
I want to talk to somebody.
I said, well, open the door and come in, sweetheart.
So she came in.
We spent days and then weeks on the movie,
and that's how I started.
So she was your first one.
Well, and Ava taught me all about sex, she said to me at the time.
Well, I mean, she said, darling, your marriage just failed,
and obviously something went really wrong.
It was nice of her to point that out, wasn't it?
Well, close friends.
You let her in out of the rain,
and right away she starts ragging the marriage there.
Close friends do this for you.
Why did it fail, darling?
So she asked me about jewelry.
She's my advisor.
I said, jewelry?
I don't know what you mean.
Well, in other words, always sexy women, darling.
Always they wear the pearls around the neck.
You know, do you have long pearls, Debbie?
I said, no, I have short pearls.
She said, well, I knew it.
That's why the marriage failed.
Oh, length of the strand of pearls.
Yes, because the pearls must fall between the bosom.
Then when the man is kissing the bosom, he says, how very rich you are.
Ah.
These are the things you'll never have to know, Davey.
That Ava, that darn Ava.
I meant the jewelry.
Let's show this picture.
You want to show this?
I don't mind.
Look at Tacky's Tacky.
You paid for it.
This is, I guess, right after.
This must have been the honeymoon, right?
That's right.
This is you and Eddie Fisher.
And one of the original bodybuilders.
Not many people realize that.
All right.
That's silly.
That's silly.
This is so silly.
Now I introduce myself to Carrie Fisher's mother.
That's what I mean.
You know, she's great.
Don't you think she's great?
Well, I want to tell you, you were terrific with her when she came on your show.
Well, she's very entertaining.
And I was trying to explain to her how I thought it was neat and exciting that
somebody who had
a very successful career has completely gone a different direction and also
been quite successful.
Well, she's very talented.
You must be terribly proud of her.
I am.
She's very bright.
She never wears sequins like her mother.
So she dresses.
She's entirely different.
Her own person.
And I am very proud of her.
Do you ever run into Elizabeth Taylor?
No, because it's been too many years.
You know, we never, we were close friends.
Then when it all happened, so long ago, though, it's such a snore.
Who cares?
Is it a snore now?
It's a snore.
I think she's doing great.
I think she looks great.
And everybody's for a survivor.
It makes us always look at someone that gets over all of their adversities and
makes it
happen for themselves.
Life goes on.
Yeah, but, you know, she took husbands like Hitler going through Poland, don't
you think?
I mean...
You're really tacky, right?
No, she's doing great.
I'm proud of her, too.
I just think it's nice for women to survive all the crises that they have, and
men, too,
but it seems like women have more.
You tell me later what you're really thinking.
You and I can talk later, sweetheart.
Now, tell me, you're working in the area this weekend?
I am.
Donald O'Connor and I have a new act together, and we're at Trump's Plaza this
weekend, 13,
14, 15.
They were going on a little tour to everywhere, Milwaukee and Roanoke.
And you're enjoying things.
Your life is great.
Yeah, it's very good.
You look terrific.
Thank you very much, Debbie, for being here.
Thanks for having me.
Debbie, we'll be right back after station identification.
Our next guest is a legend of both stage and screen, and after taking a 25-year
break from starring in films,
she has returned to widespread acclaim in the motion picture mother.
Here she is, the lovely and ebullient Debbie Reynolds.
How you doing?
Fine.
You know, I was watching this movie, Mother, you and Albert Brooks.
What a lovely piece of work this is.
Thank you.
Are you proud of the film?
Yes, and surprised.
Albert picked me, and I haven't done a film, feature film.
25 years.
It's 27 years.
27 years.
Wow.
How many had you done before you took a quarter of a century off?
I've made like 42 or three films.
Wow.
So then you don't do any for a while.
You do other things.
Long time, I just hit the road.
Well, everything changed.
You know, musicals went out, comedies went out in my style that I did.
As far as I