Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor: Friends After Eddie Fisher Feud

Debbie Reynolds has endured a notoriously difficult personal life. The actress' first marriage to Eddie Fisher ended in 1959 -- after four years and two children -- when Fisher left her for a widowed Elizabeth Taylor, despite the fact that the two women were close friends. While Reynolds was understandably livid -- for a while, at least -- she later welcomed Taylor back into her life, and the two remained lifelong friends. So we wondered: how the heck does a friendship bounce back from a betrayal as significant as that?

HuffPost Divorce had a chance to ask the iconic entertainer just that question Thursday at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, following a tour she hosted of never-before-displayed treasures from her massive collection of film memorabilia, set to go up for auction Saturday (Reynolds was in attendance as part of the day-long TedxWomen conference organized in conjunction with the Paley). Below, her candid comments:

Elizabeth Taylor ran off with your husband. You later became friends with her. You even have memorabilia from her films in your collection. How did you move past her betrayal?

Elizabeth and I were good friends when we were young -- 17. And then when we got older and Eddie [Fisher] left with Elizabeth, things changed, of course. But we wound up to be very good friends again, and laughed about it. Elizabeth was a very strong, powerful woman. When she saw something that she wanted, she got it. And that just happened to be my husband.

How do you get to that positive point with a friend after a situation like that? Did it have anything to do with the fact that you married and divorced twice more after splitting from Fisher?

You have to look at what life is all about, and is it worth it? And, is he worth it? The friendship was perhaps worth more. Divorce and marriage are very close. You read about it every day. Somebody splits up and they stay friends. Someone else splits up and they're terrible enemies and they kill each other. Well, that didn't happen in my life -- it was just a split -- and I was bright enough to know that I respected my friendship with Liz, and I felt that we both had something more to do with it other than being angry with each other.

Was there one moment you remember where you said, 'OK, we're over this?'

Yes. We got on the same boat to go to Europe -- the Queen Elizabeth. I sent a note to her and she sent a note to me in passing, and then we had dinner together. She was married to Richard Burton by then. I had been remarried at that point. And we just said, 'let's call it a day.' And we got smashed. And we had a great evening, and stayed friends since then.

So what did you learn from all of this?

I don't marry well. I make very bad choices!

Comments

[MissingAmerica]

08:25 PM on 12/12/2011

I had the good fortune of meeting this lovely lady in Las Vegas when I worked for a company that worked with her casino. She is a class act all the way, beautiful inside and out. Amazing that such a tiny frame can house such a huge spirit! Love you, Debbie!

[BlueKansas]

09:08 PM on 12/03/2011

She also screws up her kids. Have you seen Carrie Fisher's one-woman show about her life in the spotlight? There's a flowchart of all of her parents' relationships and she takes about a half hour to explain it, and it is hilarious...yet tragic.

[capt hastings]

12:11 AM on 12/09/2011

Absolutely right, hilarious and tragic - in that order. It's a great stand up show.

[visconti24]

08:45 PM on 12/03/2011

This is a bright woman who know how to live.

[SweetCarolineoftheForest]

04:41 PM on 12/03/2011

She seems so positive and down to earth. What a sweet lady!

[LMPE]

09:05 PM on 12/02/2011

Who hasn't made a bad choice?

[notaniceguy]

07:22 PM on 12/02/2011

She sucked it up pretty good..am not sure she should have

[DungBeetle]

08:03 AM on 12/02/2011

And you are?

[jefe]

06:20 AM on 12/02/2011

Hey Debbie I'm here if you want to continue the trend!

[tnlcallen]

05:06 AM on 12/02/2011

I saw her on "The Talk" a day or two ago, and she looks great. Hard to believe she will be 80. Interestingly enough, Debbie has aged well but her daughter Carrie Fisher has not. I saw Carrie recently, and she looked and sounded rough.

[Thomas Minot]

05:44 AM on 12/02/2011

How could it be hard to believe she is 80ish, she is a relic from the past. Get real. I like her but I am not stuck in a time warp. Carrie is fine, she seems intelligent enough to me. They are all part of our lives.

[pooka]

07:49 PM on 12/03/2011

She is not a relic. She's a human being who has shown amazing forgiveness and fortitude. She is a funny, brilliant actress. A terrific comedienne. From her youthful sweetness in "Tammy and The Bachelor" opposite Leslie Nielsen to the adorable kooky mom in Albert Brook's "Mother," Debbie Reynolds has always been a delight to watch and listen to - she has a lovely singing voice. Long may she live. And she's still cute!

[Theda]

01:47 AM on 12/05/2011

I like Debbie too, but she still talks endlessly about how Liz stole her husband in....what, 1957 or 1958?
I liked her in Kevin Kline's movie, "In and Out," and in the Albert Brooks film, "Mother."
Debbie talks too much about the past---I like her better when she does contemporary film roles.
Carrie Fisher should also drop the old Hollywood gossip. No one cares anymore that Liz and her dad had an affair and brief marriage in 1959. When Eddie Fisher died early this year, it barely made the news----no one knows or cares anymore.

[termgirl]

04:39 AM on 12/02/2011

Before Debbie made "Singing in the Rain,"
she was not a dancer.
The fact that she held her own with Gene Kelly is a real testimony to her inate talent and hard work.
I admire her on many levels.

[MomWithTwoHeads]

03:57 AM on 12/02/2011

I love this classy, intelligent, talented lady. I'm so happy for her that she is getting some deserved security by selling all her collection, as that was obviously a difficult decision. But the right one.

I will always dream of how awesome that would have been, had all those items been displayed in a proper museum for the public. Her dream was so worthy, and the fact that she struggled for thirty years and worked like a horse to make it happen, with her legendary work ethic, is a model for everyone.

[mullersga]

10:29 AM on 12/03/2011

I love Debbie! She's a class act!

[Vapula]

03:18 AM on 12/02/2011

I am so very glad that she has told us all that. I couldn't give a flying .... about her life. Many, in fact, most people have a worse life than she has and they don't whine and complain. She should make friends with Bachman they are both self centered. The Sun rises and sets for us all. Pity Reynolds never knew that.

[ConnerMcMaub]

04:27 AM on 12/02/2011

You obviously cared enough to read the article and leave an off topic hate filled comment. Dude, there are better targets than Debbie Reynolds for you anger. Do you even know who she is?

[Theda]

04:37 AM on 12/02/2011

This isn't a new story. Debbie has said it many times in many interviews. Her daughter Carrie also repeats the same personal stories, over and over again. They each do separate one-woman shows with the same theme.

[denroth1]

03:13 AM on 12/02/2011

I had the honor and good fortune to work with Debbie in the Broadway show "Irene" in '73. She had just divorced Harry Karl, who had left her in debt after gambling away all of his and HER money.

Rather than declaring bankruptcy, she worked her butt off to pay back every one of Harry's debts.

She's a truly classy lady and I'll always love, respect and admire this beautiful woman.

[clivechristy]

02:57 AM on 12/02/2011

I doubt many people could let go of such publicly paraded pain and suffering. Most people would struggle to get through it in private. It's testimony to an inner fortitude, it also helps that she has a sense of humor.

[ccc4slp]

12:14 AM on 12/02/2011

Wow, only a true actress could down play the pain she and those children must have felt at the time!
Whatever sweetheart! Reality, you might want to try it!