Stars visit homes of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher for reported funeral
A parade of somber stars visited the next-door homes of Debbie Reynolds and daughter Carrie Fisher on a gloomy Thursday afternoon amid reports that a private memorial was scheduled at the compound to mourn the late actresses. Meryl Streep, Meg Ryan, Ellen Barkin and Ed Begley Jr. were among those entering the property in the Coldwater Canyon area of Los Angeles.
Media, private security and police assembled on the street outside of the homes, which are tucked away at the end of a long driveway and hidden by trees and shrubs in the tony neighborhood just north of Beverly Hills.
Streep, who starred in the adaptation of Fisher’s semi-autobiographical novel “Postcards from the Edge,” was carrying white flowers as she walked up the driveway, choosing to ignore questions from the media gathered on the street. Streep knew both mother and daughter — she had presented Reynolds with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the film academy’s Governors Awards in 2015.
Also visiting the compound Thursday were Jamie Lee Curtis, who stars with Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, on TV’s “Scream Queens,” and Eric Idle, a friend of Fisher’s who rented her his home during the filming of “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Though Carrie Fisher is best known as Princess Leia from Star Wars, she has performed in many other acting roles and has had a successful career as a book author and screenplay doctor.
Fisher and Reynolds died last week, one day apart, casting a pall over Hollywood’s annual holiday break. Fisher, 60, an actress and writer who starred as Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, died Dec. 27 after suffering a medical emergency Dec. 23 aboard a flight from London. Reynolds, 84, an Oscar-nominated actress who shot to fame after starring in “Singin’ in the Rain” at age 19, died Dec. 28 after being briefly hospitalized.
“She said, ‘I want to be with Carrie,’” Reynolds’ son, Todd Fisher, told the Associated Press. “And then she was gone.”
From 1950 to 1967, Debbie Reynolds appeared in more than 30 movie musicals and light comedies.
Fisher and Reynolds will be buried together at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, reportedly on Friday. The sprawling location is the resting place of numerous celebrities, including Lucille Ball, Dick Van Patten, Liberace, Florence Henderson, David Carradine and Bette Davis.
Todd Fisher and other family representatives did not immediately respond to requests for further details about the memorial and burial services.
Lourd, 24, made her first public comment on the deaths of her mother and grandmother on Instagram on Monday.
“Receiving all of your prayers and kind words over the past week has given me strength during a time I thought strength could not exist,” Lourd wrote under a picture of the three women. “There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my one and only Momby.”
People inside and outside of show business have continued to mourn the two Hollywood legends. Last week, fans created an impromptu star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame for Fisher, and peers including “Star Wars’” Mark Hamill have written heartfelt tributes.
HBO bumped up plans to air the new Fisher Stevens-directed documentary about the mother, daughter duo, “Bright Lights,” which is now set to air Saturday.
Elsewhere Thursday, Broadway theaters announced plans to dim their marquee lights Friday night. The Broadway League says the lights will be dimmed for one minute at 7:45 p.m.
Reynolds and Fisher both made their Broadway debuts in 1973 in the musical comedy revival of “Irene,” which earned Reynolds a Tony Award nomination. She also appeared on Broadway in “Woman of the Year” and the musical revue “Debbie.”
Fisher’s Broadway credits include her one-woman show “Wishful Drinking,” ’’Agnes of God” and “Censored Scenes From King Kong.”
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