He claimed that he only went on to marry Liz Taylor as she had pursued him so relentlessly and was more of a nursemaid than husband. He released a searing version of his earlier book, in which he ungallantly called Reynolds ‘self-centred, totally driven, insecure, untruthful and phony’. She eventually became friends with Liz Taylor and her daughter Carrie wrote a film for the pair called ‘These Old Broads’ in which the characters vilified a common ex-husband.įisher considered this unforgivable and devoted his last years to setting the record straight. His first wife, Debbie Reynolds never forgave him for abandoning her and their children. An attempted comeback in 1983 failed, as his old fans had been turned off by an endless series of scandals.įisher finally kicked the habit with the help of his fifth wife, a wealthy Chinese woman, who died in 2001 leaving him £15 million.īut his other ex-wives came back to haunt him. Having earned upwards of £15million during his singing career, Fisher had spent it all. Carrie wrote a film for her mother Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor about two women who vilified a common ex-husband Condemned to taking jobs in small venues to fund his habit, he found himself unable to remember the words of songs.Ĭarrie Fisher with her father Eddie. In his biography, he also confessed to a drug addiction that lasted nearly 40 years - blaming the use of cocaine for the decline in his career. This was followed, when he was 50, by a ten-month marriage to a 21-year-old beauty queen. In time, he married singer Connie Stevens, with whom he had two children. He claimed that being married to Liz Taylor had improved his sex life: everyone assumed he must have something special to have ensnared such a legendary beauty. She picked JFK.įisher also had romances with dancer Juliet Prowse, Kim Novak and Frank Sinatra’s future wife Mia Farrow. But he shared her affection with none other than President Kennedy and Fisher demanded she choose between them. That is, until he spotted singer-dancer Ann-Margret on television and invited her to perform alongside him. He was so heartbroken that he thought he would never fall in love again. He didn’t see his wife again for two years, though he bought a gun and said he seriously considered killing Burton. Soon after, however, Fisher packed his bags and left for New York. He gave them to her in their bedroom, he said, because the sex was always better when he had given her a gift. When Taylor took an overdose, he helped her in hospital and gave her a ten-carat yellow diamond ring for her 30th birthday and a mirror set with emeralds. Yet Fisher still refused to see their marriage was doomed. That night in bed he asked Taylor: ‘Is something going on between you and Burton?’ and she whispered: ‘Yes.’ Then came the night Taylor and Burton were snuggled up after dinner as Fisher knocked back glasses of the cocktail Ivan the Terrible - a mixture of vodka, grappa and ouzo. He never came home, and they married in 1959.Įven when he finally suspected they had slept together, he passed off the affair as an ‘on-set romance’. Taylor was married to Fisher’s best friend, producer Mike Todd, and the two couples spent much time together. When Todd was killed in a plane crash in 1958, Reynolds sent her husband to comfort the distraught Taylor. He claimed to have been initiated into sex by Marlene Dietrich in her mirrored bathroom - though she was 27 years older than him.īut in 1955, at the height of his career, Fisher settled down with Debbie Reynolds and they became Hollywood’s favourite couple - until Liz Taylor came along. He quickly became one of the earliest teen idols. He won several talent contests and his father referred to him as ‘Sonny Boy’ after the Al Jolson hit record. It caused a huge scandal in Hollywood and compounded Fisher’s reputation (he also seduced a string of stars including Joan Crawford, Edith Piaf and Zsa Zsa Gabor).īorn in Pennsylvania in 1928, the son of poor Russian-born Jewish immigrants, Fisher’s bell-like melodic voice was obvious in childhood. His first wife, Debbie Reynolds, was the much-loved star of Singing In The Rain (their daughter Carrie went on to make her name playing Princess Leia in Star Wars) and then there was Liz Taylor, who in 1959 stole Fisher from all-American sweetheart Debbie. Mr Fisher was reluctant to admit that his wife was having an affair with Richard Burtonįive-times married Fisher, who has died aged 82 at his home in California of complications from hip surgery, was famous for the women in his life. Happy couple? Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher married in 1959.
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