Singer, Serial Star Romancer Eddie Fisher Dies

Crooner's famous spouses included Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens

By Natalie Finn Sep 24, 2010 4:24 AMTags
Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie FisherBettmann

Eddie Fisher was known for his scandalous love life just as much as, if not more than, the voice that made him a star.

The singer, who was married five times and in 1958 divorced Debbie Reynolds to hook up with Elizabeth Taylor, died Wednesday night at a Berkeley hospital of complications following hip surgery. He was 82.

Fisher's major hits as a crooner included the standards "Thinking of You," "Any Time" and "I'm Yours." But it was the stories that inspired his 1999 autobiography Been There, Done That that set Hollywood tabloids ablaze for decades afterward.

Fisher, one of seven children born to a Philadelphia grocer, moved to New York as a teenager to pursue a singing career. He sold millions of records and became a favorite among the teenybopper set.

He tied the knot with Singin' in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds in 1955. They had two children, Todd and Carrie Fisher, and were tauted as "America's Favorite Couple."

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Until Fisher's buddy, film and theater producer Mike Todd, was killed in a plane crash, that is. Fisher fell in love with Todd's grieving widow, Elizabeth Taylor. They were married in May 1959 after he secured a quickie divorce from Reynolds.

Carrie Fisher was reportedly furious with her father over the things he wrote about Reynolds in Been There, Done That, in which he stated that her wholesome image was a careful construct.

"Debbie's whole life has been an act," Fisher wrote (and that was one of the nicer sentiments). Carrie Fisher, for her part, threatened for a time to change her last name to Reynolds.

Taylor famously converted to Judaism for Fisher, who had a small role in Butterfield 8, for which she won an Oscar, but Liz ultimately left him for Richard Burton. (And the rest of that is history.)

Fisher married Connie Stevens in 1967, resulting in the arrival of daughters Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher, but they were done two years later.

The singer, who branched out into acting but never found the same success as he had selling records, was also linked to Judy Garland and Ann-Margret.

"All those romances took too much energy," Fisher told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. "But before you do anything, you've got to work. Romance is for kids. There are times when everything is perfect, but it doesn't last."

He was married to fourth wife Terry Richards, a 21-year-old beauty queen, for a matter of months, then settled down with Betty Lin, who he stayed married to from 1993 until her death in 2001.

"Late last evening the world lost a true America icon," Fisher's family said in a statement Thursday. "One of the greatest voices of the century passed away. He was an extraordinary talent and a true mensch."

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Pay tribute to other talents lost this year in our Fallen Stars 2010 gallery.