The Unsinkable Debbie Reynolds
The Hollywood star of the 1950s didn't so much act as sell - she sold happiness, pragmatic romance, professional stardom
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NOBODY like Debbie Reynolds is ever happening at the movies again. Who will be as plucky? Who will work as hard to stay as morally pure? Who the hell is gonna be named Debbie? These days, when we talk about "showbiz", we have to adjust for deflation, because it just doesn't mean as much as it did when Reynolds was a star.
We've all been happy to be at the movies. She always seemed happy to be in the movies. She never ceased to be thrilled to be herself. Reynolds, who died on Wednesday, didn't so much act as sell - she sold happiness, she sold pragmatic romance, she sold professional stardom.
If you were a certain kind of female Hollywood performer in the 1950s, you pushed corniness. But over and over, Reynolds rose to the challenge of making that corniness seem like a form of patriotism.
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