Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412190006
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
She was doing a guest stint as the visiting mother of the Chappel sisters (Crystal Bernard and Amy Yasbeck). While the other actors read their lines from the script, Reynolds recited hers from memory. That old MGM training, you know.
The rehearsal over, Reynolds retired to her dressing room trailer outside the stage. At 62 she seemed as brisk and alert as ever despite frequent commutes from her home in Las Vegas.
``I got a call from my agent saying they wanted me to play the mother of these girls on `Wings,''' she said. ``I guess the girls didn't have a mother; they just were optioned by `Wings.' Six years with no mom? I can't believe that. So I arrived just in time for the stork; the girls are grown, so it's an easy birth.
``I signed to do other guest shots if they like it. If they want an occasional `Mom,' I can do it. But I can't do a regular show. I'm too committed to Vegas. I have my total investment there, my retirement. That's where I want to be.''
To the dismay of her advisers, some members of her family and a host of others, Reynolds two years ago invested all her money in an aging hotel-casino off the main drag, the Paddlewheel. The reason: to fulfill her longtime dream of establishing a museum dedicated to Hollywood's rich past. Over the last quarter century, she has invested a fortune to buy up costumes, props and other memorabilia that were sold off by studios.
``It's been 25 years since MGM had the first auction,'' she said. ``I could never find a home for my collection, so I bought my own place. That's where we're going to open the first motion picture museum in America in January.''
Her eyes brightened as she described the place. Visitors will start in an 80-seat, high-tech theater to watch 30 minutes of film clips. An onstage carousel will revolve to reveal scenes from ``Mutiny on the Bounty,'' ``Ben-Hur,'' ``Gigi,'' ``Marie Antoinette'' and other films.
Two other stages will contain scenes from ``Mogambo,'' ``The Bridge on the River Kwai,'' ``Easter Parade'' and others. Then comes a walk-through displaying costumes of Mary Pickford, Laurel and Hardy and other stars from the silents to the '70s.
``I didn't want a hotel, I wanted a museum,'' Reynolds explained. ``But the museum came with a hotel. It's eight acres, 12 floors, 200 rooms, a casino, two restaurants, and a new theater that I built. [The theater] is wine color, very beautiful, seats 540 people.
``We're sold out every night in the theater, and I've been working the two-hour show for two years straight Oct. 9. I took two weeks off. I wanted to get the museum open, and when that happens, I'm talking to other performers about helping out. I want to start building a family so I can take off a month here, a month there.
``When I bought the property, I did shows in the lobby, two shows a day for free, just to get people to know the property was different. It wasn't the old Paddlewheel with old crummy rooms and the old restaurant. I had motion picture memorabilia all over: the `Good Earth' furniture, Harold Lloyd's Steinway, the beautiful table from `Camille,' `Cleopatra's' stuff.
``I have both `Cleopatras,' the original with Claudette Colbert and the one with Elizabeth [Taylor] and Richard Burton.''
With a stubborn sense of survival born of her poor El Paso, Texas, childhood, Reynolds has come through a lifetime of crises: the betrayal by first husband Eddie Fisher, who ran off with Taylor; the perfidy of second husband Harry Karl, who gambled away his and her money; the years of back-breaking work to recover her fortunes.
No wonder she scored her biggest success as ``The Unsinkable Molly Brown.''
Nor could the odds sink her dream of The Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Movie Museum. After paying $2 million for the sinking Paddlewheel, she needed millions more to rebuild it. Among her resources: daughter Carrie Fisher, who lent her money; son Todd, who devoted two years to designing the theater, museum, sound and lighting systems.
A casualty of the Reynolds Las Vegas adventure was her marriage to real estate developer Richard Hamlett of Roanoke.
``I'm separated, and we'll be getting a divorce,'' she said. ``My life will be in my work and my family.
``Marriage again? I don't care for it. I'd like to spend the time with my family, including my granddaughter, Billie Catherine [Carrie's daughter by agent Bryan Lourd, from whom she is now separated].
``My schedule really is packed. I love performing, and my work lasts. Marriages do not last. I obviously have no taste in men and make horrendous decisions. So it's better not to make any anymore.''
by CNB