“Forgotten Hollywood”- Debbie Reynolds to be Honored…

Posted on August 18, 2014 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

thecollection_title-150x150  <–DEBBIE REYNOLDS – actor, singer, dancer, author, champion for the preservation of the artifacts of film history, and understanding and treatment of mental illness – has been named the 51st recipient of SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor: SAG Life Achievement Award for career and humanitarian accomplishment. Given annually to a  legendary actor who fosters the finest ideals of the acting profession, the union’s highest accolade will be presented to Oscar, Emmy, and Tony-nominated Reynolds at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January. 25th, 2015.

   Star of more than 50 motion pictures, two Broadway shows, two television series, as well as dozens of cabaret and concert appearances, here and abroad, the 82-year-old Reynolds is celebrating her 66th year in show business. Debbie made iconic films, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award  for her title role performance; and the Cinerama epic, How the West Was Won.

Thalians logo

   In 1955, Reynolds, along with Jack Haley Jr., Hugh O’Brian, and others, founded a charity to fight the stigma of mental illness, calling themselves The Thalians, after the goddess of comedy, Thalia. Over nearly 60 years, The Thalians have raised over $30 million, endowing The Thalians’ Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. When the center’s priorities shifted to other types of illnesses, The Thalians moved to UCLA’s Operation Mend, which provides medical and mental health support to returning wounded military personnel. Reynolds was elected The Thalians’ president in 1957, and for many years alternated between that role and the chair of the board with Ruta Lee, and currently serves as the organization’s president emeritus. Reynolds has also been a lifelong supporter and fundraiser for the Girl Scouts.

   Reynolds other abiding passion has been the collection and preservation of memorabilia from Hollywood’s first half-century of filmmaking. Beginning with the landmark 1970 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer auction, she amassed thousands of costumes, props, and mementos of Hollywood’s studios and their greatest stars, building the largest individual collection of Hollywood memorabilia, including Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch, Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress and Richard Burton’s costume from Cleopatra, and Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot gown from My Fair Lady. While the collection was showcased at Reynolds’ Las Vegas hotel in the 1990’s, sadly, after numerous attempts over 50 years to establish a Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Museum to give the collection a permanent home, Reynolds sold the memorabilia to private collectors at a series of auctions in between 2011 and 2014.

   Congratulations to the Unsinkable Debbie Reynolds on her latest accolade…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2014 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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