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A beloved star of many classic Hollywood musicals, Academy Award nominee Debbie Reynolds would have been 94 this Wednesday. A native of El Paso, Texas, Mary Frances Reynolds moved with her family to California when she was seven. After winning the title of Miss Burbank 1948 while in high school, she was pursued by both MGM and Warner Bros. Warners won a coin toss and signed her to a contract, but after two films the studio shut down its musicals unit (after Jack Warner changed her name to Debbie), so she moved to Metro. There the perky blonde became one of MGM’s most popular musical stars, with roles in such movies as Singin’ in the Rain, Athena, and Hit the Deck.
Reynolds showed her comedic abilities in Bundle of Joy (made with then-husband Eddie Fisher), Tammy and the Bachelor, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination. She also appeared in dramas (The Singing Nun), horror (What’s the Matter with Helen?), and voiced a sympathetic spider in the cartoon adaptation of Charlotte’s Web. Later turns in Mother and In and Out introduced Debbie to a new generation of fans. Sadly, she would pass away at 84 of complications from a stroke in December of 2016, one day after the death of her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher.
In this week’s poll, we’d like to know which of Debbie’s movie roles is your favorite. Check out our list of her top 20 performances below, and feel free to tell us in the comments if we overlooked your choice.