Eddie Fisher
August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010
Edwin Jack “Eddie” Fisher was a popular teen idol in the 1950s. He knew he loved to sing from a young age and appeared in talent shows and local radio programs in his hometown of Philadelphia. He gained some national exposure after appearing on Eddie Cantor‘s radio show after Cantor saw Fisher perform in a Catskills resort. At the age of 22, Fisher was drafted and served in the Korean war. In the army, he once again gained fame as a singer and even made television appearances in uniform.
By the time he was out of the army, he had enough experience and notoriety that he easily booked famous nightclubs and, within a year, he had his own TV show.
It was the mid-’50s. Eddie Fisher was a successful singer with a growing pile of hit records. He was good looking. The ladies loved him. Who could ask for anything more?
Fisher met, dated and eventually married actress Debbie Reynolds. The power couple had 2 children together (including daughter, Carrie) but the marriage was anything but idyllic. Infidelity, gambling, and drugs all made life with Eddie a challenge. Settle in, it gets juicy. When Eddie’s best friend, producer Mike Todd, was killed in a 1958 plane crash, Fisher rushed to the side of Todd’s widow, Elizabeth Taylor, to comfort her. Taylor and Fisher began a romantic relationship. Reynolds didn’t like that. Hollywood tabloids, however, ate it up. Reynolds and Fisher got a divorce and he married Taylor the day it became official.
And that was just Fisher’s first two marriages.
He would marry an additional 3 times, including to singer/actress Connie Stevens, with whom he had daughter, Joely. He also claimed numerous affairs with a long list of famous women.
Fisher’s singing career never again hit the peak he had found in the ’50s, but he always found a way to entertain. Vegas residencies, ballroom shows, world-famous theaters…he played them all. He wrote two autobiographies: one recalling his music career, and the other maybe a little TOO detailed regarding his various love affairs.
Eddie broke his hip at the age of 82 and suffered complications following the surgery. He died 2 weeks after the fall. He was inurned next to his 5th wife, Betty, who had died 9 years prior.
Burial
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park – Colma, CA
Specific Location
West side, Mausoleum, Unit 8, Section 2, Tier 6, Niche G/H; On the back (southwest) side of the mausoleum, enter through the door on the left (not the main, central one) and walk until you reach the sign for “Unit 8, Sec. 2”. Turn right and find the wall of niches at the end of this hall on your right just before the red rose stained glass window. Eddie and his wife’s urns are right in the middle of this wall.
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