Mary Frances Reynolds, AKA Debbie
Debbie Reynolds was born on the 1st day of April 1932 in El Paso, Texas, to Minnie and Ray Reynolds. Debbie grew up in poverty. She described living in a shack in El Paso and their poverty like this:
“ We may have been poor, but we always had something to eat, even if Dad had to go out in the desert and shoot jackrabbits.”
Debbie was raised in the Nazarene Church, which her domineering mother attended. In 1939, her parents moved to Burbank, California. She attended high school in Burbank. At 16, she won the Miss Burbank contest; the rest is history. Jack Warner gave her the moniker Debbie, and I’m tempted to believe it was because she looked like the all-American girl, so he gave her a name that spoke to that. The year before I was born, Debbie saddled me with a name and song. She made a movie called “Tammy and the Batchelor.” As a result, I lived with the nickname Tammy and the song Tammy until my father died in 2020.
Debbie was multi-talented and highly dedicated to her art, but at heart, she was happy with simple things. Her children meant the world to her, as demonstrated by her following Carrie in death a mere 24 hours after Carrie passed. Her family was her life, and acting was her job. But in her childhood, Debbie was under the thumb of a domineering mother who left a deep and lasting scar on her daughter's heart. Debbie made great efforts never to emulate her mother. She did it by being there for her children and providing for them in a way she was never provided for.
In May of1961, Debbie began filming “How the West Was Won,” shooting wrapped up in November of 1961. She didn’t know when she started filming that she would befriend and enrapture her costar, Agnes Moorehead. There are stories about how they became fast friends, but the gist of it is Debbie walked up to Agnes and announced she wanted to be her friend and was greeted with, ‘And so you shall be” from Agnes. The rest is history. 500 volumes of history full of rumors, truths, and outright storytelling. People have been arguing over the nature of the relationship for 63 years. So much time has been spent trying to figure out the answer to the question. I believe the primary objective of the question has been lost in the argument. First, let me say that I have preached through two blogs now that the only people who can answer the question are dead, and all we can do is speculate. Why bother to speculate? Because human beings love a mystery. How do you solve a mystery? Investigate.
That investigation led to this letter:
Jan 1967 4:00 a.m. Phew!!
Dear Aunt Agnes
How we miss seeing you and being with our girl!
All the little ones are here this weekend, so things should really hum for a few days.
Kathie Archer is visiting with Carrie this weekend so Tina is sleeping with me, so as to avoid any little scenes.
Little Darlings
So far, Mother ( that’s me) is holding up and looking forward to the end of the sixth week. Not that it is unpleasant. It’s just that it is another world for me. Brother, the hours–Ah well, that’s Show Biz !!!
Harry has had a cold so he didn’t make it this time. Poor fella, he’s really had a time of it.
Agnes, thank you again for all of our Christmas goodies. I adore my cigarette or what have you dish. It’s divine and dear like you!
Love you and miss you!
Debala
It’s a charming letter, and it’s addressed to Aunt Agnes. That is odd since Debbie wrote it, but I’ll take it at face value. I was satisfied with it when I read it. A kind note to a dear friend. But then, along with the letter mentioned above in the archive, I found this:
Saratoga, California
Feb. 17, 1960
Dear Vampers Julie,
You were not too hard and brassy for an old-time lady of the tights.
The nostalgic loneliness is not overplayed
Costuming beautiful and becoming, feminine hair-do
Carrie and I went along.
I mainly glory in how well you look–nice round arms–lovely neck and shoulders.
Perfect foil for impressive low-cut gowns.
Just hope that on some Spring blossom day, you and family can arrive for a picnic.
Mayhaps a poesie we might find on a hillside
Aloha to you all
Topsy
The same person wrote these. I can tell because they are handwritten, and when you look at Carrie on one, you see Carrie on the other—most, if not all, of the capital letters march. Two things come to mind. The first is, what the hell did I just read? The second is it’s the same person. I know that Debbie Reynolds handwrote the first letter, and the handwriting on the second is identical to the handwriting on the first. It’s problematic because of the dates.
They didn’t meet on “How The West Was Won” because the letter is dated 1960, and they didn’t meet until 1961 or became friends during the casting and read-throughs.
That their communications are coded.
We all got played. Hard played.
Why was a story concocted?
What are they trying to hide?
What the actual hell is a “Vampers Julie?”
Why is a single line on the bottom deliberately marked out in a different color ink?
I challenge each person to read it and interpret it as they think it is, but I got the same kind of letter from a woman 33 years my senior, and I get every single bit of it. I don’t know the truth, but I know what all this feels like; I’ve been there. The words are fact; they exist, and it cannot be denied that the same person wrote them. What does that mean? I don’t know any more than you.
I just know that in one of Debbie's biography's she addresses this issue. She said, "I am NOT a lesbian. The gays like me, and I'm grateful. But that isn't me. But who knows.
ReplyDeleteThis is why explained romantic friendship. It doesn't make anybody anything except there is a deep emotional bond that goes beyond physicality. The point is make up your own mind and call it whatever you like and everyone is free to do that.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think there's no doubt both Debbie R. and Tanya Hill had deep emotional bonds with Agnes. I mean, bits in Debbie's biographies that deal with Agnes sound heartfelt and genuine - for heaven's sake, she admits to feeling her presence after her death and imagining discussions she'd have with her about things that bothered her. I've also read numerous interviews with her over the decades following Agnes' death where the authors mention her having Agnes' picture on display with the family pictures or a painted portrait of Agnes hanging in her office. She really loved her.
DeleteI also agree that both Debbie and Agnes could understand and acknowledge such a bond only in Victorian terms due to their backgrounds. They both hailed from lower middle class, religious, conservative families in which lesbianism wasn't something you could even contemplate. That privilege was reserved for women from liberal, upper class families, like Tallulah Bankhead or Katharine Hepburn, or underclasses, as neither had reasons to fear marginalization. Or European libertines like Dietrich or Nazimova who didn't need to conform to American puritan values. What I'm trying to say, I don't think either Agnes or Debbie were ever able to even contemplate such a possibility due to being deeply entrenched in the values and mores they were raised in.
Debbie also said that after Aggie passed on, she had two of Aggie's lamps in her living room. One at each end of her sofa. People who pass on, sometimes go back to where they feel comfortable. Aggie obviously felt comfortable at Debbie's when she was invited there for dinner or whatever.
DeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteI was on a Facebook page with something to do with Aggie, and someone had visited her grave, and left a note. by what it said, I thought it was very crass.. but someone said they had removed it for the very same reason. I did cut and paste it to my computer a photo copy of the note. Nobody can figure out who wrote it. I guess it was done within the last yr. or two.. but my theory is, that anyone Aggie knew would be gone like Aggie. They had good hand writing though. I didn't know if you wanted to take a look at it to see if it matches anything you may have to figure it out or not. If not that's okay. but if so.. just tell me. Have a marvelous day! :)
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