End Credits #58: 2016 Lost Treasures Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher / Capturing a Golden Moment #17: Singin' in the Rain

These are some of Cinema's sad departures of 2016 taken from my personal notes soon after the events took place: 

In a shocking turn of events, Debbie Reynolds, who had to endure the sudden devastating loss of her daughter Carrie Fisher just 1 day earlier, dies herself at the age of 84. Her Facebook statement read: "Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love Carrie's Mother.”

Carrie Fisher was most famously the spirited Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. Her brief but striking film debut occurred in Hal Ashby's Shampoo. She also appeared in The Blues Brothers, Hannah and Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally and wrote the adapted screenplay from her own book Postcards from the Edge. More recent appearances were in Scream 3, Heartbreakers, Wonderland, and reprising her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the still unreleased Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi. Her's is another most sudden and tragic loss. Carrie Fisher (October 21, 1956 - December 27, 2016) R.I.P.  

Debbie Reynolds was an enormous star of Hollywood's Golden era. She famously danced alongside Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor in cinema's greatest musical Singin' in the Rain and gave an Academy Award-nominated performance in 1964's The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Reynolds' effervescent personality graced numerous other light comedies and musicals throughout the 50s and 60s such as Hit the Deck, The Tender Trap, The Catered Affair, Tammy and the Bachelor, The Rat Race, The Singing Nun, Divorce American Style, and How Sweet It Is! She also lent her energetic talent to the western How the West Was Won, Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth, and in 1996 played the title character in Albert Brooks' delightful comedy/drama Mother, amongst many other film and TV roles. She was so full of vitality, charm and style. Her passing is yet another staggeringly huge loss for cinema lovers the world over, not to mention the unimaginable grief suffered by her family and close friends. Our sincerest condolences to all. Debbie Reynolds (April 1, 1932 - December 28, 2016) R.I.P.

In honour of actor Debbie Reynolds, here is a Golden Moment to share:

Singin' In the Rain (1952)

Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Scene: "Good Morning"

At age 19, Debbie Reynolds had to arise at 4 am to commute on 3 different buses to get to the studio, was reduced to tears on a daily basis by taskmaster Gene Kelly, endured long workdays occasionally running to 19 hours, and after performing this particular number, bleeding feet.