Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Raynolds

Debbie Reynolds

This is a photo of Debbie Reynolds during the 1960s. "Reynolds was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas on April 1, 1932 the second child of Maxine N. (née Harmon; 1913–1999) and Raymond Francis Reynolds (1903–1986), who was a carpenter for the Southern Pacific Railroad. She has a Scottish-Irish and English ancestry." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Reynolds "EL PASO -- Debbie Reynolds hasn't been back to El Paso in nearly 60 years (until the year 2010), so her memories of the dusty little town where she was born are sketchy. "It will be shocking," she said. "Everybody tells me it's now a metropolis with tall buildings. I remember walking down the street and tumbleweeds followed me." Her memories of El Paso are vague and bittersweet. "I always felt very fortunate, but understand when I say it was not a pleasant experience, that it wasn't easy for me," she said, noting that her family had to scrape by during the tough, Depression-era economy. El Paso city directories from 1931 to 1939 list several addresses for the Reynolds, including 815 N. San Marcial, where they lived with her maternal grandparents, Owen and Maxine Harman. The Reynolds family also lived at 3117 N. Piedras and 2208 Erie before living for five years at the Magnolia address. Magnolia Street holds the most memories for Reynolds, though she doesn't recall the short time she spent at Houston Grammar School, now the recently closed Houston Elementary School. Reynolds credits those hard times and her family's hard-work ethic for her success and a career that is still active 62 years since she started. She starred in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown "(1964), a biographical film about the famously boisterous Margaret Brown, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1973 Reynolds was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in "Irene". She was also nominated for an Emmy Award for playing Grace's mother on "Will & Grace", and recently landed the role of a grandmother in Katherine Heigl's next movie, "One for the Money." "I made it. I came from a tough family," she said. "I guess they build 'em tough in El Paso." http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15649924

Area: Central / Five Points

Source: UTEP Special Collections

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Martin Luther King Celebration - 2016

The McCall Neighborhood Center is the epicenter meeting and ...

Railroad Tracks - El Paso, Texas

Railroad tracks along Memorial Park in El Paso, Texas. Arrival ...

Grant Murphy, Emma Bair Murphy, El Paso, TX 1939

Native El Pasoans Grant Murphy, 19, and Emma Bair, 15, Easter ...

Patricia Ann Krause

Patrica Ann Krause representing the Woman's Club in the El Paso ...

FERNANDO VILLELA - FAMILIA

FERNANDO VILLELA - FAMILIA Rosa y Nando (Front) Stephanie, ...

FERNANDO VILLELA'S SON - MICHAEL VILLELA, RETIRED 1SG, US ARMY

MICHAEL VILLELA RETURNS HOME TO HIS FAMILY AFTER HIS WAR ...

Fernando Villela HIS SON VILLELA, RETIREMENT

FERNANDO VILLELA'S SON - MICHAEL VILLELA, RETIRED 1SG, US ARMY - ...

FERNANDO VILLELA'S SON - SFC ERIK VILLELA IN WASHINGTON D.C.

FERNANDO VILLELA'S SON - SFC VILLELA IN WASHINGTON D.C.

FERNANDO VILLELA'S 70TH BIRTHDAY - APRIL 5, 2016

FERNANDO VILLELA'S 70TH BIRTHDAY - APRIL 5, 2016 CELEBRATED ...

FERNANDO VILLELA'S SON - FERNIE, ROTO ROOTER MASTER SPECIALIST

FERNANDO VILLELA'S SON - FERNIE, ROTO ROOTER MASTER SPECIALIST ...

FERNANDO VILLELA SR & FERNIE JR & FERNIE III

FERNANDO VILLELA SR & FERNIE JR & FERNIE III

FERNANDO VILLELA - ROSA WITH STEPHANIE & FERNIE

FERNANDO VILLELA - ROSA WITH STEPHANIE & FERNIE

FERNANDO VILLELA'S - FIRST BORN DAUGHTER - STEPHANIE VILLELA

FERNANDO VILLELA'S - FIRST BORN DAUGHTER - STEPHANIE VILLELA

FERNANDO VILLELA'S - DAUGHTER STEPHANIE - UNIQUE SALON

FERNANDO VILLELA'S - DAUGHTER STEPHANIE - UNIQUE SALON ...

Zorah, Eula and Lena Sparks

Zorah Pope Sparks with two of her seven daughters

Sparks Cousins - 1950 - 1959

Mike, Sissy, Tim, Tinnie Sue, Glenda, Patricia

Operation School Bell®

Children who go to school without adequate clothing often suffer ...

Operation School Bell®

Children receive a new jacket.

Operation School Bell®

Children leave with a weeks worth of school clothes.

PASO (Put A Smile On) Bears®

Each year Assistance League® of El Paso provides 500 bears to ...

PASO (Put A Smile On) Bears®

Bears are given to El Paso Police Department.

PASO (Put A Smile On) Bears®

Each year Assistance League® of El Paso provides 500 bears to ...

PASO (Put A Smile On) Bears®

Assistance League® provides bears to El Paso Firefighters.

home.search_collection