Eddie Fisher, one of those who grew famous -- and infamous -- from pop culture fame, has died at 82. He was a swoon-inducing singer in the 1950's and married America's sweetheart, Debbie Reynolds, but then dropped her for the sultry actress, Elizabeth Taylor. The scandal surrounding that marriage -- and the drugs and other bad behavior -- ruined his singing career. He even lost Liz, to actor Richard Burton.
Fisher chronicled his stormy life in two tell-all autobiographies -- "Eddie: My Life, My Loves" (1984) and "Been There, Done That" (2001). He grew up poor in Philly, but rode his golden voice to stardom, with songs such as "Thinking of You," ''Oh, My Pa-pa," and ''I'm Yours." (You can get a flavor from the YouTube videos of his TV show: "Coke Time.") Then came Debbie -- and Liz, the widow of best friend Mike Todd.
But that ill-fated marriage to Reynolds did produce something great: Carrie Fisher, who went on to play Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies and then became the best-selling author of "Postcards From the Edge" and other books.
It's amazing that his career arc ran from tutoring by Eddie Cantor, through the era of Elvis and the Beatles, and into Star Wars.
