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

Concordia Cemetery and Spaghetti Bowl

The picture shows the "Spaghetti Bowl", the crossing ...

African Methodist Church

The picture shows the African Methodist Church building in El ...

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

concordia cementery

Buffalo Soldier Memorial

The memorial has 42 engraved granite markers and hundreds of ...

"The Spaghetti Bowl"

The picture shows the intersection of freeways on the Eastside, ...

Reenactment of J. W. Hardin

In this picture, Curtis Flynn portrays John Wesley Hardin for ...

Concordia Cemetery

The cemetery had its beginnings as a ranch settled by pioneer ...

John Wesley Hardin’s Grave Site

The picture shows the grave site of the gunfighter John Wesley ...

John Wesley Hardin's Grave Site

The image shows the top of John Wesley Hardin's grave site ...

Concordia's Chinese Cemetery

The picture shows graves at Concordia's Chinese Cemetery. ...

Reenactment of J. W. Hardin

In this picture, Curtis Flynn portrays John Wesley Hardin for ...

J. J. Armes

J.J. Armes in his office.

J. J. Armes

Helping others--J. J. Armes helping others.

J. J. Armes

Helping others--J. J. Armes helping others.

J. J. Armes

J. J. Armes in his office.

McCall Neighborhood Center, El Paso, TX, circa 1985

The McCall Neighborhood Center was the home of Marshall McCall ...

McCall Day Center board

The image shows the McCall Day Center board in the 1940s. ...

Star along Grant Ave

Wanting pictures of the mountain’s star with Christmas lights ...

Star from Grant Ave

Wanting pictures of the mountain’s star with Christmas lights ...

What a view

A look at the Franklin Mountains from 100' above I-10 and ...

home.search_collection