Family, friends and movie stars gathered Thursday to say goodbye to actress Carrie Fisher and her mother, Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, at a private memorial service at the Beverly Hills compound where the two lived next door to each other.
Meryl Streep, Meg Ryan, Ellen Barkin and Ed Begley Jr. were among those entering the property in the Coldwater Canyon area of Los Angeles.
Fisher and Reynolds died last week, one day apart. Fisher, 60, who starred as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, died December 27 after suffering a heart attack four days earlier aboard a flight from London. Reynolds, 84, an Oscar-nominated actress who shot to fame after starring in Singin’ in the Rain at age 19, died December 28 after being briefly hospitalized.
“She said, ‘I want to be with Carrie,’ ’’ Reynolds’ son, Todd Fisher, told The Associated Press. “And then she was gone.’’
Fisher was cremated per her wishes, according to TMZ, and a portion of her ashes are to be placed in a coffin alongside Reynolds’ coffin when they are buried Friday at the famed Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. The sprawling location is the resting place of numerous celebrities, including Lucille Ball, Liberace, Florence Henderson, David Carradine and Bette Davis.
Meanwhile, theaters in New York announced Thursday their traditional ritual to mark the passing of a theater luminary: The Broadway League said theaters would dim their marquee lights Friday for one minute at 7:45 p.m., in memory of Fisher and Reynolds.
Fisher and Reynolds both made their Broadway debuts in 1973 in the musical comedy revival of Irene, which earned Reynolds a Tony Award nomination. Reynolds also appeared on Broadway in Woman of the Year and the musical revue Debbie, and toured with Annie Get Your Gun and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
Fisher wrote and most recently appeared on Broadway in her solo show, Wishful Drinking, and also appeared in Agnes of God.
