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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Eddie Fisher|image = EddieFisherCokeTime.JPG|caption = Fisher on his NBC-TV series, 1954|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Edwin John Fisher|birth_date = birth date|1928|08|10|birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |death_date = death date and age|2010|09|22|1928|08|10|death_place = Berkeley, California |genre = Traditional pop music|Traditional pop |years_active = 19481987|occupation = Singer, actor, entertainer|Spouse = Debbie Reynolds (m.1955-1959; divorced) Elizabeth Taylor (m.1959-1964; divorced) Connie Stevens (m.1967-1969; divorced) Terry Richard (m.1975-1976; divorced) Betty Lin (m.1993-2001; her death)|label = RCA Victor Records|RCA Victor , Ramrod Records|Ramrod , Dot Records|Dot Portal|BiographyEdwin John "Eddie" Fisher (August 10, 1928 September 22, 2010) was an American entertainer. He was the most successful pop singles artist of the first half of the 1950s Joel Whitburn's Top 40 Pop Singles 12th Edition, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. He left his first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds , to marry Debbie's best friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor , when Taylor's husband film producer Mike Todd died. This event garnered scandalous and unwelcome publicity for Fisher. He later married Connie Stevens . Fisher is the father of actresses Carrie Fisher (with Reynolds), Joely Fisher (with Stevens), and Tricia Leigh Fisher (with Stevens).
Early life
Fisher, fourth of seven children, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , the son of Russian-born Jewish Immigration|immigrants Kate ( married and maiden names|nιe Winokur) and Joseph Fisher. http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/carrie-fisher/index.htm#sxb Genealogy.com Ancestry of Carrie Fisher http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/991015/fisher.shtml 'Jewish Sinatra' tells all His father's surname was originally either Tisch or Fisch, but was Anglicisation|anglicised to Fisher upon entry into the United States .Cite book|last1=Fisher |first1=Eddie |last2=Fisher |first2=David|title=Been There, Done That |year=1999 |month=September|publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=0-312-20972-X |page=3 To his family, Fisher was always called "Sonny Boy", a nickname derived from the Sonny Boy (song)|song of the same name in Al Jolson 's film The Singing Fool (1928). Been There, Done That , p. 2.
Fisher attended Thomas Junior High School, Been There, Done That , p. 11. South Philadelphia High School , and Simon Gratz High School . It was known at an early age that he had talent as a vocalist and he started singing in numerous amateur contests, which he usually won. He made his radio debut on WFIL , a local Philadelphia radio station. He also performed on '' Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts , a popular radio programming|radio show which later moved to television|TV . Because he became a local star, Fisher dropped out of high school in the middle of his senior year to pursue his career. Been There, Done That , p. 14.
Career
By 1946, Fisher was crooning with the bands of Buddy Morrow and Charlie Ventura . He was heard in 1949 by Eddie Cantor at Grossinger's Resort in the Borscht Belt . After performing on Cantor's radio show he was an instant hit and gained nationwide exposure. He then signed with RCA Victor .
Fisher was drafted into the United States Army|U.S. Army in 1951, sent to Texas for basic training, and served a year in Korea . From 1952 to 1953, he was the official vocal soloist for The United States Army Band (Pershing's Own) and a tenor section member in the United States Army Band Chorus (an element of Pershing's Own) assigned at Fort Myer in the Washington, D.C. Military District. During his active duty period, he also made occasional guest television appearances, in uniform, introduced as "PFC Eddie Fisher". After his discharge, he became even more popular singing in top nightclubs. He also had a variety television series, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher ( NBC ) (19531957), appeared on The Perry Como Show , Club Oasis , The Martha Raye Show , The Gisele MacKenzie Show , The Chesterfield Supper Club and The George Gobel Show , and starred in another series, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher|The Eddie Fisher Show ( NBC ) (19571959, alternating with Gobel's series).
A pre rock and roll singing|vocalist , Fisher's strong and melodious tenor made him a teen idol and one of the most popular singers of the early 1950s. He had 17 songs in the Top 10 on the music charts between 1950 and 1956 and 35 in the Top 40.
In 1956, Fisher costarred with then-wife Debbie Reynolds in the musical comedy Bundle of Joy . He played a dramatic role in the 1960 in film|1960 drama BUtterfield 8 with second wife Elizabeth Taylor . His best friend was showman and producer Mike Todd , who died in a plane crash in 1958. Fisher's affair and subsequent marriage to Taylor, Todd's widow, caused a show business scandal because he and Reynolds had a very public divorce . It was because of the unfavorable publicity surrounding the affair and divorce that NBC canceled Fisher's television series in March 1959.citation needed|date=March 2011 In 1960, he was dropped by RCA Victor and briefly recorded on his own label, Ramrod Records. He later recorded for Dot Records . During this time, he had the first commercial recording of "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof . This technically counts as the biggest standard Fisher can claim credit for introducing, although it is rarely associated with him. He also recorded the albums Eddie Fisher Today and Young and Foolish (both 1965). The Dot contract was not successful in record sales terms, and he returned to RCA Victor and had a minor single hit in 1966 with the song "Games That Lovers Play" with Nelson Riddle , which became the title of his best selling album. When Fisher was at the height of his popularity, in the mid 1950s, singles, rather than albums, were the primary recording medium. His last album for RCA was an Al Jolson tribute, ''You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet''. In 1983 he attempted a comeback tour but this was not a success. Eddie Fisher's last released album was recorded around 1984 on the Bainbridge record label. Fisher tried to stop the album from being released, but it turned up as After All . The album was produced by William J. O'Malley and arranged by Angelo DiPippo. DiPippo worked with Eddie countless hours to better his vocals but it became useless. His final recordings (never released) were made in 1995 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. According to arranger-conductor Vincent Falcone in his 2005 autobiography, Frankly: Just Between Us , these tracks were "...the best singing of his life." Fisher performed in top concert halls all over the United States and headlined in major Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas showrooms. He headlined at the Palace Theatre, New York|Palace Theater in New York City as well as London's Palladium .
Fisher has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , one for recording, at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television, at 1724 Vine Street.
In 1981, Fisher wrote an autobiography , Eddie: My Life, My Loves (ISBN 0-06-014907-8). He wrote another autobiography in 1999 titled Been There, Done That (ISBN 0-312-20972-X). The later book devotes little space to Fisher's singing career, but recycled the material of his first book and added many new sexual details that were too strong to publish before. His daughter Carrie Fisher|Carrie declared, upon publication: "That's it. I'm having my DNA fumigated."
When interviewed, Debbie Reynolds said that she could understand being dumped "for the world's most beautiful woman (Taylor)", previously a close friend. Taylor and Reynolds later resumed their friendship, and mocked Fisher in their TV movie These Old Broads , wherein their characters ridiculed the ex-husband they shared, named "Freddie".
Death
Fisher suffered from knee, back, hearing, and eyesight problems in his later years, the last of which were worsened by a botched cataract removal operation, and so he rarely appeared in public. According to friends, he remained mentally vigorous and kept himself busy following news and politics, and singing his old songs while friend George Michalski played the piano. Michalski had worked on several occasions over the years to help Fisher get his name back on the music charts. He said "The '60s passed Eddie by; he missed that entire era of music. I'd play a Beatles song like Something for him and he'd think I wrote it."
Fisher broke his hip on September 9, 2010, and died 13 days later on September 22, 2010, at his home in Berkeley, California , due to complications from hip surgery. He was 82 years old.citation |title=Eddie Fisher, Pop Singer, Dies at 82 |work= The New York Times |url= http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/24/arts/music/AP-US-Obit-Eddie-Fisher.html
After his death he was cremated and his ashes were buried alongside the grave of his wife, Betty (who died on April 15, 2001), at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi? page=gr& GRid=59111955 Eddie Fisher (1928 2010) Find A Grave Memorial
His second wife, Elizabeth Taylor , died six months and one day after Fisher, on March 23, 2011.cite web |url= http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/hollywood-icon-elizabeth-taylor-dies-79/story? id=12894882 | author = Sheila Marikar |title=Hollywood Icon Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79 |publisher=ABC News |date=March 23, 2011 |accessdate=March 23, 2011
Discography
Hit songs
Year
Single
Chart positions
US
US AC
UK cite book
1948
" You Can't Be True, Dear "(with Marlin Sisters)
19
1950
" Thinking of You (1927 song)
5
1951
"Bring Back the Thrill"
14
"Unless"
17
" I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)
Fisher, Eddie (1984). Eddie: My Life, My Loves . Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-014907-9.
External links
IMDb name|279472|Eddie Fisher
IBDB name|id=66100| name=Eddie Fisher
http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/efisher.html Thinking Of You: Eddie Fisher on The Interlude Era site
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/24/arts/music/AP-US-Obit-Eddie-Fisher.html? hp New York Times Obituary
http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/49271/eddie-fisher-life-and-times Eddie Fisher: Life and Times slideshow by Life magazine
S-start|- !colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;"| Husband of Elizabeth Taylor Succession box| before= Mike Todd |title= Husband of Elizabeth Taylor nobold|(by order of marriage)|accessdate=CURRENTMONTHNAMECURRENTDAY, CURRENTYEAR|years= 19591964 |after= Richard Burton S-end Persondata | NAME = Fisher, Eddie | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = August 10, 1928 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ,United States | DATE OF DEATH = September 22, 2010 | PLACE OF DEATH = Berkeley, California , United States DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Eddie Category:1928 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American military personnel of the Korean War Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American pop singers Category:Deaths from surgical complications Category:Dot Records artists Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:United States Army soldiers
