SOCIAL HISTORY: Pop culture crooner icon from the 1950s – Eddie Fisher is gone – made famous by vocal from Broadway musical WISH YOU WERE HERE.
Eddie Fisher sings WISH YOU WERE HERE in this youTube video. It covers his life, hits and career. The recording is the title song of the Broadway musical by the same name. Fisher’s rendering helped the box office of the stage show and this song proved to be Fisher’s signature tune.
Elizabeth Taylor, left, with Eddie Fisher and Ms. Reynolds, the couple she came between, in 1958. Fisher wrote in his biography: “I was bullied into marriage with Reynolds, whom he didn’t know well; became nursemaid as well as husband to Taylor, and was reluctant to marry Connie Stevens but she was pregnant and he ‘did the proper thing’…” The marriage damaged his career, especially with Taylor. Of course today – his dalliances, divorces and private life would be the norm!
Eddie Fisher: 1928-2010 RIP
Pop singer and 1950s icon Eddie Fisher, whose clear voice brought him a devoted following of teenage girls in the early 1950s before marriage scandals overshadowed his fame, has died at age 82.
He passed away Wednesday night at his home in Berkeley of complications from hip surgery, his daughter, Tricia Leigh Fisher of Los Angeles, told AP reporters.
America’s once most happy couple: Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher with children – Carrie and her brother Todd
“Late last evening the world lost a true America icon,” Fisher’s family said in a statement released by publicist British Reece. “One of the greatest voices of the century passed away. He was an extraordinary talent and a true mensch.”
The death was first reported by Hollywood website deadline.com.
In the early 50s, Fisher sold millions of records with 32 hit songs including ”Wish You Were Here,” “Thinking of You,” ”Any Time,” ”Oh, My Pa-pa,” ”I’m Yours,” ”Lady of Spain” and “Count Your Blessings.”
Eiddie Fisher’s recording of the signature song from WISH YOU WERE HERE reached number one on the charts. It popularized and helped the show’s box office. The Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on June 25, 1952 and closed on November 28, 1953 after 598 performances. Directed and choreographed by Logan, uncredited show doctoring was by Jerome Robbins, with scenic and lighting design by Jo Mielziner.
The cast included Patricia Marand as Teddy Stern, Jack Cassidy as Chick Miller, Phyllis Newman as Sarah, Larry Blyden, Harry Clark as Herman Fabricant, Florence Henderson, Reid Shelton, Tom Tryon, Sheila Bond as Fay Fromkin, John Perkins as Harry “Muscles” Green, and Sidney Armus as Itchy Flexner.
His fame was enhanced by his 1955 marriage to movie darling Debbie Reynolds — they were touted as “America’s favorite couple” — and the birth of two children.
Their daughter Carrie Fisher became a film star herself in the first three “Star Wars” films as Princess Leia, and later as a best-selling author of “Postcards From the Edge” and other books.
