Former Taylor husband dies

Entertainer Eddie Fisher, whose singing career was overshadowed by scandals of his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, has died. He was 82.

His daughter, Tricia Leigh Fisher, said that Mr Fisher died of complications from hip surgery at a hospital in Berkeley.

Mr Fisher sold millions of records in the 1950s with hit songs including Thinking of You, Any Time and Oh, My Pa-pa.

His singing and good looks brought him a devoted following among teenage girls.

He married movie darling Debbie Reynolds in 1955 and they were touted as “America’s favourite couple”. Their daughter Carrie Fisher later became a film star herself.

But amid sensational headlines, Mr Fisher divorced Debbie Reynolds and married Ms Taylor in 1959.

She dropped him a few years later when she fell in love with Richard Burton. The Fisher-Taylor marriage lasted only five years.

She fell in love with co-star Mr Burton during the Rome filming of Cleopatra, divorced Mr Fisher and married Mr Burton in one of the great entertainment world scandals of the 20th ­century.

Mr Fisher’s career never recovered from the notoriety. He ­married actress Connie Stevens, and they had two daughters. Another divorce followed. He married twice more.

Edwin Jack Fisher was born on August 10, 1928, in Philadelphia, one of seven children of a Jewish grocer.

At 15 he was singing on Philadelphia radio.

After moving to New York, Mr Fisher was adopted as a protege by comedian Eddie Cantor, who helped the young singer become a star in radio, television and records.

Mr Fisher’s romantic messages resonated with young girls in the pre-Elvis period. Publicist-manager Milton Blackstone helped the publicity by hiring girls to scream and swoon at Mr Fisher’s appearances.