Debbie Reynolds. Photo: Fred Prouser/ReutersDebbie Reynolds, the star of such enduring Hollywood films as Singin’ in the Rain and How the West Was Won, will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award by her peers, the Screen Actors Guild said.
Reynolds, 82, will be given the accolade at the acting organisation’s annual awards ceremony in January for her achievement as an actor, singer, dancer and for her efforts to preserve historical film. The mother of actress Carrie Fisher will also be honoured for her humanitarian work, which includes a charity to help fight the stigma of mental illness, which she co-foundedin 1955.
“Her generous spirit and unforgettable performances have entertained audiences across the globe, moving us all from laughter to tears and back again,” Ken Howard, the president of the SAG-AFTRA labour union, said in a statement.
Reynolds was discovered as a beauty pageant contestant at age 16 and has continued to work into the current decade, most recently playing the mother of pianist Liberace opposite Michael Douglas in Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Behind the Candelabra.