Debbie Reynolds And Carrie Fisher: A Mother-Daughter Story For The Ages

For anyone who loves the spotlight, mothering can be an ideal role — for a while. The mother is a singular star to her baby, whose gaze follows her around the room with the watchfulness of an obsessive fan. For the stars Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, that dynamic seemed to linger well into Ms. Fisher’s childhood: Ms. Fisher was the reverent observer, her mother the adored and observed.

“When my mother was at home on weekends, we stayed with her as much as possible, which frequently meant we were very involved in watching our mother,” wrote Ms. Fisher in her memoir “Wishful Drinking,” including her brother, Todd Fisher, in her recollections. Sometimes, they watched her sleep; often, they watched their mother transform into someone “not of this world,” a trick carried off with makeup and glitter and silk. “When our mother dressed,” Ms. Fisher wrote, “the man behind the curtain became the great and powerful Oz.

Read more at the New York Times.