Eddie Fisher mini-bio: In 1953 Eddie Fisher was given his own fifteen minute TV show called "Coke
Time", sponsored by the Coca-Cola company. This show proved to be so popular
that Coke then offered Eddie a one million-dollar contract to be their
national spokesperson. A deal of that magnitude was almost unheard of at
this time and helped push Fisher towards being one of the most popular
singers by 1954. In 1955 Eddie married Debbie Reynolds and daughter Carrie
Fisher was born a year later, followed by son Todd in l958. Later that year,
the scandal of the decade broke when stories of Eddie's affair with
Elizabeth Taylor were made public. She had been widowed earlier that year
when her husband Mike Todd, Eddie's best friend, died in a plane crash. The
bad publicity that followed did a great deal of damage to Eddie's career,
while it actually increased the amount of money Elizabeth was offered for
films. He did the movie Butterfield 8, which actually earned Taylor an
Academy Award, though it was received with mixed reviews. From there it was
on to the making of "Cleopatra", Richard Burton, another scandal, and
another divorce. With his TV show long gone and hit records a thing of the
past, his career in the sixties consisted mainly of stage shows in Las
Vegas, New York, and smaller venues as time went on. For a few years he was
married to Connie Stevens and they had two daughters, Joely and Trisha
before divorcing in 1968. Eddie Fisher has written two autobiographies, the
latest published with great controversy. It seems some of the women in his
past did not care for his portrayal of them. He must be given credit
however, for owning up to his own actions, which led to the degradation of
his career. His fifth wife, Betty Lin, passed away from lung cancer on April
15, 2001.
