Actress Debbie Reynolds dies day after daughter

Debbie Reynolds with her daughter Carrie Fisher during the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. PHOTO: AFP

Debbie Reynolds, the "Singin' in the Rain" actress who tap-danced her way into American hearts as a star of Hollywood's Golden Age, died Wednesday, grief-stricken over daughter Carrie Fisher's death a day earlier.

The 84-year-old suffered a stroke at son Todd Fisher's Beverly Hills home after telling him "I miss her so much, I want to be with Carrie," he was quoted as telling celebrity news website TMZ.

Reynolds made a name for herself as the girl-next-door lead of a string of hit musicals in the 1950s after being discovered by MGM studio bosses at a beauty contest in southern California, going on to earn her lone Oscar nomination for playing the title role in 1964's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

"We have lost a unique talent and a national treasure. Coming so close to the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher, this is truly a double tragedy," Screen Actors Guild president Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement.

"Their imprint on our culture is profound, and they both will live on."

Reynolds is best remembered as sweet but shy voice artist Kathy Selden in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) and holding her own despite being cast opposite tap-dancing superstar Gene Kelly, who was more than twice her age.

Off-screen, she was known as the wronged party in one of Hollywood's most notorious scandals, when her husband, singer Eddie Fisher, left her for her friend and fellow screen icon Elizabeth Taylor.

Reynolds' daughter Fisher, who catapulted to worldwide stardom as rebel warrior Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, died in Los Angeles on Tuesday, four days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight.

Media reports said Reynolds had been at her son's house to discuss funeral arrangements when she became ill.

Social media was soon awash with messages of sympathy, dismay and support as fans and fellow celebrities struggled to come to terms with another devastating blow so soon after Fisher's death.

"There is nothing harder than having to bury a child. Debbie died of a broken heart, but she's with her daughter now," tweeted "Star Trek" actor turned social media personality George Takei.