Who’s this guy on the right? This is American singer Eddie Fisher, the father to Princess Leia herself Carrie Fisher (RIP).
Eddie Fisher was initially married to Carrie’s mother, actress Debbie Reynolds. Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds made a great pair together, Debbie was in Singin’ in the Rain and multiple musicals throughout the 50s, while Eddie had two TV musical comedy shows with NBC (Coke Time with Eddie Fisher and The Eddie Fisher Show). They were both successful and married until 1959.
Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds were great friends to Elizabeth Taylor and her third husband, producer Mike Todd, who produced the Oscar-winning Best Picture Around the World in 80 days. Eddie was Todd’s best man, and Debbie was Liz Taylor’s matron of honor. According to Carrie Fisher’s autobiographical humor tale “Wishful Drinking,” when Todd died, everything went wrong:
Mike Todd took off in a private plane in a rainstorm, and the following morning Elizabeth [Taylor] was a widow. Well, naturally, my father [Eddie Fisher] flew to Elizabeth’s side, gradually making his way slowly to her front. He first dried her eyes with his handkerchief, then he consoled her with flowers, and he ultimately consoled her with his penis.
Eddie Fisher ended up divorcing Debbie Reynolds, and married Elizabeth Taylor, the scandals shocked Hollywood and the world. Eddie Fisher got cancelled from the scandal (NBC dropped his show), Liz Taylor got labelled as a “homewrecker.” Honestly, I don’t think this is 100% Liz’s fault, she was emotionally vulnerable and grieving for Mike Todd, as his death left her devastated. Eddie Fisher was a womanizer and he had multiple affairs with numerous women before he dumped his wife for the “most beautiful woman in the world.”
Eddie Fisher’s career never seem to recover after the scandal, and Liz Taylor eventually dropped him to be with Richard Burton. Fortunately for Liz Taylor and Debbie Reynolds, they had eventually mended their friendship and mocked Eddie Fisher together in a TV movie (These Old Broads) written by their stepdaughter/daughter Carrie Fisher, where the two women’s characters ridicule their shared ex-husband named “Freddie Hunter.”