excuse us. we have a dance. >> tonight, on a special edition of "20/20" -- >> manic-depressive. she was born that way. eddie's side. >> debbie reynolds! >> debbi and carrie, a hollywood love story. >> i always feel, as a mother does, that i protect her. who will do that when i'm gone? >> the double tragedy, saying good-bye twice, just a day apart. brother and son todd, there at the end. speaking only to "20/20."

>> i was on her bed, and watched her leave and go to carrie. >> sounds like she willed herself to day, you're saying? >> she just left to be with carrie. >> growing up in the shadow of a screen legend. a daughter, feeling inferior. >> i haven't lost my mind. it lost me. my mother was really pretty, and i said, i had better have another thing going for me. >> their indelible, but turbulent bond. put on screen in "postcards from the edge." but off-screen, in silence. >> i didn't want to be debbie reynolds' daughter. >> she didn't talk to me for ten years. >> tonight, home movies you've never seen, and stories you've never heard about two unsinkable

survivors. >> it's magical, the love story that went on for 60 years. >> it's okay, because now i'm princess leia's mother. >> the memories they left behind, for all of us. ♪ happy days are here again [ cheers and applause ] >> good evening. i'm elizabeth vargas in los angeles. david is away. as you can see, i'm looking down on the fabled hollywood boulevard, where movie fans have been laying tributes at the walk of fame star of debbie reynolds. in the last few days, it's become a makeshift memorial for her and her daughter, carrie fisher, dying just one day apart. i spoke to debbie's son,

carrie's brother, todd fisher. >> at the top of her game, she looked beautiful, her hair looked beautiful. she was back in shape. >> carrie fisher! >> she was in london, promoting her latest book, and preparing to come home to los angeles for the holidays. >> when was the last time you spoke to your sister? >> just before she left england. >> was she excited about the book tour? >> she was excited about christmas. her favorite things was to give out gifts. she always had the most amazing gifts for everybody. >> reporter: but on that flight, just 15 minutes before landing, the iconic actress suffered a heart attack. how did you hear that something had happened to carrie onboard

that flight just as it was coming in to land? >> i had a phone call from my mother's house that something had happened to carrie. >> was she alone? >> she was never one. >> did people help her? >> of course. she had amazing help, and from what i understand, she had doctors there immediately, and everything was done. >> you rushed to the hospital, was carrie there yet? >> yes. carrie was there. we thought we might be able to save her, and that was in play for a little while. but the doctor said it was high-risk, not something that was a sure thing by any means. >> the "star wars" royalty, now carrie fisher is in the intensive care unit. >> reporter: your mom issued a statement that she was stable, and a lot of people had hope.

>> what she meant was, stable in icu. you're still in critical condition. that never changed. >> she was on life support? >> yes, and my mother felt she had already left the building. but she had hope. we all had hope. my mother is of strong belief in god, and has always talked to god in a real personal way. that's part of what her strength was about. >> reporter: did your mother have the strength to be able to gather around her? >> yes, everybody had that. but at the same time, things didn't need to be said or done differently. it had all been said before, and it was all in place. nothing else needed to happen. things happened naturally, is what i'm saying. >> reporter: it must have been

excruciating for your mother to lose your sister. it violates the order of nature to lose a child. >> the last few days that led up to the losing carrie, my mother had a few moments where she was clearly distraught. but 99% of the time, she sucked it up. >> reporter: and then what happened the last day? >> i think the most important thing, carrie left. and when carrie left, my mother had many years ago said, i don't want to attend my daughter's funer funeral. there was no grief in her, like she was sitting around and inconsolable. not at all. she said she really wanted to be with carrie. in those precise words. within 15 minutes from that conversation, she faded out, and within 30 minutes, she technically was gone. she started to have a stroke,

and just effectively went to sleep, and didn't wake up. she closed her eyes, peacefully, and went to sleep and left. >> debbie reynolds has died at age 84. >> reporter: she willed herself to die? >> i'm saying, my mother, if anybody, had somehow a way to do that, then i watched it happen in front of my face. she literally just went to sleep and left. we went through all the motions to try to bring her back and all that. we didn't know we couldn't do that. i just sat there and watched her leave. and you know what, that's what makes it okay. if it was something else, i wouldn't be okay. the fact that she's with carrie, and taking care of her, which is what she loved most. carrie obviously had more needs in many ways, and my mother loved that, helping her, and

watching after her, and was brilliant at it, but also obsessed with it. and carrie, on the other hand, was equally obsessed with taking care of my mother. that's what the beauty of it, the love story is uncanny. it was unbelievable, this is horrible, but it's beautiful. it's life. i mean, and it's what they, what she wanted. because of that, i'm, i hope we're all okay with that. because that's where debbie wanted to be. she had a will to not want to leave carrie, and not want to have carrie alone. and also, i think she'll be of great assistance of carrie, because she can be tough to

handle. >> reporter: todd says mother and daughter will be the cemetery next to each other. >> and we're going to go to forest lawn, where her other friends are. liberace, betty davis. and his mother is also there. >> reporter: so it will be a double funeral? >> we'll have a private one, with friends and family together, then we'll figure something out for the public. their life is high-class stuff, and these were high-class broads. very high-class. so, they deserve to be remembered and discussed in this fashion. it's horrible, it's beautiful,

it's magical. they're together. it's beyond words, beyond understanding. but i saw it, and it is what it is. you can't deny it. it is what it is. when we return, america's sweetheart, debbie reynolds, and her husband, eddie fisher, who left her for elizabeth taylor. and later, more family memories from todd fisher. a lot of friction. >> but no one is running away from it. >> next. moderate alzheimer's disease, nce he's had the same never quit attitude. that's why i asked his doctor about once-a-day namzaric. (avo) namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease in patients who are taking donepezil. it may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. don't take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine or any of the ingredients in namzaric.

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♪ it's one of the most famous opening shots on film. ♪ singing in the rain what a glorious feeling we're happy again ♪ >> and in the middle of the cloud burst, a star is born. debbie reynolds marching through the rain drops and into our hearts. the story of her early career leading up to that movie is so incredible, we'll let her tell it herself in an appearance last year. >> i was only 16, and still mary frances reynolds when i enter the miss burbank contest.

within a year, i was under contract to the biggest studio in hollywood. >> she was born mary frances reynolds in texas. her father move ed them to california. >> my mother grew up in burbank, a batonist, she thought she was going to be a gym teacher. >> reporter: fortunately for us, she ended up making movies again. the first role, coming when she was just 17. she had never danced professionally. >> she said gene kelly didn't like her, because he wanted a professional dancer. >> reporter: mgm gave her a three-month course, and then she was on her own. >> she kept up with them.

>> she was a revelation, sort of when we saw jennifer lawrence for the first time, she was so breathtaking and we fell in love with her. >> reporter: more than 30 other movies. in 1955, she was in "the tender trap." >> like to go to license bureau, and have a baby, and another baby. >> reporter: she got some sage advice from frank sinatra. >> she ignored the warning, marrying a crooner named eddie fisher. ♪ may i thank you >> reporter: the newlyweds shared the bill in "bundle of

joy" in 1956. >> she was already pregnant during filming with their first child, daughter carrie. a son, todd, followed two years later. reynolds' screen credits included "the catered affair" in 1956. >> i'll never forget the look on her face, when i told her we're not having a big wedding. like i'd hit her in the face. >> reporter: the high notes came in the films where she played a good girl. such as "tammy and the bachelor." ♪ tammy is in love >> reporter: the title song became a hit record. but even with those successes, her talent was underappreciated. >> i don't think it's been until kind of after the fact that

people looked at her, and said, oh, my god, she was great. >> reporter: when a contract dispute kept shirley m of the film, she became molly brown. >> my mother is molly brown, she got the part, knocked it out of the park. >> reporter: and it also brought her an academy award nomination, but julie andrews took home the oscar for "mary poppins." this photo shows a 6-year-old carrie watching her mother perform in las vegas in the early '60s. >> now go to sleep. >> reporter: memorably, reynolds was the voice of the kindly

spider in "charlotte's web." >> i have a delicious surprise. >> reporter: but this was her iconic role, and this may have been her iconic song. ♪ good morning good morning to you ♪ >> reporter: if you think you've heard that too recently, you may be right. ♪ good morning ♪ good morning >> reporter: it loves on as the jingle for tropicana orange juice. >> theirs was a veryamous marriage, and a very famous divorce. >> reporter: when elizabeth --

>> if you can think of the most popular and buzzed-about tabloid stories, brangelina, kim and kanye, this was of that magnitude. >> all of the simpympathy in th entire worldent to debbie reynolds. he had left her for elizabeth taylor. who was like jezebel. >> reporter: an awkward encounter in 1965. there would be serious financial difficulties for reynolds. and two more marriages.

>> she's been through husbands and fortunes. if it wasn't for the husbands, it wouthere wouldn't be the husbands. >> reporter: through broadway and vegas. where, by the 1970s, she was making appearances like this one. with liberace. ♪ >> reporter: but it's her early work, the technicolor ones, that will stand the test of time. >> stop that girl running up the aisle. stop her. she's the real star of the picture! >> debbie is the last of an era, the last star from the '40s and

'50s, from "singing in the rain". >> reporter: and the little girl, watching in the wings, will become a princess in her own right. a star from a galaxy far, far away. carrie fisher is about to take center stage. stay with us. anything else to talk about. but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. he said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb.

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carrie fisher's life began similar to how it would end. with intense popular interest, and cameras fixed on her. here she is hula dancing. she was raised by her singer mother, debbie reynolds, whose show business lifestyle forced her to drop out of high school. >> i wanted to be like my mother. i worshipped her. i was in her night club act when

i was 13 years old in vegas. >> reporter: and she wowed them in hollywood. appearing in 1975's "shampoo" at the tender age of 17. >> are you? >> am i what? >> making it with my mother. >> reporter: then, two years later, fisher auditioned for the role that changed her life. and changed the world. princess leia in "star wars," who wittily dodged danger again and again. >> i was with carrie when we first went to the "star wars" screening, she thought it was a "b" movie. that ship flew over, i looked over and said, this is no "b" movie. and her life was never the same. >> reporter: though she played a

super heroine, she told david muir that she was super nervous she didn't look the part. >> princess leia really inspired young girls. >> but not to be pretty. >> but she was really pretty. >> yes, and i didn't know that. >> she proved to be a princess leia who was feisty, indomita e indomitable, gave as good as she got. >> reporter: "star wars" became an international sensation, and made fisher an instant pop icon just like her mother years earlier. and she followed up the first film with this, channeling her mother's musical talents. though the "star wars" holiday

special was universally panned. then she was in "blues brothers." it was a box office success, but there was a secret between the co-stars. >> we did drugs together. i remember him saying, we're alike. and then he was dead a year later. >> reporter: fisher began to do drugs. >> i went through people's cabinets. >> reporter: the people had no idea. she reprised her role as princess leia in two "star wars" sequels. >> princess leia was more famous than i was. so, i felt like a has-been at 25. >> reporter: feeling rejected by

hollywood, she told diane sawyer she went on a five-year drug binge. she seemed perfectly fine by day. but -- >> stayed up late, snorted heroin. that's nice. my mother would be so proud. "under the rainbow" is the one where i went completely crazy. >> reporter: fisher said drugs brought a kind of rest to her fevered brain. >> i felt normal on acid. >> lsu brought you down? >> it just gave me visuals. >> each day you would wake up and take what you needed to feel, what? >> less. just feel less. >> reporter: in 1983, she once again follows her mother's

blueprint, and marries a singer. paul simon, whose talent helped ground her for a while, at least. >> one of the things i really liked about paul, any words that have a certain rhythm are very soothing to me. >> what song most took you? >> "kathy i'm lost." >> i'm aching and empty and i don't know why. ♪ >> reporter: the marriage was short-lived. fisher was linked to several other "a"-listers. >> men were drawn to her. she was engaged to dan she had a relationship with caa

agent brian lord, and had an affair with harrison ford at the beginning of the making of "star wars." >> it was aykroyd who she credits to getting off of cocaine. but didn't stay off for long. at one point, she was taking 30 pills per day to mellow out. >> you were married to paul simon at one point. >> you're kidding. oh, my god. that's incredible. >> reporter: no one knew the real issue wasn't so much the drugs, but rather an average day inside carrie fisher's mind. >> i'm manic-depressive. >> are you afraid to say that? >> no, i own it. >> reporter: she appeared in these home movies that capture

her condition. her monologues, an attempt to contain the roar. >> i wish i felt that way all the time. you can't stop. it's painful, it's raw, it's rough. >> feit spills out your eyes, yr municipal court. >> reporter: and the barbs that spilled out at this roast for george lucas. >> hi, i'm mrs. han so and i'm an alcoholic. m an alcoholic because george lucas ruined my life. >> reporter: she let it all fly about her love/hate relationship with the role of a royal rebel

that came to define her career. >> george is a sadist, but i keep coming back for more. >> so, happily ever after? >> no such animal. >> what is it then? what's the adjective? >> everything ever after. next, the family's secrets a daughter would share on the big screen. >> i took acid socially. >> that would cause a decade-long silence. >> she didn't talk to me for probably ten years. >> stay with us. can get more all day... ove that you mcgriddles! so you'll have to find something else to not love. like that itch you can't scratch. or when people use speakerphone in public. [speakerphone] seriously, you can't tell a soul. i promise i won't tell anyone. [speakerphone] for real... okay? or accidently watching episode 4 before you've seen episode 3.

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♪ in many ways, carrie fisher's life was her art. >> i don't want life to imitate art, i want it to be art. >> reporter: but she was a realist. so, in her 20s, she turned her real-life stories into best-selling novels. her first, "postcards from the edge," made into a film in 1990. >> you can't grow old gracefully, you can't grow old at all. you can as a writer. >> it was about a young actress, raised by a movie star, who had ended up in rehab.

>> reporter: the parallels between the character suzanne and meryl streep's character are undeniable. >> hello, darling. >> it clearly was a, we would call it a roman a clef of debbie reynolds. and also about her own struggles. >> i'm going to kill myself. >> don't say that even in jest. people might take it the wrong way. >> reporter: in the film, both mother and daughter are actresses. the mother's star has faded, yet still she grasps for the limelight. >> it's some of the best

dialogue, repartee that you'll see on a screen outside of those old "his girl friday" kind of zinger comedies. >> remember my 17th birthday party -- >> i did not lift my skirt. it twirled up. >> and you weren't wearing any underwear. ♪ i am still here >> when she does the song, "i'm still here." that was debbie. yeah. and carrie understood that, and in many ways resented it, and adored it. >> reporter: robert osborne was friends with debbie reynolds for 50 years, and co-hosted a movie

review show with carrie fisher. >> she lectured her about getting serious about her career. while she's making a health food drink, she reaches up, gets a bottle of vodka and pours it in. >> i think people said she was not like the character because that woman was sort of angry and debbie thought of herself as very sunny. >> i was born very up. i don't burden myself, carrie burdens herself. >> reporter: in this interview, reynolds explains the sage advice she had for her daughter. >> as far as happiness, when she wants to ask me, she will. i don't think i'll be alive to hear it.

>> reporter: she talked about the years she rebelled. >> we had a volatile relationship in my 20s. i didn't want to be around her. i didn't want to be debbie reynolds' daughter. >> it's hard when you want to touch them and hold them. it was a total estrangement. >> reporter: the birth of her son would heal the wounds. reynolds' career got a boost in television. >> there's no singing here. ♪ it's great to stay up late good morning good morning to you ♪ >> reporter: and she would have one last movie role herself, as, yes, a mother. liberace's. >> she had transformed herself to play this character. it was a brief and final testament to what an amazingly

underrated, brilliant actress debbie reynolds was. >> reporter: while debbie transformed herself, carrie was about to revisit an old friend. >> some things never change. >> true. you still drive me crazy. >> she returned to the princess leia character, and in her own personal health, she looked better than ever. >> reporter: and her daughter bi billie was in the movie, too. >> her greatest accomplish was billie, her greatest joy, her greatest accomplishment. >> billie was the love her carrie's life. i believe she worked at that consciously because of the things she went through with her own mother. i believe she wanted to be all things to billie. >> the trio made their last

public appearance a year ago, when debbie was honored with a lifetime achievement award. coming up, todd talks about the moving tributes from fans all around the world. including this picture of his mother and sister in their most famous roeles. ♪ how else do think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gle350 for $579 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer.

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♪ mommy i'm in heaven my sister and mother had a very unique relationship. it's magical, the love story that went on for 60 years. there were many ups and downs, but not at the heart level. >> reporter: debbie and carrie, mother and daughter. a love so fierce, it sometimes burned. >> mommy, i'm home. >> reporter: the soon to be released hbo documentary "bright lights" documents their relationship. what was it like for you? you had a front-row seat to it. did they have epic battles? >> no, i said, it was a glorious view of an amazing love story. >> reporter: did they talk about

what happened to cause not talking for ten years? >> debbie would have never done that for any reason. there was friction, but nobody is saying, let's not have this moment. they had more moments than anybody could have had. they were equally up to the task of working it all out. >> i'm going to go help my mother pack. >> reporter: they were the closest of friends, and next-door neighbors. >> mother and i live next door to each other. separated by one daunting hill. i usually come to here. >> reporter: and at the end, were sharing a driveway. >> right. >> reporter: did they see each other daily? >> we have this compound mentality. that's why she wanted to be there, and she wanted to be near billie growing up, so she

literally bought the house near carrie. >> reporter: did she tell carrie first? >> i think it just happened. and that was a beautiful thing, that they could be together at that level. and in order to get out of carrie's property, you went by my mom, and you would see how mom is doing. they had a lot of that going on. >> reporter: their relationship, at the heart of carrie's most personal project, "wishful drinking." >> every problem carrie ever had is in writing, in beautiful words that are beyond deep, beyond profound. the frankness and level to which she's exposed herself in life is truly remarkable. >> reporter: it became a hit

broadway show. listen as she maps out the six degrees that separates hollywood. >> to figure out if her daughter could date a guy, one of the descendents of elizabeth taylor, and would it be incest. >> are they related? >> i think she discovered no, it would not be. >> i told them, you're related by scandal. >> reporter: there's a great photo going around of carrie sitting in the wings, watching your mother perform on stage. >> yes. we were always watching her on stage in awe. it was amazing to watch, and it was surreal, because you know mommy, and when she was out there, it was almost like a different person. >> reporter: how do you want your mom to be remembered? >> as a great, strong person,

inspiration to others, not so much as a great entertainer. she was most proud, watching her children. she lived a beautiful, inspiring life. >> reporter: and how would you like your sister to be most remembered? >> she needs to be remembered as this amazing champion of women. the "star wars" thing was the vehicle. but the words in her books and the surviving of these things that she's survived, like debbie. carrie is molly brown, too. she's the molly brown with the diamonds on the soles of her shoes. >> reporter: you tweeted out this drawing of your mom and your sister. >> i did. magical. my mom was made througthrough "singing in the rain." it's probably the greatest musical ever made, as "star wars" will go down as the

greatest science fiction ever made. this just made sense to me, and i thought they would like it. carrie would like it. ne hi. hey. where's erin? uh, with my sister. but she hates kids... ok, once more. lexus rcs in? ultra white. with? premium package. santa claus! you got it! if you're going to wish, wish big at the lexus december to remember sales event. get up to $2,500 customer cash on select 2016 and 2017 models for these terms. see your lexus dealer. how is this possible? it's a light soup and yet it's real food?

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don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i'm still going for my best. and for eliquis. ask your doctor about eliquis. it's been an emotional week for anyone who has ever loved movies, saying good-bye. as we say good night, we leave you one of their most memorable performances, singing together on the oprah winfrey show. i'm elizabeth vargas. for david and all of us at

"20/20," good night, and may 2017 be great. ♪ you made me love you i didn't want to do it and all the time you knew it i guess you always knew it ♪ ♪ you made me happy sometimes you made me glad but there were times dear i made you feel so bad ♪ ♪ happy times happy nights happy days are here again ♪ [ cheers and applause ]