Eddie Fisher’s marriage to Debbie Reynolds fell apart in 1958 when their close friend Mike Todd died in a plane crash. Todd was married to Elizabeth Taylor at the time. Fisher was there for Taylor as she grieved, and they eventually began an affair. The scandal sent ripples through Hollywood. It was all anyone in the film industry could talk about!
In 1959, Eddie Fisher left his wife and married Taylor in Las Vegas, just hours after his divorce. The couple actually got married in the Las Vegas synagogue, such was the urgency! Was Fisher being deliberately defiant? Perhaps it was his answer to all the wagging tongues. The divorce was devastating for Reynolds as she and Taylor had been best friends for years, or so she thought.
Eddie Fisher
American singer and actor Eddie Fisher was massively famous in the 1950s. He sold millions of records and had his own TV show. Fisher was even married to Debbie Reynolds and then Elizabeth Taylor. His marriage to Taylor, as most of us know, created an international scandal - sometimes overshadowing his legacy as a performer.
The image above is from one of his greatest Vegas performances ever in 1958. Fisher was a singer at nightclubs before bursting onto the pop music scene. He delivered hit after hit between 1950 and 1956 until rock n’ roll suddenly became a phenomenon. Fisher’s pop music appeal subsequently began waning.
Mara Lane by the Pool
One of the most iconic photographs of British-Austrian actor Mara Lane is one of her in a red and white striped bikini by the pool at the Sands hotel. Shot by renowned photographer, Slim Aarons, the image is the very definition of Las Vegas celebrity glam during the 1950s.
This picture here is a rare behind-the-scenes picture of a picture. Aarons went (literally) to any lengths and heights for the perfect shot. Thank goodness for extending ladders. Lane’s star rose during the 1950s and early 1960s when she appeared in over 30 German and English language films. It’s odd that nobody seems to remember her now.
Policy Changes
Sammy Davis Jr. was one of the first African American performers in Las Vegas to get equal treatment. Prior to that, these establishments wouldn't even host their talent and would give them boarding facilities outside the hotel. Davis Jr. was able to break color divides largely because of his friendship with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.
It wasn’t just a social benefit but an entry point into a world he had always aspired to and had eluded so many Black artists. Getting in was half the battle won. His audience was entirely white. The clubs he performed at still served people of color away from the main bar. Here he is pictured with Clint Eastwood in 1959 at the Sands Hotel.
Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor Leaving Their Wedding
Elizabeth Taylor lost her previous husband, Mile Todd to a plane crash. She turned to her best friend Eddie Fisher. He became her shoulder to cry on. Next thing you know, they were having a secret affair. The pair got married but not before causing a Hollywood storm and alienating Debbie Reynolds – Fisher’s wife and Taylor’s best friend.
Safe to say that many hearts were broken along the way. Even theirs as they, unfortunately, divorced in 1964. History famously repeated itself. Taylor ended up having an affair with Richard Burton while the two were filming “Cleopatra.” She married Burton the same year she divorced Fisher.