Debbie Reynolds is celebrated for her performances in a string of 1950s musicals, including Singin’ in the Rain in ’52. In the following decade she won acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

She was born Mary Frances Reynolds on April 1, 1932, in El Paso, Texas. She got her start in the spotlight in beauty pageants then was discovered by Warner Bros., making her debut in June Bride, in 1948. Two years later she showed off her singing talents in Three Little Words, portraying 1920s singer Helen Kane.

Her starring roles came in Two Weeks with Love, Skirts Ahoy!, Give a Girl a Break, and Hit the Deck. It was 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain where she shined brilliantly. Opposite Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor, Reynolds performed songs like “Good Morning,” and “All I Do is Dream of You.”

In 1957 earned a No. 1 pop hit with the ballad “Tammy” from the romantic film Tammy and the Bachelor. From there she was in The Rat Race, The Pleasure of His Company, How the West Was Won, Goodbye Charlie, and The Singing Nun. In the late 1960s she starred in the short-lived The Debbie Reynolds Show and in 1973 she voiced the beloved titular character in Charlotte’s Web.

She appeared in episodes of Aloha Paradise, The Love Boat, The Golden Girls, and Roseanne. She was in Heaven & Earth, In & Out, voicing in Rugrats movies and TV series, several episodes of Will & Grace, and her final role was in The 7D in 2015.

Her wit and trademark humor were in her autobiography Debbie: My Life, as well as Unsinkable: A Memoir and Make ‘Em Laugh: Short-Term Memories of Longtime Friends. Earlier in 2016 she won the Jean Hershold Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards. Reynolds died on Wednesday, December 28, 2016, a day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, passed.