Todd Fisher recalls life with Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds
Todd Fisher tells all in 'My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie,' a new memoir about growing up with sister Carrie Fisher and mother Debbie Reynolds.
Carrie Fisher’s brother Todd Fisher believes motherhood saved the late star from an early demise.
The “Star Wars” icon welcomed her only child, a daughter named Billie Lourd, in 1992. Fisher passed away in late 2016 at age 60 of cardiac arrest. An autopsy would later determine she had cocaine and traces of heroin, other opiates and MDMA in her system.
“When Carrie became a mother it grounded her very differently,” Todd, 62, told Page Six on Friday. “Looking at Carrie, ‘she’s going to be a mother, holy mackerel, what is that going to be?’”
“But what really happened… obviously Carrie was a unique mother, it’s what kept Carrie with us,” he shared. “I think we would have lost Carrie long ago, long before it hadn’t been for Billie.”
Carrie Fisher and daughter Billie Lourd attend the premiere of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on Dec. 14, 2015, in Hollywood, Calif. (Barry King/WireImage/Getty)
According to the outlet, Lourd, 28, released a statement after her mother’s passing, stating Fisher “battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life.”
“She ultimately died of it,” the actress added.
Lourd welcomed a child, a son named Kingston, in September. Todd told the outlet that his beloved sister would have been a doting grandmother.
“Carrie would have continued that,” he explained. “She obsessed over Billie. She shared with Billie herelf and I think that would have continued. I mean look what happened to my mom [Debbie Reynolds], she bought the house next door to Carrie to be close to Billie. Debbie and Carrie weren’t even talking at the time. She would have bought the house next door so to speak.”
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Reynolds died just one day after Fisher, following a stroke at age 84.
Today, Todd is determined to keep the legacy of his famous family alive.
Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Billie Lourd pose in the press room at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 25, 2015, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty)
“They’re still very much a part of me,” he said. “And I feel compelled to take every opportunity to keep their legacy alive and things that they stood for. They were very outspoken and powerful women. There were very few women doing what they did, especially Carrie outing herself for mental illness and drug use.”
Back in 2018, Todd detailed his last conversation with Fisher to Fox News.
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“We were talking about traveling together and doing other things, and she was still a little angry at me because, A, the party I had to sort of force down her throat, but my mom wanted it, and B, there was always different tension between the family of mom, particularly myself, and Carrie, as it related to her drug use at the time,” he said at the time.
“… But when Carrie and I got face-to-face, there was no way to have any of that. It just melted away, because the blood, the relationship between brother and sister, the bond, is so deep… She broke down and said '… We have to be OK with each other. It’s the foundation.'”
Debbie Reynolds (C), with son Todd Fisher and daughter Carrie Fisher. (Reuters)
Todd released a memoir about his upbringing titled "My Girls," which he credited to helping him cope with the devastating loss.
“... Losing a mother and a sister so close together, it’s devastating,” he explained. “I think what was even more heartbreaking was the effect that it had on my niece. Watching the side effects of it are also very difficult… [But] looking at my mother, in particular, she would be furious if you were to go into depression and just become a recluse. She would want you to step out of it."
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“Now, of course, everybody needs to deal with it," added Fisher. "I’m a Christian. I happen to believe that we’ll all meet again… My mother was a Christian. She believed that. Carrie believed it. We’ll all meet again… Also, [Carrie] visits me in my dreams, and I appreciate that, too… It was very cathartic, writing the book. It was heartbreaking… But I had to do it. Without Carrie there to write all the family stories, I’m the last man standing. If something happened to me, those stories would be lost.”
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