While he was alive, Eddie Fisher was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, musicians in the 1950s, and although it’s been almost a decade since he went to the great beyond, he continues to awaken the interest of music lovers for more than one reason.
Moreover, marriage scandals overshadowed his fame and cast a negative light on him in front of a large number of loyal fans. Fisher lived from 1928 to 2010, when he died of complications during a hip operation. He was married five times in his life and fathered four children. There are many details to tell about this great voice and this artist who once walked the earth.
Eddie Fisher Bio
The musical icon was a Philadelphia-born son of Russian Jewish immigrants who came to earth on August 10, 1928. He was the fourth of seven children of his father Joseph Tisch, who was a grocer, and his mother Katie (née Winokur). His name was Edwin John “Eddie” Fisher and would have become known as “Eddie Tisch” if his father had not changed his last name to Fisher during the 1940 census.
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As an adolescent, he had a strong connection to music and even had a nickname derived from a song. His family named him “Sonny Boy” after a song of the same name from the movie “The Singing Fool”, which was released the same year he was born. In addition, his strong singing was the style for maestros, and he became his ticket to fame and license from the impoverished livelihood he had as a child. He won one victory after another in almost every amateur singing competition he participated in, and by the time he was 12 years old, he was ready to take on the world of music.
In 1940, he made his radio debut on the program “When I Grow Grow Up” on the local radio station WFIL in Philadelphia. He then appeared on other radio shows such as Magic Lady, Junior Music Hall, Teen Time, and as a teenager he took first place on the popular show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts before switching to television. Every appearance brought him fame and prestige, and Fisher quickly became a star, at least in his home town.
Consequently, he gave up schooling to devote himself entirely to his career. Eddie attended Thomas Junior High School, then South Philadelphia High School before moving on to Simon Gratz High School, where he finally quit in the middle of his senior year with academics. He then moved to New York and sang in several bands before he was discovered by Eddie Cantor, who helped the young talent to fame by featuring him on his radio show where he performed. The recording became huge, and Eddie Fisher immediately became a star who received national attention and signed a record deal with RCA Victor.
He served in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953, after which he appeared as a television presenter, including his own television shows such as Coke Time with Eddie Fisher on NBC (1953-1957), The Gisele MacKenzie Show, and The Eddie Fisher Show (NBC) (1957-1959). In addition, his strong and melodious tenor combined with his romantic messages made him a teen idol and one of the most celebrated singers of the 1950s. During his career, he signed with four record companies, including his own, Ramrod Records, which was short-lived. The others include RCA Records, Dot Records, and then the Bainbridge record label.
He was probably the king of American popular music at the time, and it is fondly remembered that he was once greater than other musical forces of his time such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley, and even hotter than Sinatra. What he could not imagine, however, was how a little boy from the streets of Philadelphia could reach such heights. In the end, he came to the conclusion that this was only possible because he had a gift that he discovered and used to the maximum; his incredibly powerful and sweet romantic voice that captivated his audience.
Both as a singer and an actor, Fisher has left his mark on the entertainment industry, where he is known as an icon despite the personal problems that have impacted his success. He received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; one for recording and one for television.
Who Was He Married To
Fisher tried to get married five times in his life, and they all ended in divorce except one. In 1955 he married his first wife, the singer and actress Debbie Reynolds. Their wedding was duly titled, and the duo became Hollywood’s favorite couple. Unfortunately, the marriage broke up in 1959 before it really took off. They had two children, Carrie Fisher, and Todd Fisher.
After the death of his best friend (Mike Todd) in a plane crash in 1958, Fisher left his wife for Todd’s widow, Elizabeth Taylor. He became Taylor’s fourth husband, and the duo was married from 1959 to 1964 when she left him for Richard Burton. His first divorce, subsequent marriage, and finally divorce from Taylor led to a showbiz scandal from whose fame he never recovered.
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His third wife was the actress Connie Stevens, with whom he had two daughters: Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher. They married in 1967 and divorced in 1969. Six years later he married a 21-year-old beauty queen, Terry Richard, but they divorced in the following year, 1976. After a long pause on the road to marriage, he decided to give the marriage a chance again. In 1993 he married Betty Lin, a businesswoman born in China. This time the marriage lasted until death separated them; it ended with her death on April 15, 2001.
What Did He Die Of?
After his popularity declined and several failed attempts to revive it, Fisher relied on alcohol and drugs to get by. In one of his books, Been There, Done That, he described a 37-year-old dependence on methamphetamines.
He died on September 22, 2010, from complications of hip surgery, 13 days after he fell and broke his hip. The music icon died at the age of 82 in his home in Berkeley, California.
