How Much Was Debbie Reynolds Worth? Actress Once Filed Bankruptcy When Her Las Vegas Casino Failed

Debbie Reynolds, remembered for her performances in such memorable movies as “Singing in the Rain” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” spent years in financial trouble, finally filing for bankruptcy in 1997.

At her death Wednesday, she was estimated to have been worth $60 million to $85 million.

Reynolds, 84, died just a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher succumbed following a massive heart attack. Reynolds suffered what was described as a medical emergency at her Beverly Hills home as she planned her daughter’s funeral and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Reynolds’ career in Hollywood spanned nearly seven decades. Her breakout role was as Helen Kane in 1950’s “Three Little Words.” This year she played herself in the documentary “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.”

Reynolds always said she felt closest to the character she played in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

"In life, I'm like Molly Brown. I've had tough times along the way and gone through experiences that many women have gone through. But I ain't down yet," she told USA Today last year.

She married and divorced three times: Eddie Fisher, 1955-56; Harry Karl, 1960-73, and Richard Hamlett, 1984-96. She blamed the failures of her marriages in a 2015 Daily Mail interview on not being “a very sexual lady.”

It was the second marriage that first took a toll on her finances. She spent the 1970s trying to pay off a $3 million debt and was forced into bankruptcy in 1997 when a casino venture in which she had invested failed.

Hamlett had bought the land for the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel, which hosted the Debbie Reynolds Star Theatre and housed Reynolds’ collection of Hollywood memorabilia, including 3,000 costumes. The hotel failed when the casino operator pulled out.

In the years since, Reynolds’ finances recovered. The Richest estimated her net worth at $60 million while Celebrity Net Worth estimated she was worth $85 million.

Reynolds opened a dance studio in North Hollywood in 1979 and released an exercise video, “Do It Debbie’s Way,” in 1983.

In 2010, she replaced Ivana Trump at the weekly Globe, answering reader questions.

Born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas, she was signed by Warner Bros. when she was 16 and later signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.