Clockwise from top: Eddie Fisher,
lounging backstage at the Copacabana,
1947. "I was bigger than the Beatles.
Bigger than Elvis. Hotter than Sinatra."
Fisher with Frank Sinatra: "Sinatra and
I dated several of the same women. Not at
the same time, of course. Well, except for
Mill Farrow.' Fisher with his parents.
"When my father came to see me perform,
Id look at him lovingly. and sing it: `Oh,
my Papa, to me you are so wondeiful.'
was the best acting of my career"
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
E
ver wondered about the
sexual habits of Debbie
Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor,
Connie Stevens, Michelle
Phillips, Stephanie Powers, Ann-
Margret, Edie Adams and even
Marlene Dietrich?
Once popular singer Eddie Fisher
claims to have experienced relation-
ships with all of them, and many
more Hollywood stars, and tells the
hard-core details in his new book,
Been There, Done That (St. Martin's
Press, $24.95).
The kiss-and-tell autobiography
— protested as untrue by many of
the people mentioned — also touch-
es upon Fisher's rise to wealth and
stardom as a recording artist and TV
personality in the '50s; traces his
longtime bouts with alcohol and
drugs; and acknowledges his poor
performance as a dad to all four of
his children, two with first wife
Debbie Reynolds and two with third
wife Connie Stevens.
Elizabeth Taylor was his second
wife — until she fell in love with
Richard Burton while they were
filming Cleopatra.
The singer, 71, who will appear at
the 48th Annual Jewish Book Fair on
Saturday, Nov. 13, still performs
occasionally and made his last
recording, "Love's Been Good to
Me," in 1996. He travels with his
fourth wife, Betty Young Lin.
In an interview with The Jewish
News, Fisher attested to the honesty
of his writing and says he's glad to
answer any questions raised through-
out his tour:
JN: How's the book circuit going,
particularly the Jewish Center cir-
cuit?
EF: It's going terrific. I had a book
signing last night that was really
incredible. People came out and stood
around for hours. I had tremendous
communication with them and great
fun as they finally sat down as an
audience. When I work in front of
people, I get such a feeling of warmth.
The people just thrill me, and I try to
10/29
1999
82 Detroit Jewish News
very, very true. Some people, like
Elizabeth, think that I was in anoth-
er world and this is made up. I'm
sorry about some of the responses
that have happened, but that goes
with the territory.
JN: How do you react to the criti-
cism voiced by your son, Todd, and
daughter Carrie?
EF: I'm very sad about Carrie taking
this role, but I hope that we can
mend fences. She's known about the
content of the book, and I'm not
surprised that she's come up with
some very clever, witty things to say
— as well as things that hurt.
JN: Did you try to get in touch
with your children to try to ease
things over?
EF: I think I should wait and give it
some time.
thrill them. I've been performing for
over 55 years and love to capture an
audience. I love to make them laugh
and maybe [shed] a tear. I'm an old
romantic fool.
JN: When you speak at the Jewish
Community Center in Michigan,
what kinds of things are you going
to cover?
EF: I won't come prepared with
something specific. I wait for specific
questions. I'm willing to cover any-
thing, and I'll tell some of the things
that are not in the book. I hope for
surprises and prefer it that way —
that it just happens.
JN: What do you want the general
public to learn from your autobiog-
raphy?
EF: I think there are tremendous
lessons about taking care of what
you're trying to build. I kind of
destroyed that in the way I lived.
That's very unfortunate, but that's
how it goes. I believe a lot can be
learned in things not to do.
JN: Why did you decide to write
this book?
EF: I started working on it 5 1/2
years ago. I was not satisfied with the
first book, which I wrote 18 years
ago. I'm very happy to have been
able to tell the whole story. I think
the book now is hard-hitting, and
I'm as rough on myself as anybody
else in it. I think it's very fair and
JN: Was there ever a relationship
that meant so much to you that you
didn't want to discuss it?
EF: I was very lucky to be with some
of the most beautiful, interesting,
highly intelligent women. It made
for a great life. I have loved five or
six times. The big love of my life was
Elizabeth, and the love of my life
now is the woman I've been with for