When Debbie Reynolds and Lisa Whelchel Met in the Most Unlikely of Places
What To Know
- Lisa Whelchel met Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds at a specialized med spa in the 1980s.
- Reynolds and Whelchel bonded over antiques and collecting.
It sounds like an awkward place to meet one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars, but back in the 1980s, Facts of Life darling Lisa Whelchel met silver screen icon Debbie Reynolds at a Hollywood med spa/camp of sorts where executives would send talent to “maintain their figures” to acceptable studio standards.
Whelchel, who is now on her seventh season hosting MeTV’s Collector’s Call (returning Sunday, April 12) and is sharing her personal stories and wisdom weekly on her Substack, talked to ReMIND last week about her time meeting Reynolds.
“Back in the day when I was on Facts of Life, there were a couple of seasons where the producer sent me to what we called back then a ‘fat farm,’ because they wanted Blair to lose weight,” Whelchel shares about her experiences during her nine-season run playing the uber-rich, perfectly dressed Blair Warner, who attended a private all-girls school on The Facts of Life.
Embassy Pictures/Courtesy: Everett Collection
“They sent my mother and I a few times. Now I would love to be sent there today, it’s basically, you get all this food, and you get to exercise, and you get to be pampered — but at 16, 17, it was more like, ‘No. I just want to go and be with my friends and eat a burger.’ Now it would cost $10,000,” Whelchel laughs. “Anyways, they sent me and my mom, and Debbie Reynolds was at one of them.”
There, the two bonded. Over their talks, Whelchel shared with Reynolds that her aunt owned an antique store, and Reynolds took an interest and even started giving the then-teen dolls to collect.
“She sent me a Shirley Temple doll from her own collection,” Whelchel adds. “Debbie had an incredible collection.”
Reynolds’ collection was indeed legendary, and at one time had an estimated value of $50 million. Long before collecting was even a thing, Reynolds painstakingly worked behind the scenes, saving, collecting, buying, preserving, and cherishing costumes, relics, props, and more from Hollywood’s biggest stars and sets.
She once said, “There is magic in every thread, button, and bow” of her costume collection that included items from Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, and others. She even tried for years to build a museum but lacked support from the community she sought to preserve — she apparently approached the Academy five times about collaborating but was turned down.
In 2011 and 2014, the Debbie Reynolds Auctions garnered almost $23 million in sales, which included Marilyn Monroe’s white subway dress from The Seven Year Itch that sold for $4.6 million.
MeTV actually catches up with another Marilyn Monroe collector, Scott Fortner, on an episode of Collector’s Call (Sunday, May 31 at 6:30/5:30c), where he shares with Whelchel his collection that includes the gown Monroe wore (and the fan she wielded) in The Prince and the Showgirl, and her personal script for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. From the private side, he showcases her phone book from 1962, a letter to her former father-in-law on her personal stationary, her custom-made black wool and mink collar suit, and her iconic green Pucci top.
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