Carrie Fisher's mother Debbie Reynolds dies a day after her daughter

'She wanted to be with Carrie,' her son Todd Fisher said

Carrie Fisher's mother, the actress Debbie Reynolds, has died at the age of 84. Reynolds was a leading lady in Hollywood musicals and comedies in the 1950s and 1960s, starring in Singin' in the Rain.

"She wanted to be with Carrie," her son Todd Fisher said. "She's now with Carrie and we're all heartbroken."

The pair were reportedly planning Fisher's funeral when Reynolds was taken ill at her son's home in Beverley Hills, California. She was rushed to the nearby Cedars Sinai Medical Center after suffering from a stroke, according to celebrity news website TMZ.

Her death comes just over 24-hours after her 60-year-old daughter died in a Los Angeles hospital, four days after suffering a heart attack on board a flight from London to the Californian city.

Reynolds, who appeared in more than 60 films, is best known for her starring role in the 1952 musical Singing in the Rain, alongside Gene Kelly.

She was married to Fisher's father Eddie Fisher for four years between 1955 and 1959. She would eventually lose him to Elizabeth Taylor. Two other husbands plundered her for millions.

Debra Messing, who played Reynolds' on-screen daughter in Will & Grace, was among the stars who paid tribute to her on social media.

Ms Messing wrote on Instagram: "Debbie went to be with Carrie. She always worried about her. Carrie left too soon and now they are together again."

Dame Joan Collins tweeted: "Truly heartbroken to hear DebbieReynolds1 has died. She was a wonderfully warm friend and colleague. Praying for Todd & Billie. £RIPDebbie."

William Shatner wrote: "Debbie Reynolds was one of the last of Hollywood Royalty. It breaks my heart that she is gone. I'd hoped that my grieving was done for 2016."

His fellow Star Trek actor George Takei added: "There is nothing harder than having to bury a child. Debbie died of a broken heart, but she's with her daughter now."

Reynolds had paid an emotional tribute to her daughter on Facebook.

She wrote: "Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love Carrie's Mother."

In her screen career, Reynolds was a superstar early in life. After two minor roles at Warner Brothers and three supporting roles at MGM, studio boss Louis B. Mayer cast her in Singin' in the Rain, despite Kelly's objections.

She was 19 with little dance experience, and she would be appearing with two of the screen's greatest dancers, Donald O'Connor and Kelly, who also co-directed.

Debbie Reynolds (left) accepts the life achievement award from her daughter actress Carrie Fisher at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, 2015 (Reuters)

"Gene Kelly was hard on me, but I think he had to be," Reynolds, who more than held her own in the movie, told the Associated Press in 1990. "I had to learn everything in three to six months. Donald O'Connor had been dancing since he was three months old, Gene Kelly since he was 2 years old... I think Gene knew I had to be challenged."

She would go on to make more than 60 films receiving an Oscar nomination for The Unsinkable Molly Brown in 1964.

She starred with Glenn Ford in The Gazebo, Tony Curtis in The Rat Race and Fred Astaire in The Pleasure of His Company. She also provided the voice of Charlotte the spider in the 1973 animated "Charlotte's Web."

On stage she also received a Tony nomination in 1973 when she starred on Broadway in the revival of "Irene," in which her daughter also appeared.

But over the years, her marital woes continued. In 1960 Reynolds married shoe magnate Harry Karl. The marriage ended in disaster when she discovered that Karl, a compulsive gambler, had devastated her assets and left her deeply in debt. She divorced him in 1973 and toured tirelessly with her song and dance show to pay off creditors.

Reynolds' third marriage, to Virginia businessman Richard Hamlett in 1984, proved equally disastrous. In 1992, against friends' advice, she paid $10m (£8.2m) to buy and convert the faded Paddlewheel Hotel in Las Vegas into the Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino. She performed nightly and conducted tours of her movie memorabilia, which she had collected since MGM auctioned its artifacts in 1970.

She ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1997 and selling the property at auction the next year, and accused Hamlett of making off with her money.

Along with her daughter she featured in the HBO documentary "Bright Lights," scheduled for release in 2017.