Dan Aykroyd was one of many celebrities to pay tribute to his former fiancée Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds at the duo’s public memorial service in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The Ghostbusters actor, 64, revealed that he once saved Fisher’s life when she was choking on a piece of food.
“Firstly, I feel responsible in part myself for why Carrie is not with us today because I once saved her life applying the Heimlich to dislodge a Brussels sprout,” he shared at the service put together by Todd Fisher, Fisher’s brother and Reynolds’ son. “If I had been with our beloved showboat I might have been able to save her again.”
Aykroyd also talked about his romantic relationship with the Star Wars actress, revealing that she sought advice from musician Paul Simon, whom she also dated.
“She had long conversations on the phone in my presence with Paul Simon, with whom she was attempting to reconcile at the time of my relationship with her,” Aykroyd recalled. “Here I found myself in love with a woman who was returning to a former intimate, and might I say a much better choice. But a woman who confided deeply in me and who valued my counsel.”
He continued, “Throughout the process of her decision to not marry me and wed another, the reward for my unwavering support in whatever decision she wanted to do was the time I had with her as a trusted friend and fellow night hawk.”
The Saturday Night Live alum also shared that he and Fisher thought about having children together.
“Although Carrie and I did not get married, we had taken blood tests in anticipation of maybe having a child and a doctor in Chicago took them for us. Because babies and Christmas were great joys for Carrie,” he said.
“So what would the offspring of Princess Leia and Elwood Blues have turned out like?” Aykroyd continued. “Funny, quick, spiritual, haunted, pursued, talented, acerbic, deviant, genius, tech motor device engine and music savvy—in other words, we would have had Todd Fisher.”
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The comedy actor also spoke fondly of Reynolds, who he said welcomed him when he first moved to Los Angeles. Aykroyd later acted alongside her in the HBO Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra.
“Debbie would come to the set each day driving her green and tan Cadillac and donning a prosthetic horn and a pitch perfect polish American accent,” he said. “I watched as she went to work immersed completely in the role but she was brilliant. Here I am going, ‘Wow I’m on a set with Debbie Reynolds.’ ”
He added, “She looked insanely appealing coming and going from her work. Even with the horn, the glasses and the padding, Debbie was a star. A comment which she disapproved of me saying at the time.”
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Fisher was aboard a flight from London to Los Angeles on Dec. 23 when she went into cardiac arrest. She died four days later at UCLA Medical Center at the age of 60. Her cause of death was listed as “cardiac arrest/deferred,” according to her death certificate.
Reynolds died a day later, on Dec. 28, at the age of 84. She suffered a stroke at her and Fisher’s property. The Singin’ in the Rain star died from a blood vessel that ruptured and caused bleeding in her brain. Her official cause of death was an intracerebral hemorrhage.
Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, did not attend the memorial service because it was “too soon,” according to a family source.
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