Carrie Fisher Dead at 60

Lucasfilm – 2016(LOS ANGELES) — Carrie Fisher, who will forever be known for playing Princess Leia Organa in the original Star Wars trilogy, and General Leia Organa in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has died. She was 60.  Fisher suffered a heart attack on an airplane from London to L.A. on Friday, December 23 and was rushed off the plane by paramedics.  On Christmas Day, her family reported she was stable, but now a family spokesperson has confirmed her passing via a statement from her daughter, Billie Lourd.

“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” reads the statement. “She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly.”

Fisher came from Hollywood royalty, the daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher.  She made her Broadway debut at the age of 15 in Irene, which starred her mother.  Her movie debut came in the 1975 Warren Beatty film Shampoo, but in 1977, Star Wars made her a household name.  In 2016, Fisher revealed that she and her married co-star Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo, had had an affair during the shoot.

After a variety of TV roles, Fisher’s next big movie was The Blues Brothers, though she was listed in the credits as “mystery woman.” She then appeared in the Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi, and starred in Broadway in Agnes of God.  In 1986, she appeared in Woody Allen’s acclaimed film Hannah and Her Sisters.

1987 saw the arrival of Fisher’s first book Postcards from the Edge, a loosely autobiographical novel which was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.  She continued working steadily appearing in movies like When Harry Met Sally, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Scream 3 and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.  Her career as an author continued as well: she published the novels Surrender the Pink and Delusions of Grandma.

Fisher also was a top Hollywood script doctor, polishing other writers’ screenplays.  Among the movies she worked on: Hook, Lethal Weapon 3Sister Act, The Wedding Singer, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and even two Star Wars prequels: The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith. 

Fisher, who struggled with drugs and bipolar disorder, continued acting, receiving an Emmy nod for her work in an episode of 30 Rock, and also mounted one-woman plays and published more books, including 2016’s The Princess Diarist.  Her career was revitalized via her return as Leia in 2015’s The Force Awakens, where we learn that she and Han Solo have split up and that their son Ben, aka Kylo Ren, has turned to the Dark Side of the Force.

Fisher was married to Paul Simon from 1983 to 1984 but had no children.  She had a daughter, actress Billie Lourd, with talent agent Bryan Lourd.

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