Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. Fisher played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017) — a posthumous release that was dedicated to her — and appeared in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), through the use of unreleased footage from The Force Awakens.
Carrie Fisher | |
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Fisher at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013 | |
| Born | Carrie Frances Fisher October 21, 1956 Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Died | December 27, 2016 (aged 60) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cardiac arrest; contributing factors were sleep apnea and atherosclerosis |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Sarah Lawrence College |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1959–2016 |
| Spouse |
Paul Simon
(m. 1983; div. 1984) |
| Partner | Bryan Lourd (1991–1994) |
| Children | Billie Lourd |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
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| Website | carriefisher |
Fisher's other film credits include Shampoo (1975), The Blues Brothers (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The 'Burbs (1989), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Soapdish (1991), and The Women (2008). She was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performances in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2007) and the Channel 4 series Catastrophe (2017).
Fisher wrote several semi-autobiographical novels, including Postcards from the Edge and an autobiographical one-woman play, and its non-fiction book, Wishful Drinking, based on the play. She wrote the screenplay for the film version of Postcards from the Edge which garnered her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and her one-woman stage show of Wishful Drinking received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. Fisher worked on other writers' screenplays as a script doctor, including tightening the scripts for Hook (1991), Sister Act (1992), The Wedding Singer (1998), and many of the films from the Star Wars franchise, among others.
Fisher was the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds. She and her mother appear in Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, a documentary about their relationship. It premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. She earned praise for speaking publicly about her experiences with bipolar disorder and drug addiction. Fisher died of a sudden cardiac arrest in December 2016, at age 60, four days after experiencing a medical emergency during a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles. She was posthumously made a Disney Legend in 2017, and was awarded a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album the following year. In 2023, she posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.