Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher
Fisher in September 2013
Fisher at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013
Born
Carrie Frances Fisher

(1956-10-21)October 21, 1956
Burbank, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 27, 2016(2016-12-27) (aged 60)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actress
  • writer
Years active1975–2016
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 1984)​
PartnerBryan Lourd (1991–1994)
ChildrenBillie Lourd
Parents
Relatives
Websitecarriefisher.com

Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer.[1] She played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films (1977–1983) and reprised the role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), a posthumous release that was dedicated to her,[2][3]and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), through the use of unreleased footage from The Force Awakens.[4][5] Her 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).[6] 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 nonfiction 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. She 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.[7] An Entertainment Weekly article from May 1992 described Fisher as "one of the most sought-after doctors in town."[8][9]

Fisher was the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds. She and her mother appear together 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.[10] 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,[11] 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.[12]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WoF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 20, 2016). "'Star Wars: Episode VIII' Gets New Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  3. ^ Derschowitz, Jessica (December 12, 2017). "'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' is dedicated to Carrie Fisher". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Couch, Aaron (July 27, 2018). "Carrie Fisher to Appear in 'Star Wars: Episode IX'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  5. ^ Perry, Spencer (December 5, 2019). "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Doesn't Use Any Carrie Fisher Footage From The Last Jedi". Comicbook. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019. We only used footage from Force Awakens, there really wasn't anything from Last Jedi that was not used in that movie.
  6. ^ "More Than Leia: Carrie Fisher's Other Memorable Roles". WNBC. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  7. ^ "Carrie Fisher wasn't just a great actress, she was one of Hollywood's best script doctors". The Independent. December 27, 2016. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  8. ^ "From sassy princess to work colleague, the Carrie Fisher I knew". CNET. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  9. ^ Sherlock, Ben; McCormick, Colin (November 15, 2022). "10 Movie Scripts You Didn't Know Carrie Fisher Worked On". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Carrie Fisher honored at D23 as Disney Legend". CNN. July 14, 2017. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  12. ^ Prudom, Laura (May 4, 2023). "A Force to Be Remembered: Mark Hamill Praises Carrie Fisher's 'Star Wars' Legacy Ahead of Walk of Fame Honor". Archived from the original on May 4, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2023.