Actress and writer Carrie Fisher dies at 60

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Carrie Fisher, US actress and writer for page and screen, died this morning in a Los Angeles, California hospital after treatment following cardiac arrest. She was best known for the role of Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie franchise.

Fisher went into cardiac arrest on Friday during a commercial flight from London just before landing in Los Angeles. She was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center. She was reported to have remained stable over the weekend.

Billie Lourd, Fisher's daughter, said, "She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly [...] Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers."

	No. I fear dying[...] Anything with pain associated with it[...] But if I was gonna do it, I'd want someone like me around. And I will be there!
—Carrie Fisher, when asked if she feared death, Rolling Stone

Though most famous for Star Wars, Fisher also appeared in such film and television productions as The Blues Brothers, Hannah and Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally, 30 Rock, and The Big Bang Theory. As a scriptwriter, Fisher contributed to Hook, Sister Act, and other films. Her most noted written work was the novel Postcards from the Edge, made into a film of the same name starring Meryl Streep. Fisher's script received a BAFTA award nomination. Fisher was also known for her candid treatment of both substance abuse and bipolar disorder in both her fictional and autobiographical works and for her mental health awareness advocacy. She once described a manic episode as being "trapped inside a metaphor. Everything I looked at had a meaning. Everything was a warning or a sign. I was in a part of my brain I've only been in one time before."

Her personal life included romantic relationships with Harrison Ford, Dan Ackroyd, Paul Simon, and Bryan Lourd, with whom she had her daughter, Billie. Former co-star Mark Hamill reported via Twitter that he was "devastated."

Last month, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Fisher responded on whether she feared death: "No. I fear dying [...] Anything with pain associated with it, I don't like. I've been there for a couple of people when they were dying; it didn't look like fun. But if I was gonna do it, I'd want someone like me around. And I will be there!"

She was the eldest child of actress and stage performer Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Fisher is survived by her mother and daughter, brother Todd, and half-sisters Joely and Trisha Leigh Fisher.

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See Actress and singer Debbie Reynolds dies, one day after daughter's death, December 29, 2016

Sources

Dave Itzkoff. "Carrie Fisher, Child of Hollywood and ‘Star Wars’ Royalty, Dies at 60" — The New York Times, December 27, 2016
Lindsay Kimble. "Iconic Star Wars Actress Carrie Fisher Dies at 60: 'She Was Loved by the World and She Will Be Missed Profoundly'" — People (magazine), December 27, 2016
Daniel Kreps. "Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia in 'Star Wars,' Dead at 60" — Rolling Stone, December 27, 2016
Elizabeth Leonard. "Carrie Fisher Describes Her Bipolar Crisis" — People, September 23, 2016

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