Carrie Fisher Has Died
It is with extreme sadness that we report to you Carrie Fisher has died. Her family confirmed her passing in a statement through a spokesperson. The Star Wars actress had recently suffered a heart attack on a flight. She was 60 years old.
Simon Hall announced Fisher's passing on behalf of 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. She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.
On December 23, Fisher went into full cardiac arrest while flying from London to Los Angeles. She was attended to by paramedics on board and rushed to the UCLA Medical Center. As of yesterday, things were looking up and Fisher was said to be in stable condition. However, she took a turn for the worse and died today in the hospital.
Fisher became a household name by playing Leia Organa in the original Star Wars trilogy. Brave, whip-smart, and handy with a blaster, Leia was one of the defining silver screen heroines of the past half-century. Fisher reprised the role last year in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and will be seen again next year in the as-yet-untitled Star Wars: Episode 8.
Though known as an actress first and foremost, Fisher was also an accomplished writer. In addition to her own novels and memoirs and plays, she had a (not credited) hand in films like Hook, Sister Act, Lethal Weapon 3, and The Wedding Singer as one of Hollywood's top script doctors.
Fisher was born in Beverly Hills, California in 1956. As the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, she grew up around the world of showbiz. She made her own film debut as a teenager in 1975's Shampoo, and hit worldwide fame just a few years later with the original Star Wars. Other notable credits from her 40-year acting career include The Blues Brothers, Hannah and Her Sister, The 'Burbs, and When Harry Met Sally...
In her personal life, Fisher struggled with addiction and a bipolar disorder diagnosis. In her typical frank, outspoken style, she became an advocate for mental health issues. Her rare openness helped to destigmatize mental illness and offered courage to others dealing with similar problems.
Fisher drew inspiration from her own life for the semi-autobiographical novel (and subsequent movie adaptation) Postcards from the Edge, about an actress trying to put her life back together after a drug overdose, and for her autobiographical one-woman show (and subsequent memoir) Wishful Drinking. Most recently, she was traveling to promote The Princess Diarist, a memoir drawn from her old diaries and notebooks from her time making Star Wars.
Fisher is survived by her mother, Debbie Reynolds; her daughter, Billie Lourd; and her dog, Gary.