Carrie Fisher, the actress who became a pop culture icon for her performance as Princess Leia in Star Wars, has died at age 60. Fisher had suffered a massive heart attack last week on a flight from London to Los Angeles. On Sunday, her family said she was in stable condition. A representative of Fisher’s daughter, Bille Lourd, confirmed that Fisher died on Tuesday morning.
Fisher shot to fame at the age of 19, when she took on her instantly iconic role in Star Wars. As Leia Organa, she seemed to be taking on the role of damsel in distress — appearing as a hologram begging for help. But she was no helpless heroine: Princess Leia was an indomitable, independent rebel leader. When the Star Wars franchise returned last year in The Force Awakens, Fisher’s role reflected the strength she’d always given her character: Princess Leia was now General Organa.
The actress returns for the next installment, Episode VIII, which is set for release in December 2017. People magazine reports Fisher had already filmed scenes for the film, and The Los Angeles Times says shooting is completed — though what role Leia plays in the movie, like other elements of the film, is “tightly under wraps.”
Fisher also appeared in Austin Powers, The Blues Brothers, Charlie’s Angels and When Harry Met Sally. But it was her appearance in the original Star Wars series that cemented Fisher’s status as a pop culture icon. Her legendary role came with instantly recognizable outfits: Those cinnamon-roll braids, that drapey white dress — and, of course, that famous gold bikini.
She was a writer of both memoirs and novels — her first book, the semi-autobiographical Postcards from the Edge, was a bit of both. It’s about a Hollywood actress working to recover from addiction. Her most recent book, Princess Diarist, is a memoir that includes Fisher’s diary from back when she was shooting the first Star Wars film. In it, she reveals that she and Harrison Ford had an affair. She was 19; he was in his 30s and married.
Carrie Fisher shared her approach to life in her one-woman show Wishful Drinking, which was later turned into a book. She found the humor in her parents’ marriage and their divorce, and made jokes out of her mother’s later marriages — and her own love life. Out of her personal struggles with drugs, alcohol and mental illness, Fisher built wry jokes. She also found greater understanding of herself — and the company of others.
“It creates community when you talk about private things and you can find other people that have the same things,” Fisher told NPR host Terry Gross. “Otherwise I felt very lonely with some of the issues that I had. … When I shared about it, I found that others had it, too.”
