Biography

Carrie Fisher

Jump to

Overview

Born
October 21, 1956 · Burbank, California, USA
Died
December 27, 2016 · Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA (cardiac arrest caused by sleep apnea and other undetermined factors)
Birth name
Carrie Frances Fisher
Height
5′ 1″ (1.55 m)

Biography

Carrie Frances Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 in Burbank, California, to singers/actors Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. She was an actress and writer known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Fisher is also known for her book, "Postcards from the Edge", and she wrote the screenplay for the movie based on her novel. Carrie Fisher and talent agent Bryan Lourd have a daughter, Billie Lourd (Billie Catherine Lourd), born on July 17, 1992.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jen Kilmer
Carrie Fisher was an American actress, novelist, and script doctor from Burbank, California. As an actress, she is primarily remembered for portraying the rebel leader Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars original trilogy (1977-1983). The character's combination of defiance, assertiveness, and strength turned Leia into an iconic character of the science fiction and fantasy genres, and catapulted Fisher to international fame. She returned to the role of Leia in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015-2019), but died early in the trilogy's production. As a novelist, she is remembered for the autobiographical novels "Postcards from the Edge" (1987), "Surrender the Pink" (1990), "Delusions of Grandma" (1993), and "The Best Awful There Is" (2004). They were inspired by Fisher's real-life physical and mental problems, and her anxieties over her personal relationships. As an uncredited script doctor, Fisher contributed to the scripts of "Sister Act" (1992), "Last Action Hero" (1993), "Anastasia" (1997), and "The Wedding Singer" (1998).

In 1956, Fisher was born in Burbank, California. Her father was the popular singer Eddie Fisher (1928-2010), and her mother was the noted actress Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016). Fisher's paternal ancestry was Russian-Jewish, and her maternal ancestry was English and Scotch-Irish. Her parents divorced in 1960. Fisher was reportedly a "bookworm" during her childhood, and wrote poetry as a hobby.

Fisher had her Broadway debut as a singer in a 1973 revival of the musical "Irene" (1919) by James Montgomery. In the mid-1970s, Fisher received lessons from both the "Central School of Speech and Drama" in London and the "Sarah Lawrence College" in Yonkers, New York. She eventually dropped out from college. She made her film debut in the comedy film "Shampoo" (1975). She portrayed Lorna Karpf, an angry Beverly Hills teenager who decides to seduce her mother's lover. Lorna was thought to be one of the most memorable characters in a film with an older cast and a melancholic conclusion. "Star Wars" (1977) was the first time that Fisher was cast in a leading role.
- IMDb mini biography by: Dimos I

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars films
Often played smirking, sarcastic characters
Large brown eyes
Her husky voice, which grew much deeper over time.
Small petite figure

Trivia

She had to stand on a box for many of her scenes with Harrison Ford in the original Star Wars trilogy because she was roughly a foot shorter than him and was not the right size for the frame.
On the day following Carrie's death, her grief-stricken mother Debbie Reynolds suffered a stroke and also passed away.
Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, resided next door to her for most of her life.
She has confirmed in her autobiography that she disliked the "bagel-bun" hairstyle that she wore in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). However, prior to filming, the studio had requested that she lose some weight first, which she had not. Out of fear of being fired for it, she was eager to comply with everything that director George Lucas suggested, which included the hairstyle.
She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spoke on this topic to thousands of psychiatrists assembled for the American Psychiatric Association's Annual Meeting in May 2004 in New York City.

Quotes

I was street-smart, but unfortunately the street was Rodeo Drive.
I have no ambitions as an actress. I'm going to do a day's work on Scream 3 (2000), but that's all I can handle, a day's work.
[on her father's gossipy 1999 autobiography] I'm going to have my DNA fumigated.
I always wanted to do what my mother did-- get all dressed up, shoot people, fall in the mud. I never considered anything else.
You can't find true affection in Hollywood because everyone does the fake affection so well.