‘Star Wars’ actress Carrie Fisher dies aged 60

[webfact]

‘Star Wars’ actress Carrie Fisher dies aged 60

 

 

LOS ANGELES: -- US actress Carrie Fisher, famous for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars, has died aged 60.

 

The film star suffered a cardiac arrest last Friday on a flight from London to Los Angeles, where she was rushed to hospital after receiving emergency treatment on the plane.

 

The daughter of a Hollywood power couple, movie star Debbie Reynolds and entertainer Eddie Fisher, Fisher achieved her own fame portraying Princess Leia in the cinematic space saga launched in 1977.

 

with Reuters

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-12-28

[optad]

The force has left you. Very sad. THx for memories. This movie in 77 was ground breaking. 

 

 RIP

 

Edited December 27, 2016 by optad

[robertthebruce]

Far too young at 60

 

 

 

[Scott]

My condolences to her friends, family and many, many fans.  

 

[Somtamnication]

RIP. What a horrible 2016.

[webfact]

'Star Wars' princess Carrie Fisher dead at 60

By HILLEL ITALIE

 

NEW YORK (AP) — No one could make us laugh through the pain like Carrie Fisher.

 

The daughter of Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and a survivor of early fame, drug addiction and bipolar disorder, she wrote with unsentimental wit and understanding about her private struggles and about an industry she was raised in but stood apart from.

 

Fisher, known to the world as Princess Leia of "Star Wars," died Tuesday at 60, four days after falling ill aboard an airline flight. Media reports said the actress had suffered a heart attack.

 

"I do believe you're only as sick as your secrets. If that's true, I'm just really healthy," she said in a confessional 2009 interview with The Associated Press.

 

The public fell in love with her twice: as Princess Leia and as the wry truth-teller of such books as "Postcards From the Edge," ''Wishful Drinking" and "The Princess Diarist," in which she revealed having an intense affair with "Star Wars" co-star Harrison Ford.

 

Fisher told plenty of secrets about others — about her parents' breakup when she was 2, about being advised by Warren Beatty on wearing a bra in "Shampoo," and about arguing with then-husband Paul Simon about whether it was better to be a man or a woman.

 

Asked by NPR recently why she wrote about her fling with Ford, who was 15 years older and married, she joked that she could hold back no longer because he had refused to die: "I kept calling and saying, 'When are you going to die because I want to tell the story?'"

 

But she was toughest on herself and unafraid to turn trauma into humor. She became the most knowable of celebrities, with a great and generous gift for bringing us into her unusual life.

 

"One of the therapists came in to admit me and asked how long I had been a drug addict," she wrote in Postcards," her autobiographical novel that became a movie of the same name. "I said I didn't think I was a drug addict because I didn't take any one drug. 'Then you're a drugs addict,' she said. She asked if I had deliberately tried to kill myself. I was insulted by the question. I guess when you find yourself having overdosed, it's a good indicator that your life isn't working."

 

She is survived by her mother; her daughter, Billie Lourd, from a relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd; her brother, the actor-filmmaker Todd Fisher; and her half-sisters, actresses Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher. Her father died in 2010.

 

Born and raised in Beverly Hills, Carrie Fisher was a bookish child who had difficult relationships with both parents. In a celebrity breakup that made headlines everywhere in 1958, Eddie Fisher left his family for Elizabeth Taylor.

 

Eddie Fisher was hardly present for his daughter in her early years, and Reynolds' second husband, shoe store magnate Harry Karl, was even worse. He squandered his own money and Reynolds' on gambling and prostitutes and left the actress and her children broke and devastated.

 

Carrie Fisher went into the family business early — too early, she would later say. She was performing on stage by age 12 and appeared with Reynolds in the 1973 Broadway revival "Irene." She was still a teenager when she made her feature film debut in "Shampoo" in 1975.

 

Even after "Star Wars," Fisher would speak often of feeling overshadowed by her mother and about the need to break away, a conflict dramatized in "Postcards From the Edge."

 

Mother and daughter were estranged for years but reconciled later in life and came to admire each other's talent and determination. "Bright Lights: Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher," an HBO documentary, is scheduled for release in 2017.

 

Fisher's film credits included a wide range of spoofs, musicals and romantic comedies, from "Austin Powers" and "The Blues Brothers" to "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "When Harry Met Sally ..." Meryl Streep was the star when "Postcards From the Edge," with a screenplay by Fisher, was adapted into a film of the same name in 1990. Shirley MacLaine played Streep's mother, the stand-in for Reynolds.

 

But for millions, Fisher was Princess Leia, with her now-iconic hair bagels and metal bikini. She uttered the immortal phrase "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" in the original "Star Wars" in 1977.

 

Director George Lucas, who considered Jodie Foster, Amy Irving and dozens of others for the role, said he had been looking for an actress who could "hold her own" against her male co-stars.

 

In her 2008 memoir "Wishful Drinking," she recounted how Lucas told her on the first day of shooting that she couldn't wear a bra under her costume because "there's no underwear in space." Lucas, she said, later explained that a woman could be strangled by her bra in the weightlessness of space.

 

Fisher wisecracked in her book that that would make for a "fantastic obit," adding: "I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra."

 

Fisher would make a lot of wisecracks about the role that made her pop-culture royalty and led Reynolds to note ruefully she was now regarded as the mother of Princess Leia.

 

Fisher disliked her hairstyle, disparaged her hybrid British-American accent in the films and was appalled by some of the "Star Wars" merchandise, including a Princess Leia candy dispenser.

 

Given the chance, she would have preferred to play Han Solo.

 

"When I first read the script I thought that's the part to be, always wry and sardonic," she told a gathering in England in 2015. "He's always that. I feel like a lot of the time Leia's either worried or pissed or, thank God, sort of snarky. But I'm much more worried and pissed than Han Solo ever was, and those aren't fun things to play."

 

Her drug problems pre-dated "Star Wars." She recalled smoking pot at age 13 (She would later learn that there is a kind of marijuana called "Princess Leia.") and dropped acid at 21.

 

She used so much cocaine that even world-class partyer John Belushi, who died of a drug overdose at 33, warned her to stop.

 

In her 20s, she was diagnosed as bipolar and treated with electroshock therapy and medication, which she wrote about in the memoir "Shockaholic."

 

"People relate to aspects of my stories, and that's nice for me because then I'm not all alone with it," she told the AP in 2009.

 

Ever ready to satirize herself, she even played "Carrie Fisher" a few times, as in David Cronenberg's dark Hollywood sendup "Maps to the Stars" and in an episode of "Sex and the City." In the past 15 years, Fisher also had a steady career as a television guest star, perhaps most memorably as a has-been comedy legend on "30 Rock."

 

Her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," which she had performed on and off across the country since 2006, made it to Broadway in 2009 and was captured for HBO in 2010.

 

"I don't have a problem with drugs so much as I have a problem with sobriety," she wisecracked in the show. At another point, she said: "I'm a product of Hollywood inbreeding. When two celebrities mate, something like me is the result."

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-28

[canuckamuck]

She was my first crush. Farewell princess.

[phantomfiddler]

Beam her up, Scotty.

[i claudius]

Loved her and the other actors in the original star wars films , such a shame the new ones are such crap .

[soalbundy]

She was a drug taking hard living person with mental problems, let's all have a sobbing session. Her body finally rebelled.

[user82374298374]

4 hours ago, robertthebruce said:

Far too young at 60

 

In The Force Awakens, which is nothing more than an SJW-infused rehash of the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV:  A New Hope), she looked to be about 80.

Edited December 28, 2016 by disambiguated

[KarenBravo]

Hard to believe it was 40 years ago when she played Princess Leia.

Outlived by her mother (who still looks younger than her daughter).

[Silurian]

A sad day indeed.

 

There is one image that will always remain in my mind.

 

 

[Ace of Pop]

There is so much in my life I've missed.Starwars and Starbucks being 2of them


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Prbkk]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

She was a drug taking hard living person with mental problems, let's all have a sobbing session. Her body finally rebelled.

 

I believe she acknowledged the  excesses. As she herself said ,that as time rolled on she hadn't expected that one day she would end up looking like Elton John. 

[Dustdevil]

1 hour ago, Silurian said:

A sad day indeed.

 

There is one image that will always remain in my mind.

 

 

Me too. I liked it when she strangled Jabba. Very erotic strong girl.

[Wilsonandson]

R.I.P

[elgordo38]

8 hours ago, optad said:

The force has left you. Very sad. THx for memories. This movie in 77 was ground breaking. 

 

 RIP

 

Pile on the likes guys its a worthy cause. 

[gk10002000]

Tough life. Had a lot of things going for her, also had some serious issues, and some demons.  The drug use certainly didn't help.  Gosh look at George Michaels.  She looked pretty rough the last few years when she was recorded walking about.  Loved her in the Blues Brothers.

[The Dark Lord]

Indeed it was around 40 years ago when she captured not so much the hearts but the male "thinking thing" of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of teen aged males pumped up with all sorts of strange ideas. 

 

RIP Princess and may the force go with you!

 

what an appalling year for celebs it has been 2/3 of ELP off in one go Bowie, Quo, Prince ( like him or not he was terrifically gifted), George Michael who did for teen girls what the Princess did for the teen boys, the list is terribly long and immensely  sad and I just hope that they are in a far better place now.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2016 by The Dark Lord
Fat finger syndrome

[elgordo38]

3 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

Tough life. Had a lot of things going for her, also had some serious issues, and some demons.  The drug use certainly didn't help.  Gosh look at George Michaels.  She looked pretty rough the last few years when she was recorded walking about.  Loved her in the Blues Brothers.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. 

[Grouse]

4 hours ago, disambiguated said:

 

In The Force Awakens, which is nothing more than an SJW-infused rehash of the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV:  A New Hope), she looked to be about 80.

How kind

[gk10002000]

8 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. 

I don't consider drug use or abuse a sin.  It is just something that people need to be warned of more than the routine quiet stuff they get from their parents.  They need to see the real world before and after examples, kind of like those prison shows.  People need to see the medical, physical, mental affects from real world users.  Look at the actors and celebrities that "had it" and then gave it all away fatally.  John Belushi, Michaels, Michael Jackson (jesus his net worth was 200 million plus), Len Bayas (NBA), Doc Gooden, darryl strawberry, etc.  Some of these people had tough upbringings and were exposed to very disruptive possibly even traumatic child hood things. Others just got distracted during their adult life, hung out with some negative influences etc. 

Edited December 28, 2016 by gk10002000
additions

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, Prbkk said:

 

I believe she acknowledged the  excesses. As she herself said ,that as time rolled on she hadn't expected that one day she would end up looking like Elton John. 

She really did look like him, as princess Leia i always thought she looked like an advert for headphones, she was more of a writer than an actress.

[Grouse]

12 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Pile on the likes guys its a worthy cause. 

 

She famously called those hair buns a "hair don't" ?

[elgordo38]

4 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

I don't consider drug use or abuse a sin.  It is just something that people need to be warned of more than the routine quiet stuff they get from their parents.  They need to see the real world before and after examples, kind of like those prison shows.  People need to see the medical, physical, mental affects from real world users. 

Thanks for your clarification. 

[gk10002000]

15 minutes ago, Grouse said:

 

She famously called those hair buns a "hair don't" ?

one of the funniest scenes in the movie comedy Spaceballs, when the Drewish Princess took off the headphones!

[daveAustin]

4 hours ago, disambiguated said:

In The Force Awakens, which is nothing more than an SJW-infused rehash of the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV:  A New Hope), she looked to be about 80.

 

Disagree on both counts though she did look a lot older. Shame. Bad year. RIP.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Jesus Christ....When some old druggie rocker dies and there is a pile of condolences I don't butt in and make nasty comments.

For any 80's kid like myself she will be missed... It's not about the person really, but your own memories. Yep....She will be missed. She was pretty funny too.

[rijb]

 

 

Edited December 28, 2016 by rijb