Maverick Life
Hollywood mourns ‘Star Wars’ icon Carrie Fisher
Co-stars, friends and fans added their voices on Tuesday to a torrent of tributes from Hollywood for "Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher, after she died at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack. The screen icon, who was catapulted to worldwide stardom as rebel warrior Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was pronounced dead in Los Angeles, four days after collapsing on a transatlantic flight. By AFP.
Hollywood star Carrie Fisher — best known for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the wildly popular “Star Wars” films — died Tuesday, days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight.
The 60-year-old actress had been in intensive care in a Los Angeles hospital after collapsing on the jetliner from London on Friday.
“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” family spokesman Simon Halls told AFP in a statement on behalf of Fisher’s daughter.
“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly.”
Hopes had been raised for Fisher’s recovery after her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, told her Twitter followers on Sunday her daughter was in stable condition.
Fisher was catapulted to worldwide stardom as the royal rebel Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, which has been a cultural phenomenon since the release of the films from 1977 to 1983.
She had just finished filming the third season of her latest screen project, the Amazon comedy television series “Catastrophe,” which is set in London.
She had also been on a publicity tour for her new book, “The Princess Diarist,” which made headlines because she wrote about a three-month affair with Harrison Ford while they were filming the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
Her other film credits include small roles in “The Blues Brothers,” “The Man with One Red Shoe,” Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Appointment with Death,” “Soapdish” and “When Harry Met Sally.”
She also had roles in a number of television movies including “These Old Broads,” and “Wright vs. Wrong,” as well as TV series including “The Big Bang Theory,” “Entourage,” “Sex and the City” and “Weeds.”
Most recently, she had joined the cast of the Amazon series “Catastrophe,” playing Mia, the heinous mother of her co-star Rob Delaney.
Though many will remember her as Princess Leia, Fisher was one of the film industry’s most sought-after script doctors.
She was the unsung hero behind many movies that went on to box office success including “Hook,” “Lethal Weapon 3,” “Sister Act,” “Scream 3,” “Outbreak,” and the “Star Wars” prequels.
Fisher was also hired by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas as a script doctor for the short-lived television series “Young Indiana Jones.”
Beyond her acting career and success as a script doctor, Fisher was a best-selling author known for her semi-autobiographical novels in which she wrote about her struggles with drug abuse, mental illness and her complicated family history.
In “Postcards from the Edge,” first published in 1987 and later adapted into an Oscar-nominated movie, she satirized her own acting career, her battle with drug abuse and her relationship with mother Debbie Reynolds.
Fisher wrote several other novels, including “Delusions of Grandma” and “Surrender the Pink.”
“Wishful Drinking,” which addresses with humor and candor her mental illness and drug abuse, was turned into a documentary.
Most recently, she was on a tour promoting her latest book “The Princess Diarist,” based on diaries she kept while filming “Star Wars.”
She revealed in the book that she had an affair with co-star Harrison Ford while on the set of ‘Star Wars.” DM
Photo: Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.