Princess Leia of Star Wars dies at the age of 60

Princess Leia of Star Wars dies at the age of 60 - and her mother at 84

Carrie Fisher, the Princess Leia of Star Wars, dies at the age of 60 of cardiac arrest. She died on Tuesday 27 December 2016 after a heart attack during a flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday 23 December. She was hospitalized and didn’t recover.

Acting from the age of 12, she first appeared in the movie Shampoo (1975) with Warren Beaty.

But Fisher rose to fame at 19 years of age as Princess Leia in the science fiction movie, Star Wars (1977), opposite Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Mark Hamill as her brother Luke Skywalker. She also starred in the movie sequels – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) as General Leia Organa, as well as a surprise role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).

Filming was completed in July 2016 on Fisher’s next appearance as Leia in Star Wars: Episode VIII, which will be in cinemas in December 2017.

Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, is still living, although her father Eddie Fisher died in 2010. She was married to singer songwriter Paul Simon from 1983 to 1984. To Hollywood talent agent Bryan Lourd she had a daughter, Billie Lourd.

Her book Postcards from the Edge (1987) was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep as Carrie in 1990.

Fisher once said, of pursuing one's dreams while diagnosed with bipolar disorder, "Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What's important is the action. You don't have to wait to be confident."

Update on 29 December 2016: The day after Carrie died, her mother Debbie Reynolds passed away at the age of 84. She was best known for her role in Singing in the Rain in 1952 with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. She is also remembered for the song, Tammy. Like mother like daughter - Debbie started her movie career at the age of 20.

Debbie Reynolds

1974 Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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