--- description: Carrie Fisher, the actress best known as Star Wars‘ Princess Leia Organa, has died after suffering a heart attack. She was 60. title: Carrie Fisher, Celebrated 'Star Wars' Actor, Dies at 60 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6f9412f975d757d/69887348196cf4d70b0393df/151130050535.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Carrie Fisher, Celebrated _Star Wars_ Actor, Dies at 60 by [Lindsay Kimble / People](/author/people/) ## Lindsay Kimble / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 27, 2016 6:03 PM CUT  Carrie Fisher photographed for TIME on October 27, 2015 in Los Angeles. Carrie Fisher photographed for TIME on October 27, 2015 in Los Angeles.Marco Grob for TIME by [Lindsay Kimble / People](/author/people/) ## Lindsay Kimble / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 27, 2016 6:03 PM CUT [Carrie Fisher](http://people.com/tag/carrie-fisher "undefined"), the actress best known as Princess Leia Organa in _Star Wars_, has died after [suffering a heart attack](http://people.com/celebrity/carrie-fisher-heart-attack/ "undefined"). She was 60. Family spokesman Simon Halls released a statement on behalf of Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd: “It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” reads the statement. “She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.” Fisher was flying from London to Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 23, when she went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics removed her from the flight and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for a heart attack. She later died in the hospital. The daughter of showbiz veteran [Debbie Reynolds](http://people.com/celebrity/debbie-reynolds-carrie-fisher-will-be-just-fine-after-hospitalization/ "undefined") and entertainer Eddie Fisher, Fisher was brought up in the sometimes tumultuous world of film, theatre and television. Escaping Hollywood in 1973, [the star enrolled](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/star-wars/10848580/Carrie-Fisher-interview-The-secrecy-around-the-new-Star-Wars-film-is-like-D-Day.html "undefined") in the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where she spent over a year studying acting. Just two years later, though, the bright lights of Hollywood drew her back, and Fisher made her film debut in the Warren Beatty-lead _Shampoo_. Her role in _Star Wars_ would follow in 1977 – the experience she recently [detailed in memoir](http://people.com/movies/carrie-fisher-star-wars-revelations-stephen-colbert-late-show/ "undefined"), _The Princess Diarist_. She was only 19 when the first installment of the beloved sci-fi franchise was filmed. In addition to the second and third _Star Wars_ films – and last year’s _The Force Awakens_ – Fisher starred in 1980’s _The Blues Brothers_, _The Man with One Red Shoe_, Woody Allen’s _Hannah and Her Sisters_ in 1986 and, later, _When Harry Met Sally_. Fisher wed musician [Paul Simon in 1983](http://people.com/music/paul-simon-and-carrie-fishers-turbulent-love-affair/ "undefined"). It was an explosive marriage, according to _Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon_ author Peter Ames Carlin, and was cut short by swinging stages of depression, the actresses’ drug use and an array of personal insecurities. The relationship continued, though, on-and-off for several years after the pair divorced in 1984. The star’s substance abuse problem was well-known, starting at only age 13 when she first started smoking marijuana, Fisher previously told [_The Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/star-wars/10848580/Carrie-Fisher-interview-The-secrecy-around-the-new-Star-Wars-film-is-like-D-Day.html "undefined"). She said she later dabbled in drugs like cocaine and LSD. Fisher’s addiction was largely profiled in her 1987 best-selling, semi-autobiographical novel, _Postcards from the Edge_, which was later turned into a movie starring [Meryl Streep](http://people.com/tag/meryl-streep "undefined"). “I never could take alcohol. I always said I was allergic to alcohol, and that’s actually a definition to alcoholism — an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind,” Fisher [told the _Herald-Tribune_](http://health.heraldtribune.com/2013/04/20/14065/ "undefined") in 2013\. “So I didn’t do other kinds of drugs until I was about 20\. Then, by the time I was 21 it was LSD. I didn’t love cocaine, but I wanted to feel any way other than the way I did, so I’d do anything.” In 1985, Fisher was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she [told the _Herald-Tribune_](http://health.heraldtribune.com/2013/04/20/14065/ "undefined"), and subsequently became [an outspoken advocate](http://people.com/celebrity/carrie-fisher-interview-star-discusses-bipolar-crisis/ "undefined") for mental health awareness. Throughout much of the ’90s, Fisher focused on her writing career, publishing _Surrender the Pink_ and _Delusions of Grandma_. In addition, Fisher [reportedly helped craft](http://decider.com/2015/10/21/carrie-fishers-hollywood-script-doctor/ "undefined") the scripts for numerous Hollywood films, going uncredited, for films like _The Wedding Singer_, _Hook_ and _Sister Act_. Billie Lourd, Fisher’s only child, was born in July 1992\. The _Scream Queens_ star’s father, talent agent Bryan Lourd, dated Fisher for three years and is now married to Bruce Bozzi. In 2005, Fisher [was recognized with](http://carriefisher.com/about/ "undefined") the Women of Vision Award by the Women in Film & Video – DC. Three years later, Fisher’s _Wishful Drinking_ autobiography was turned into a one-woman stage show and eventually an [HBO documentary](http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/wishful-drinking "undefined"). Of returning to the role that launched her career – Leia – for _The Force Awakens_, Fisher told PEOPLE in 2015, “I knew that something enormous was likely going to impact my life from this film and that there was absolutely no way of understanding what that was or was likely to be.” The film – which brought Fisher back into the spotlight – earned her a nomination for the 2016 Saturn Award for best supporting actress. Just last month, Fisher also revealed [her surprising on-set affair](http://people.com/movies/carrie-fisher-reveals-affair-with-harrison-ford-star-wars/ "undefined") with _Star Wars_ costar Harrison Ford in _The Princess Diarist_, telling PEOPLE of the three-month fling, “It was so intense.” The memoir, which drew from Fisher’s old diaries and notebooks, brought up mixed feelings for the actress. “I had forgotten that I’d written them, and I’ve never written diaries sort of like that,” [she said](http://people.com/movies/carrie-fisher-talks-harrison-ford-affair-reactions/ "undefined"). “I write when I’m upset … it was about two or three months of upset.” Fisher added, “It was sad because I was so insecure, and it’s very raw and obviously I didn’t expect anyone — including myself, I suppose later on — to read it.” She is survived by her mom Reynolds, daughter Lourd and beloved French bulldog, [Gary](http://people.com/pets/may-the-4th-be-with-you-why-gary-carrie-fishers-dog-is-the-biggest-hero-of-our-time/ "undefined"). _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/movies/carrie-fisher-dies/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4618441/carrie-fisher-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4618441/carrie-fisher-dead/"},"headline":"Carrie Fisher, Celebrated Star Wars Actor, Dies at 60","datePublished":"2016-12-27T18:03:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:28:40.489Z","description":"She suffered a heart attack on Dec. 23","url":"https://time.com/4618441/carrie-fisher-dead/","keywords":["remembrance","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6f9412f975d757d/69887348196cf4d70b0393df/151130050535.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lindsay Kimble / People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta6f9412f975d757d/69887348196cf4d70b0393df/151130050535.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"151130050535","caption":"Carrie Fisher photographed for Time on October 27, 2015 in Los Angeles","creditText":"Marco Grob for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4618441/carrie-fisher-dead/","name":"Carrie Fisher, Celebrated Star Wars Actor, Dies at 60"}}]}] ```