Profile of the Day: Carrie Fisher

On this day in 1956, Carrie Fisher was born. A cultural icon, Fisher would have turned 66 today.

Image: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

As the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and movie star Debbie Reynolds, it seemed Fisher was destined to follow her parents into show business. She began her acting career at the age of 15 in the Broadway show Irene starring her mother. A couple of years later, she made her film debut in Shampoo. Then in 1977, Fisher landed what would become the most memorable role of her career when she was cast as Princess Leia in George Lucas’s Star Wars. The original trilogy made her a pop culture icon and years later, she would return to the franchise to reprise her famous role.

In addition to her work onscreen, Fisher was also a best-selling author and one of Hollywood’s most in-demand script doctors. Throughout her life, she was outspoken about her struggles with bipolar disorder and substance abuse. In 1987, she published her first novel, Postcards from the Edge, which was based on her own experiences with drug addiction and her relationship with her mother. Just weeks before her death, Fisher had released what would be her last memoir, The Princess Diarist.

Sadly, on December 27, 2016, Fisher passed away at the age of 60.

View Carrie Fisher’s Geni Profile