Carrie Fisher, a veteran actress best known and revered for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, has passed away.
She was 60 years old.
Fisher was flying from London to Los Angeles on a United flight when she suffered a major heart attack on board an airplane late last week.
The incident took place 15 minutes before the flight landed in LAX.
Once the plane landed, paramedics worked on the star for 15 minutes with CPR before they were able to find the star’s pulse.
She was then transferred to UCLA Medical Center and was in critical condition before succumbing to the heart attack earlier Tuesday.
Family spokesman Simon Halls released a statement to the media 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.”
“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”
Fisher, of course, sky-rocketed to fame in 1977 as one of the main characters in George Lucas’ iconic space opera Star Wars.
She recently reprised the role of Princess Leia in 2015’s The Force Awakens and next year’s Star Wars: Episode VIII.
It’s unclear what will happen to Leia’s storyline in Episode IX, tentatively scheduled for release in December 2019.
Along with this legendary film character, Fisher appeared on a number of films and TV shows over the years.
She had been the voice of Angela on Family Guy since 2005; stopped by The Big Bang Theory as herself in 2014; and also portrayed Mia in Catastrophe.
Fisher was even nominated for a pair of Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on 30 Rock in 2008; and Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special for Wishful Drinking in 2011.
Fisher also recently made headlines when she came out and admitted to an affair with Harrison Ford way back during the filming of the first Star Wars.
She spoke of this romantic entanglement as part of her press tour for “The Princess Diarist,” a memoir that was released on November 22 of this year.
Previously, Fisher wrote the book “Postcards From The Edge”, along with the screenplay for the movie based on the book.
She was married to Bryan Lourd and Paul Simon; Billie is her only child.
The daughter of showbiz veteran Debbie Reynolds and entertainer Eddie Fisher, she was brought up in the world of film, theater and TV.
Fisher made her film debut in the Warren Beatty-lead Shampoo while she was a teenager and was just 19 when she was cats in Star Wars.
In addition to the second and third Star Wars films, Fisher starred in 1980’s The Blues Brothers and The Man with One Red Shoe.
She appeared in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986 and, later, the award-winning classic When Harry Met Sally.
Fisher wed musician Paul Simon in 1983.
Theirs was an explosive marriage, according to Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon author Peter Ames Carlin.
The union was cut short by swinging stages of depression, the actress’ drug use and an array of personal insecurities.
Nevertheless, the tumultuous relationship continued, on-and-off for several years, after the pair got divorced in 1984.
The star’s substance abuse problem was well-known, starting at only age 13 when she first started smoking marijuana, Fisher 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.
Always open about her life, in good times and bad, Fisher’s book was later turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep.
Fisher is the latest in a long line of major names to have passed away in 2016, as tragically detailed in the gallery below.
We send our condolences to her friends, family members and other loved ones as they mourn the passing of one of the true greats.
