Carrie Fisher Biography

The daughter of Hollywood golden couple Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher was born in Beverly Hills in 1956. Her parents went on to divorce when she was two years old and her father married Elizabeth Taylor.

Having grown up in the limelight it was no surprise that Carrie opted for a career in showbiz. Her early appearances alongside her mother in Las Vegas when she was 12 years old stood her in good stead, and in 1973 she joined her mother again in the Broadway production of ‘Irene’.

Having left the States for the UK, Carrie enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. Her first film appearance was in the comedy 'Shampoo' in 1975 starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn.

However, it was in 1979 that Carrie was rocketed to international stardom after landing the role of Princess Leia Organa in George Lucas's 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'. Also starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Alec Guinness, ‘Star Wars’ was a critical and commercial phenomenon.

Carrie and her co-stars became overnight superstars and the subsequent merchandise saw their faces on everything from posters and plastic dolls to duvet covers and fluffy slippers. Carrie reprised her role in the equally successful sequels - ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ in 1980 and ‘Return of the Jedi’ in 1983’.

While her career was soaring, Carrie’s personal life was becoming troubled as she battled an increasing addiction to alcohol and drugs. Following a brief engagement to Dan Aykroyd in 1980, she married singer Paul Simon in 1983. However, the marriage was not to last and ended some 8 months later.

As her film career dwindled in the early 80s, Carrie turned her hand to writing, penning the semi-autobiographical ‘Postcards from the Edge’. Published in 1987, it became a bestseller and she won the Los Angeles Pen Award for Best First Novel. The book was turned into the equally successful film of the same name starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine in 1990.

Although her performance in the hit film ‘When Harry Met Sally’ was widely saluted by critics, Carrie began to devote her efforts to writing and over the subsequent years she released ‘Surrender the Pink’, ‘Delusions of Grandma’ and ‘The Best Awful’.