5 Things You May Not Know About Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher passed away on December 27, after suffering from a heart attack while she was traveling from London to Los Angeles Friday last week. She was hospitalized immediately after landing and her mother Debbie Reynolds announced two days ago that her daughter was “stable” having been placed on a ventilator. The actress however died on the morning of December 27.

More Than Just “Princess Leia”

The actress, who is famous for her iconic role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars, is more than just an actress. Her role as Star Wars “royalty” was just one of many. Here are five things you may not know about Carrie Fisher.

1. She was Hollywood “royalty,” having been born to parents who were famous in the industry during their time. Her mother is Debbie Reynolds, actress and singer, and Eddie Fisher, a singer. Her parents divorced when her father left them and ran away with Elizabeth Taylor.

2. Aside from acting, she was also known for her writing. According to The Guardian, she usually wrote about the price of fame and fortune in Hollywood which was a “semi-fictionalized” version of her own life. Her screenplay “Postcards from the Edge” which dealt with mental health issues became a feature film. Meryl Streep played her character, while Shirley Maclaine played her mother. The screenplay was based on her novel of the same title.

She published many books which included novels (“Surrender the Pink;” “Delusions of Grandma”), non-fiction work (“Wishful Drinking;” “The Princess Diarist”) and screenplays.

3. According to a CNN report, she was also good at “doctoring” movie scripts. The report cited that she had a hand, albeit not recognized, in fixing the scripts for “Hook” and “Sister Act.” Other movies listed were “Last Action Hero” and “The Wedding Singer.”

Carrie Fisher: The Advocate

4. Herself suffering from bipolar disorder, she shared her personal experiences dealing with the disease. She was also very forthright about how she dealt with substance abuse. In her recent column in The Guardian, she said: “I was told that I was bipolar when I was 24 but was unable to accept that diagnosis until I was 28 when I overdosed and finally got sober. Only then was I able to see nothing else could explain away my behavior.”

5. This year, she was awarded by Harvard University its Annual Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism for “her forthright activism and outspokenness about addiction, mental illness, and agnosticism have advanced public discourse on these issues with creativity and empathy.”