CARRIE FISHER

'Carrie Frances Fisher' (born October 21, 1956) is an American actress, screenwriter and novelist. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia Organa in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, although her comedic novels also have won praise.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Personal life

Filmography

Bibliography

Novels

Screenplays

Play

Trivia

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Fisher was born in Beverly Hills, California, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds; her paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.^[1] Her younger brother is Todd Fisher and her half-sisters are actresses Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher, whose mother is actress Connie Stevens.
When Fisher was two, her parents divorced and her father married actress Elizabeth Taylor. The following year, her mother married shoe store chain owner Harry Karl. It was assumed from an early age that Fisher would go into the family business; she began appearing with her mother in Las Vegas at age 12. She attended Beverly Hills High School but left to join her mother on the road. She appeared as a debutante and singer in the hit Broadway revival ''Irene'' (1973) starring her mother.

Career

1970s

Soon after, Fisher enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, which she attended for 18 months. She made her film debut in the Columbia comedy ''Shampoo'' (1975) starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn, with Lee Grant and Jack Warden.
In 1977, Fisher starred as Princess Leia Organa in George Lucas' sci-fi film '' opposite Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford.
The huge success of ''Star Wars'' made her internationally famous. The character of Princess Leia became a merchandising triumph; there were small plastic action figures of the Princess in toy stores across the United States. She appeared as Princess Leia in the 1978 made-for-TV movie, ''The Star Wars Holiday Special.'' Fisher hosted the ''Saturday Night Live'' episode that included the first performance by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as their popular Blues Brothers characters.
Fisher appeared in the music video for Ringo Starr's cover of "You're Sixteen" as the love interest in 1978 on Ringo's TV special of that year.^[2][3].

1980s

Fisher later appeared in ''The Blues Brothers'' movie in a cameo role as Joliet Jake's vengeful ex-lover, listed in the credits as "Mystery Woman." She appeared on Broadway in ''Censored Scenes From King Kong'' in 1980. That year, she appeared again as Princess Leia in ''. She made her third and final appearance in the series in '' (1983). After her appearance wearing a "Golden Metal Bikini" or "Slave girl" outfit that almost immediately rose to pop culture icon status, Fisher became a sex symbol for a short period. She also was a replacement in the Broadway production of ''Agnes of God'' (1982).
In 1987, Fisher published her first novel, ''Postcards from the Edge''. The book was semi-autobiographical in the sense that she fictionalized and satirized real life events such as her drug addiction of the late 1970s.^[4] It became a bestseller, and she received the Los Angeles Pen Award for Best First Novel. Fisher played a major supporting role in ''When Harry Met Sally'' in 1989.

1990s

In 1990, Columbia Pictures released a movie version of ''Postcards from the Edge'', adapted for the screen by Fisher and starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Dennis Quaid. She also appeared in the movie ''Drop Dead Fred'' in 1991. In 1997, Fisher appeared as a therapist in . She is one of the few actors to star in movies with both John and Jim Belushi, later appearing with the latter in the movie ''The Man with One Red Shoe''. During the 1990s Fisher also published the novels ''Surrender the Pink'' (1991) and ''Delusions of Grandma'' (1993).

2000s

In the movie ''Scream 3'' (2000), Fisher played an actress mistaken for Carrie Fisher. ("Yeah, I was up for the part of Princess Leia. But who gets it? The girl who slept with George Lucas!") Director's commentary on the ''Scream 3'' DVD suggests that the sequence was in fact penned by Fisher herself. In 2001, Fisher appeared in ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back''. This was the first time she starred in a movie together with Mark Hamill since the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy (although neither actor realized this until the premiere).
She also co-wrote the TV comedy movie ''These Old Broads'' (2001), of which she was also co-executive producer. It starred her mother, Debbie Reynolds, as well as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins, and Shirley MacLaine. In this, Taylor's character, an agent, explains to Reynolds' character, an actress, that she was in a alcoholic blackout when she married the actress' husband, "Freddy."
Besides acting and writing original works, Fisher is one of the best-known script doctors in Hollywood, working on the screenplays of other writers. She has done uncredited polishes on movies starting with Steven Spielberg's Hook and continuing today. Her expertise in this area is why she was interviewed for the screenwriting documentary Dreams on Spec in 2007.
Fisher also plays Peter Griffin's boss on the animated sitcom ''Family Guy'' and appeared in a book of photographs titled ''Hollywood Moms'' (2001) for which she wrote the introduction.
Fisher published a Suzanne Vale sequel novel, ''The Best Awful There Is'' in 2004. Since ''Postcards from the Edge'', Vale has married, become a parent, and divorced. She also is undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder but is not entirely comfortable with her "normal" self.
Fisher wrote and performed in her one-woman play "Wishful Drinking" at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles from November 7, 2006, to January 14, 2007. Comedic Postscripts From the Edge Sharon Waxman She is a full-time judge on FOX's filmmaking-competition reality TV series ''On the Lot''.
Currently Fisher joins TCM host Robert Osborne on Saturday evenings for " the essentials " with informative and entertaining conversation on Hollywoods best films.

Personal life

Fisher was married to musician Paul Simon (1983–84, during which time she had a miscarriage), and was in a relationship with him for several years afterward. Subsequently, she had a relationship with CAA principal and agent Bryan Lourd. They had one child together, Billie Catherine Lourd (born July 17, 1992). The couple's relationship ended when Lourd left her for a man. She was tied for a time to Senator Christopher Dodd, and for a brief time was engaged to Dan Aykroyd.
In an interview on public radio in 2005, Fisher joked that she was afraid if she ever became senile she might begin to slip back into her Princess Leia character. Fisher has publicly discussed her problems with drugs, her battles with bipolar disorder, and overcoming an addiction to prescription medication, most notably on ABC TV's ''20/20''.
On February 26, 2005, Republican Party media adviser R. Gregory Stevens was found dead in a guest room at Fisher's home. She stated that he was a longtime friend and often stayed with her.^[5]
Fisher has described herself as an "enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God."^[6]

Filmography

★ ''Shampoo'' (1975)

★ '' (1977)

★ ''Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' (1979)

★ '' (1980)

★ ''The Blues Brothers'' (1980)

★ ''Under the Rainbow'' (1981)

★ '' (1983)

★ ''Garbo Talks'' (1984)

★ ''The Man with One Red Shoe'' (1985)

★ ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1986)

★ ''Hollywood Vice Squad'' (1986)

★ ''The Time Guardian'' (1987)

★ ''Amazon Women on the Moon'' (1987)

★ ''Appointment with Death'' (1988)

★ ''She's Back'' (1989)

★ ''The 'Burbs'' (1989)

★ ''Loverboy'' (1989)

★ ''When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989)

★ ''Sweet Revenge'' (1990)

★ ''Sibling Rivalry'' (1990)

★ ''Drop Dead Fred'' (1991)

★ ''Soapdish'' (1991)

★ ''Hook'' (1991)

★ ''This Is My Life'' (1992)

★ '' (1997)

★ ''Return of the Ewok'' (1999) (short subject) (filmed in 1983)

★ ''Scream 3'' (2000)

★ ''Lisa Picard Is Famous'' (2000) (Cameo)

★ ''Heartbreakers'' (2001)

★ ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'' (2001)

★ ''A Midsummer Night's Rave'' (2002)

★ '' (2003)

★ ''Wonderland'' (2003)

★ ''Stateside'' (2004)

★ ''The Aristocrats'' (2005) (documentary)

★ ''Undiscovered'' (2005)

★ ''Smallville'' (2005) (TV Show)

★ ''Cougar Club'' (2006)

★ ''Dreams on Spec'' (2007) (documentary)

★ ''On The Lot'' (2007) (TV Show)

★ ''Weeds'' (2007) (TV Show)
;Upcoming:

★ ''Suffering Man's Charity'' (2007)

★ ''E-Girl'' (2007)

★ ''Fanboys'' (2008)

Bibliography

Novels

★ ''Postcards from the Edge'', 1987, ISBN 0743466519

★ ''Surrender the Pink'', 1991, ISBN 0671666401

★ ''Delusions of Grandma'', 1993, ISBN 0684858037

★ ''Hollywood Moms'', 2001, (introduction)

★ ''The Best Awful There Is'', 2004, ISBN 0743478576

Screenplays

★ ''Postcards from the Edge'', 1990

★ ''These Old Broads'', 2001

★ ''E-Girl'' (2007)

Play

★ ''Wishful Drinking'', 2006

Trivia

★ In an issue of ''Ultimate Spider-Man'', a flyer in Peter Parker's high school reads, ''"Vote Carrie Fischer Student Council!!"''

References

1. Fisher, JewishAZ.
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76O6tuJPe3w
3. http://www.ringostarr.com/biography.php
4. Copyright page states the book was originally published in hardcover in 1987.
5. Washington Post, 2005-03-05.
6. Spirituality.

External links

★ Personal Website at CarrieFisher.com

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★ Movies.com entry for Carrie Fisher

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★ Working the Edge, a 1990 ''Entertainment Weekly'' cover story profiling Fisher