Carrie Fisher Has Passed Away At 60

Actress and author Carrie Fisher has died, following a heat attack that occurred on a flight to Los Angles last week, Simon Halls, a spokesperson for the family told People. Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, was 60 years old.

"It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning," Halls wrote in his statement. "She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”

Fisher was born to actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher in 1956, and Fisher grew up in Beverly Hills, California. She stepped on stage for the first time for a role in the Broadway musical Irene alongside her mother. Her big screen debut followed four years later in Warren Beatty's 1975 film Shampoo.

In 1977, Fisher scored her first starring role in George Lucas's Star Wars as Princess Leia, She went on to reprise the role in the second and third films in the original Star Wars trilogy and returned to the character in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Fisher later moved away from acting and found success as an author, penning her hit novel Postcards From the Edge in 1987. The book was a fictionalized version of Fisher's own life and dealt with her struggles with substance abuse and bipolar disorder. Fisher went on to write four additional novels and three works of nonfiction. She later turned her 2008 memoir Wishful Drinking into a one-woman play.