Star Wars Actor Carrie Fisher Dies At 60

Hollywood actress Carrie Fisher who was best known for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the popular Star Wars films died on Tuesday, days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight.

On December 23, 2016, Fisher went into cardiac arrest while on a flight from London to Los Angeles; a fellow actor seated near Fisher reported that she had stopped breathing. A passenger performed CPR on Fisher until paramedics arrived. After being taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center by ambulance, she was placed on a ventilator.

The 60-year-old actress had been in intensive care in a Los Angeles hospital after collapsing on the jetliner from London on Friday.

“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” family spokesman Simon Halls told AFP in a statement on behalf of Fisher's daughter.

Fisher was also known for her semi-autobiographical novels, including Postcards from the Edge and the screenplay for the film of the same name, as well as her autobiographical one-woman play and its nonfiction book, Wishful Drinking, based on the show. She additionally served as a script doctor, working on other writers' screenplays.  In later years, she earned praise for speaking publicly about her experiences with mental health and drug addiction.
 
Fisher dated musician Paul Simon from 1977 until 1983. In 1980, she was briefly engaged to Canadian actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd, who proposed on the set of their film The Blues Brothers. Fisher also had a close relationship with James Blunt. While working on his album Back to Bedlam in 2003, Blunt spent much of his time at Fisher's residence.