Carrie Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 and was instantly thrust into the Hollywood culture as her parents were singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds.
Fisher's first taste of acting was at 15 when she played a debutante in the Broadway revival of "Irene" in 1973, which starred her mother.
Two years later she took on the role that would make her an icon: playing Princess Leia in 1977's "Star Wars."
Fisher played Leia as a determined leader of a rebellion, and her bun hairstyle quickly became as memorable as the movie itself.
The 19-year-old became an instant superstar thanks to the success of the movie and her no-nonsense delivery.
After starring in a few TV movies, Fisher returned to the galaxy far, far away with the "Star Wars" sequel, "The Empire Strikes Back," in 1980.
In the same year, she starred as a jealous ex-lover determined for revenge in the classic comedy "The Blues Brothers."
At the same time Fisher's love life was beginning to become news as well. For a few years she dated musician Paul Simon. They were married briefly between 1983 and 1984.
And on the set of "The Blues Brothers," costar Dan Aykroyd proposed to Fisher. "Dan proposed in my trailer," she once told People. "I was choking on a brussels sprout, and he gave me the Heimlich... a few minutes later, he asked me to marry him."
And again her wardrobe quickly became legendary — in this case, the bikini slave outfit she wears when a prisoner of Jabba the Hut.
"What's funny is I wish I had known I was a sex symbol. That's so odd," she said of the "Return of the Jedi" slave costume while promoting "The Force Awakens" in 2015. "Because I don't think that way. I don't look at myself even remotely that way."
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Now thinking "Star Wars" was behind her for good, Fisher began to beef up her writing credits. First came the semi-autobiographical book "Postcards from the Edge," in 1987.
The satire on her relationship with her mother and past drug addiction became a best-seller. And Fisher wrote the screenplay for the movie adaptation that starred Meryl Streep and was directed by Mike Nichols.
Over the next two decades she went on to do everything from uncredited "script doctor" work on movies like "Lethal Weapon 3" and "Outbreak" to writing jokes for the Academy Awards.
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But acting was never far off. Her highlights in the late-1980s included starring in "The 'Burbs" opposite Tom Hanks and "When Harry Met Sally."
Fisher worked steadily in the 2000s, earning Emmy nominations for her guest role on "30 Rock" and her one-woman show "Wishful Drinking."
But it was her announcement in 2014 that she and the original cast of "Star Wars" would return for "The Force Awakens" that put her back in the limelight.
Now General Leia, she described her character in "The Force Awakens" this way: "Solitary. Under a lot of pressure. Committed as ever to her cause, but I would imagine feeling somewhat defeated, tired, and pissed."
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Fisher will not just be remembered for her work on the screen but also for her personality and honesty when talking to the press about her mental health and addictions.
And in her books and speeches she was always open about her drug addictions. One time she noted that she took cocaine while filming "Empire Strikes Back."
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This year, Harvard College gave Fisher its Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism. "Her forthright activism and outspokenness about addiction, mental illness, and agnosticism have advanced public discourse on these issues with creativity and empathy," the acknowledgment read.
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And doing press (in the last few years always with her dog Gary alongside her) always led to unfiltered insight.
While doing press for "The Force Awakens" she revealed that she was "pressured" to lose weight: "They don't want to hire all of me — only about three-quarters!" she said.
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And recently, while promoting her latest book "The Princess Diarist," she revealed her "intense" affair she had with Harrison Ford while filming the first "Star Wars."
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Here are a few more memorable quotes:
Having famous parents:
"I am truly a product of Hollywood in-breeding. When two celebrities mate, someone like me is the result."
Playing Princess Leia:
"Leia follows me like a vague smell."
Suffering mental illness:
"I'm very sane about how crazy I am."
Suffering from addiction:
"Drugs made me feel more normal."
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Fisher had recently wrapped on "Star Wars: Episode VIII" when she suddenly had a heart attack on a flight and then died in a hospital. She will be in the movie.
"She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly," her daughter Billie Lourd said in a statement.
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