CARRIE FISHER

Written by Michael Darvell
 

(21 October 1956 - 27 December 2016)

Carrie Fisher

When it comes to the subject of Carrie, actress daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, the one role that springs to mind is that of Princes Leia in the Star Wars franchise. However, although the first Star Wars picture in 1977 was only her second film, she went on to many other movie and TV roles, and rather more than Mum Debbie and Dad Eddie put together. Her fan following as Princes Leia was legion but then she also added writing and script doctoring to her CV, including three autobiographies and several novels, one of which, Postcards from the Edge, she also scripted for Meryl Steep and Shirley MacLaine. On screen she was in The Blues Brothers, Garbo Talks!, The Man With One Red Shoe and The ’Burbs, both with Tom Hanks, Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally, Sibling Rivalry, Scream 3 and the remake of The Women. Carrie played herself in David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars and on TV in Sex and the City, among a welter of other movies and TV shows and she was the voice of Angela on Family Guy. Carrie Fisher is in the next Star Wars, episode 8, due out in 2017, so will still be chiefly remembered for being little 5’ 1” Leia, earmuffs and all, in the role that virtually gave her a career. She was once engaged to Dan Aykroyd and briefly married to Paul Simon. She has a daughter, the actress Billie Lourd, by the talent agent Bryan Lourd.

MICHAEL DARVELL

 
Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

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