Carrie Fisher's Real Name: Carrie Frances Fisher

Quick answer: Carrie Fisher's full name was Carrie Frances Fisher. She used her real first and last name professionally. She was born on October 21, 1956, the daughter of movie star Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher. She became famous as Princess Leia in Star Wars, also wrote acclaimed books, and died on December 27, 2016, in Los Angeles at age 60 (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Fisher, Carrie." It quotes an obituary published December 27, 2016, that gives "b. Carrie Frances Fisher, Oct. 21, 1956, Beverly Hills, Calif." Another LOC citation and Britannica give her birthplace as Los Angeles. Beverly Hills sits inside the Los Angeles area, so both versions appear in reliable references.

Britannica says her parents' marriage broke up very publicly when she was a toddler, and her mother largely raised her. Her stage career began in the 1973 Broadway revival of the musical Irene, which starred Reynolds. She made her film debut in the comedy Shampoo (1975).

Career highlights

Two years after Shampoo, Fisher was cast as Princess Leia in Star Wars (1977), later retitled A New Hope. The film was a sensation and made her a star. She played Leia again in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), and The Force Awakens (2015). She also appears in The Last Jedi (2017), released after her death, and archival footage of her was used in The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Britannica notes that she struggled for much of her adult life with substance abuse and bipolar disorder, and that she wrote about both with candor and humor. Her first novel, Postcards from the Edge (1987), drew on her experience as an actress's daughter and won critical acclaim. She wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film version starring Meryl Streep. Later novels included Surrender the Pink and Delusions of Grandma. From 1990 she was also in demand as a script doctor.

Her one-woman show Wishful Drinking opened in Los Angeles in 2006 and moved to Broadway in 2009. The companion memoir became a best seller, and her audiobook reading earned a Grammy nomination. She followed it with Shockaholic (2011) and The Princess Diarist (2016). Fisher died on December 27, 2016, after suffering a heart attack. Her mother died the next day.

Name notes for searchers

Frances is her middle name. Carrie Fisher is not a stage name. LOC uses it as the authorized form, and her books and credits carry it too. She is sometimes confused with her character, Princess (later General) Leia Organa.