One year ago today, Carrie Fisher died at age 60 just a day before her 84-year-old mother, Debbie Reynolds, passed away from a stroke. The world then mourned both actresses who graced the big screen for most of their undeniably successful lives.
In June, the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office released results of a body examination conducted three days after Fisher’s death, concluding that “sleep apnea and other undetermined factors” contributed to the cause.
Four days prior she had reportedly suffered a heart attack on a flight back to L.A., and the office’s statement said that she suffered from atherosclerotic heart disease, which causes a build up on artery walls. Though there were indications of “multiple drug intake,” CNN reported that the coroner could not determine if it related to her demise.
Billie Lourd, Fisher’s only daughter, said in a statement that the “Star Wars” actress and writer “battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life … [and] she ultimately died of it.”
Best known for her role as the fierce Princess Leia, the cultural icon who unapologetically held her own, Fisher also thrived as an author. She published four novels: “Postcards from the Edge” (1987), which was later adapted into a motion picture, “Surrender the Pink” (1990), “Delusions of Grandma” (1993) and “The Best Awful There Is” (2004) as well as four non-fiction books: “Hollywood Mom” (2001), “Wishful Drinking” (2008) adapted from her one-woman play, “Shockaholic” (2011) and “The Princess Diarist” (2016).
When she died on December 27, 2016, her brother, Todd Fisher, told Entertainment Tonight that it was as if their mother made the decision to follow. “She literally looked at me and said, ‘I want to be with Carrie,’ and closed her eyes and went to sleep.”
“The next morning, we had a little further dialogue and she chose to leave the planet in front of my face two feet away,” he continued. “If you had told me this story and I wasn’t there, I would have a very hard time believing what I saw.”
The Internet reacts
News sites posted tributes in Fisher’s honor.
RIP Carrie Fisher, who died 1 year ago today. “The Force will be with you, always.” pic.twitter.com/fuzJWamTiv
— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 27, 2017
Remembering Carrie Fisher, one year since her death pic.twitter.com/T7v7TM1uYf
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 27, 2017
The cast of #StarWarsTheLastJedi pay tribute to the late, great Carrie Fisher ? Watch the full special here: https://t.co/QjYAnYMuwt pic.twitter.com/MaqNyiIPNt
— PeopleTV (@peopletv) December 27, 2017
Mark Hamill, who played her on-screen brother, Luke Skywalker, tweeted, “No one’s ever really gone,” which is a line that he says to her in “The Last Jedi.”
No one’s ever really gone…#AlwaysWithUs #CarrieOnForever pic.twitter.com/zsfuKHRSub
— @HamillHimself (@HamillHimself) December 27, 2017
Other celebrities like actors Josh Gad and William Shatner and comedian Craig Ferguson also took to Twitter in remembrance of Fisher.
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 27, 2017
We miss you. We love you. #CarrieFisher pic.twitter.com/SeReVEHFOV
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) December 27, 2017
I will be forever grateful to have known this most brilliant of humans. #CarrieOnForever pic.twitter.com/PeLMj64bLS
— Craig Ferguson (@CraigyFerg) December 27, 2017
And heartbroken fans showed their collective appreciation with photos, videos and quotes, some using the hashtag #CarrieOnForever. Included in these tributes were drawings of the actress, as she once said: “Take your broken heart and make it into art.”
“Take your broken heart and turn it into art” #CarrieFisher #CarrieOnForever pic.twitter.com/M2G8TjBCMc
— ? MENA ? (@MenaGP1226) December 27, 2017
“Take your broken heart,
make it into art.”—Carrie Fisher#CarrieOnForever #AlwaysWithUs #CarrieFisher #illustration pic.twitter.com/70R0g5JRba
— Jake Anthony Art (@jakeanthonyart) December 27, 2017
“Take your broken heart, make it into art.” – Carrie Fisher (by ArteColoridoDeRaquel) pic.twitter.com/mWmqSodtEw
— Molly (@MollyPopGirl) December 27, 2017
#CarrieOnForever pic.twitter.com/7qWW81S4zw
— ?Cody Thomas (@ThatGrasshopper) December 27, 2017
To Me, She’ll Always Be Royalty.#CarrieOnForever #CarrieFisher #GoneTooSoon #ItStillHurtsLikeHell pic.twitter.com/k0YYyRJBJx
— Rinaldo Zoontjes ® (@RinaldoZoontjes) December 27, 2017
“When I learned of Carrie Fisher’s death, I mourned my fierce princess but more, the warrior who showed me how to transform invisible pain into visible strength,” one fan wrote.
“When I learned of Carrie Fisher’s death, I mourned my fierce princess but more, the warrior who showed me how to transform invisible pain into visible strength.” https://t.co/VjtIDIVgO2 @ESTBLSHMNT
— Senthorun Raj ?️? (@senthorun) December 27, 2017
Fisher’s daughter, actress Billie Lourd, best known for her TV roles on “Scream Queens” and “American Horror Story: Cult,” posted to Instagram with photos at the Northern Lights. “My momby had an otherworldly obsession with the northern lights, but I never got to see them with her,” Lourd wrote. “We journeyed to northern Norway to see if we might ‘see the heavens lift up her dark skirts and flash her dazzling privates across [our] unworthy irises.’ And she did. I love you times infinity.”
One fan shared Lourd’s post:
billie lourd is one of the strongest people out there pic.twitter.com/c6wGWdbDsV
— alexis loves carrie (@lukeorgana) December 27, 2017
The obituary Carrie wanted
In her bestselling memoir, “Wishful Drinking,” she actually documented her prefered obituary in true Fisher fashion. In it, she tells a story about a strange yet hilarious dialogue with “Star Wars” creator George Lucas about Princess Leia’s signature white dress. He told her she couldn’t wear undergarments because in space, she would “get strangled” by them.
Fisher then jokes with the reader, “this would make for a fantastic obit.”
A fan tweeted the dialogue on the day of her death:
Here’s to Carrie Fisher, who drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra pic.twitter.com/F2p6vPxyh9
— Katherine Nesbitt (@_kittybitty) December 27, 2016
“[N]o matter how I go,” Fisher writes, “I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.”
