Tributes for Carrie Fisher have been pouring in since her death aged 60 in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Our readers have been among those sending messages and sharing stories about what the Star Wars actor means to them.
Fisher was known for many things: unflinching honesty, acting talent, writing skill and beauty. She’s also been a mental health advocate. Here are a selection of readers’ tributes, stories and comments.
‘She was delighted to see us dressed up at Comic Con’
‘She was a champion of her own flaws and helping others’
Love and perspective
Beautiful actress and brought sass and originality to her Star Wars role. Then a champion of her own flaws and helping others with mental health though fun and inspiration.
Class. Total class
‘She was a beacon of light to Star Wars fans in the 1970s’
‘She was a brilliant wordsmith’
I loved her books, I could read her words all day and night. She was a brilliant wordsmith.
‘She treated everyone warmly, like you were a close friend’
She treated everyone like a friend
I had the privilege of meeting Carrie Fisher for the second time in 2015. I told her how amazing she looked and thanked her for her time. We took our picture together (which I do not have a digital copy of, it's on my wall) and as I started to walk away she grabbed me and pulled me back to her. She whispered in my ear "I know I lost all the weight but I'm slowly gaining it back." If you were able to observe her with fans you know that she treated everyone so warmly like you were her friend for years. I feel like a member of my family has passed. I am terribly heartbroken, I cannot imagine the pain her family is going through. She will always be remembered and I hope I'll get to say hello to her again someday among the stars.
‘She was everything that a princess should be’
‘Life will be empty without our princess’
‘Princess Leia was smart, quick and didn’t suffer fools’
Thank you Carrie Fisher.
Carrie Fisher was the only princess I ever cared about. Princess Leia didn't wait to be saved by someone else. She saved them. She was smart, quick, drôle, and didn't suffer fools. She could be a commander of the universe but never thought she was above the people (or creatures). Much like Carrie Fisher. Leia was a princess who looked like me, in the age of the 70s blue-eyed blondes, and in my family. Fisher made Leia. She thought many of the lines were so over the top, that she injected wit and humor into their delivery. And while Princess Leia was my first idol/hero, Carrie Fisher become one that followed. She unapologetically and compassionately wrote and spoke about her own struggles with depression and mental health. Her writing was/is sharp as a tack, and she looked out for the women, and men, who followed in her footsteps. My five-year-old just asked why I was crying. I told him that my first hero died. He said, "that means it's time to be your own hero". Just like Leia and Fisher, themselves.
‘Return of the Jedi was the first film that I ever saw’
Devin Keast
Return of the Jedi opened eight days after my birth in the U.S. My mother and father refused to miss it. So, they brought me, an infant, with them to the theatre. That was my first movie-going experience.
‘My portrait of Carrie Fisher’
‘Carrie Fisher’s legacy will continue - she’ll be in my heart’
Leia, my childhood hero and Carrie, my role model
I was devastated to learn my first ever childhood hero passed away. Growing up I've learned the cultural significance of Leia's character and I've got to know the amazing person playing her a lot more. Carrie went from portraying one of my all time favorites to being my role model by being herself unapologetically and being so open about her struggles and raising mental health awareness. She is so much more than Princess Leia and despite never meeting her I feel like we had a lot in common. She had wit, a one of a kind sense of humor and so much talent, this world will be so much worse without her in it.
Her legacy will continue to live on and she'll be in my heart.
As a long time fan of the original Star Wars films, I can say that Carrie Fisher came across as a beacon of light In the 1970's to film fans like myself. In the past tradition of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwick, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman she was a strong female lead in the role of Princess Leia attributed with guts and determination. She fired a gun, told men they were idiots and commanded a whole star fleet. To me as I was living then in the male dominated, un-enlightened period of early feminism- her film portrayal stood out as a beacon. She wasn't tall and beautiful- she was pretty to look at but she was clever and feisty with a girl next door kind of persona. The fact that as a person she came across as so down to earth despite the Hollywood upbringing, was a triumph for her. She kept herself "real" despite all the hype. She will be missed - I suspect - by all that knew her. I am sorry that we have lost her too soon.