Carrie Fisher, better known as Princess Leia in the Star Wars film franchise, died in intensive care on December 27, 2016. Her famous mother, Debbie Reynolds, died the following day as the family planned Fisher’s funeral.
The two had an incredibly close relationship, and even spent 15 years as next-door neighbours, despite the pressure of life in Hollywood.
Reynolds, who was a successful actress for almost 70 years, suffered a “severe” stroke whilst planning Fisher’s funeral at the home of her son, director and cinematographer Todd Fisher.
The actress, who was known for films such as Singin’ in the Rain and Bundle of Joy,for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, died later that afternoon, aged 84, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
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Reynold’s son, Todd, later revealed that shortly before she died Reynolds said, “I want to be with Carrie.”
Although many news outlets reported Reynolds died of a broken heart, Todd revealed that she wouldn’t have wanted Fisher to be alone.
Speaking to ABC-TV days after their death, Todd said Reynolds “just left to be with Carrie.”
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
Since their almost-synchronized death, the two are now buried together.
The pair had a close relationship, and Fisher adored her mother from an early age. However, she admitted to still resenting her mother’s fame as a child.
Reynolds said, “She wanted a mother who baked and did embroidery. I was in show business and didn’t do that.”
(Image: Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In later life, Fisher stated, “I had to share her, and I didn’t like that. When we went out, people sort of walked over me to get her. And, no, I didn’t like it.”
However, the two stuck by each other, especially after Reynolds’ failed marriages.
Reynolds married three times. Fisher was only two when her father left their family to marry fellow actress Elizabeth Taylor.
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Fisher was by her mother’s side again when her second marriage to Harry Karl fell apart due to gambling and addiction.
However, it wasn’t just in their personal life that the pair were close. Reynold’s frequently protected her daughter from life in showbiz.
After Fisher was cast in the 1975 Warren Beatty film, Shampoo, aged 17, Reynolds told Beatty, “If you touch her, I will take out a hit on you.”
(Image: Getty Images)
However, Fisher also struggled by feeling overshadowed by her mother. The two became estranged when Fisher’s career took off.
After her success as Princess Leia, Fisher shot to the heights of fame, leaving her to struggle to identify herself as she was now more successful than her mother.
In a mother-daughter interview with Oprah Winfrey, the pair admitted that they became estranged for nearly ten years during Fisher’s twenties.
(Image: CBS via Getty Images)
Fisher told Oprah, “We didn’t get along. We had the extra, larger-than-life relationship. This is a very powerful person but in order to have my own identity, I have to forge some kind of character out of nothing.”
It was through Fisher’s battle with bipolar disorder that the two found reconciliation.
After going to rehab at age 28 for drug addiction, the two managed to reconcile their relationship and became closer than ever before.
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
Fisher had battled drug addiction her whole life, as well as mental illness. Fisher was open and honest about her battle with bipolar.
She appeared on The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive with Stephen Fry in 2006 to discuss her diagnosis.
Fisher said she gave her bipolar moods nicknames: Roy – the “wild ride of a mood” – and Pam – “who stands on the shore and sobs.”
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
The mother-of-one said her drug addiction was a form of self-medication. At her funeral, a portion of her ashes was put into a giant novelty Prozac pill.
Fisher’s daughter and fellow actress Billie Lourd, said her mother, “battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life.
“She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases.”
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She added, “I know my Mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles.”
After suffering a medical emergency whilst on a flight from London to Los Angeles on December 23, 2016, Carrie stopped breathing and was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as soon as she landed.
(Image: Getty Images)
After four days in intensive care, Carrie died aged 60. Post mortem reports found traces of cocaine, heroin and MDMA in her system. Although the exact cause of death could not be determined, Carrie’s sleep apnea and a buildup of fatty tissue in her arteries contributed to the outcome.
Reynolds had previously written about her love for her children in her autobiography, she also stated her fear of outliving them.
She wrote, “It’s not natural to outlive your child. This has always been my greatest fear… I don’t know if I could survive that.”
Although Fisher was cremated and Reynold’s entombed, a portion of Fisher’s ashes were laid to rest beside Reynold’s crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
