Carrie Fisher has been a compelling force in the film industry since her feature film debut opposite Warren Beatty in the 1975 hit “Shampoo.” The daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, she became a cultural icon when she played Princes Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Her star-studded career includes roles in countless films such as “The Blues Brothers,” “The ‘Burbs,” “Austin Powers,” “Garbo Talks,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “The Man with One Red Show” and “When Harry Met Sally.” Fisher’s television credits range all the way from “Laverne and Shirley” to “Sex and the City,” with an Emmy® nomination for her appearance on the popular NBC comedy “30 Rock.”
Fisher recently released her sixth book, Shockaholic, a funny and surprisingly poignant memoir of a singular life published by Simon & Schuster in November 2011. She has long been hilariously blunt about the intimate and often dark details of her rarified life, including being bravely public about her bi-polar disorder. In 1987, Fisher’s book, Postcards from the Edge, leapt onto the New York Times bestseller list, and netted her the Los Angeles Pen Award for Best First Novel. Four more bestsellers have followed: Delusions of Grandma, Surrender the Pink, The Best Awful, and Wishful Drinking. Fisher turned Postcards into a screenplay for the hit film starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep, and is currently adapting The Best Awful for Lifetime and Sony Television with producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks. Most recently, Fisher has received a number of awards and nominations for her work on her fifth novel, Wishful Drinking. A New York Times bestseller, it is also the subject behind the Emmy® nominated HBO Documentary of the same name. Her writing has also appeared in Details, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, Travel and Leisure, Vogue and many other major publications.
In 2009, Fisher received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Spoken Word Album category. In 2009/2010, she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and the Drama League’s Distinguished Performance Award. She won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Her experiences with addiction and bipolar disorder – and her willingness to speak honestly and candidly about them – have made Fisher a sought-after speaker and respected advocate for these communities. She appeared on the California Senate floor urging state legislators to increase government funding on medication for people living with mental health issues, and has received dozens of various awards for her courage and commitment to fighting mental illness and the stigmas that are associated with it.
