After suffering a recent heart attack, Carrie Fisher tragically passed away at the age of 60, leaving behind a legacy that extends to a galaxy far, far away. The actor was well known for her role as Princess Leia, but she was also well known for her sharp wit and keen sense of humor. That apparently extended to making jokes about her own obituary, as she once admitted she liked to tell people that, in the event of her death, she wanted it to be reported that she was strangled by her own bra.
There's a story to explain why Carrie Fisher would say such a thing, though it's funny enough on its own. Vanity Fair laid it all out, citing Carrie Fisher's one-woman show Wishful Drinking, and a story she told about how George Lucas told her she couldn't wear a bra under one of her Star Wars dresses because "there's no underwear in space."
Fisher says she had to use gaffer's tape in absence of an actual bra. But why can't there be underwear in space? As Fisher tells it in Wishful Drinking, George Lucas's eventual explanation was that because the human body expands in the weightlessness of space, a bra could conceivably strangle a person.
And Carrie Fisher, being Carrie Fisher, saw that bit of knowledge as an opportunity to spruce up her own eventual obituary...
Now I think that this would make for a fantastic obit---so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.
An obituary like that certainly would get and keep people talking, wouldn't it?
But Carrie Fisher doesn't need a fabricated obituary to get the world's attention. The moment news of her death was reported, fans everywhere shared their grief, sadness and fond memories of the actor and writer. That includes many of her Star Wars co-stars, who were understandably devastated by news of Fisher's passing.
In addition to playing Princess-turned-General Leia in the Star Wars franchise, Carrie Fisher's acting credits include Shampoo, The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally and The Burbs. She was also a writer and novelist, having penned Postcards from the Edge (the book and movie adaptation), Delusions of Grandma, and the non-fiction works Wishful Drinking and The Princess Diarist, among other books.
To say that she left her mark on the world would be an understatement, and it's likely that in the days and weeks after her passing, more stories about things she said and ways she made people laugh will be passed around.
May the force be with you, Carrie Fisher.
You can check out Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking special on HBO, or read the book (available on Amazon.)
