Born Oct. 21, 1956 in Beverly Hills to the “America’s Sweethearts” of the era, actress Debbie Reynolds and crooner Eddie Fisher, the future star was Hollywood royalty long before she donned the infamous pastry-bun hairstyle years later. When Fisher was two years old, her father left her mother for a recently widowed Elizabeth Taylor – culminating in the biggest Hollywood love triangle scandal of the 1950s.

Raised by her single mother under intense public scrutiny, Fisher decided to join the family business. At age 12, she joined her mother’s Vegas nightclub act. She appeared in the chorus of Reynolds’s award winning Broadway revival of “Irene” at age 15. A year later, she dropped out of Beverly Hills High School to focus on her career, enrolling in London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. She made her film debut in “Shampoo,” (1975) as a teenage nymphet, uttering a memorably enticing and profane line of dialogue to star and real-life family friend, Warren Beatty.

Two years later, Fisher auditioned opposite a young carpenter/actor named Harrison Ford for a part in an intergalactic fantasy film, written and directed by up-and-coming director Lucas. Despite her teen chubbiness at the time, Fisher nailed the part of the “staggeringly beautiful” rebel leader. Lucas would later say that despite her diminutive height (5’ 1”), she had all the poise and feistiness the part required. “Star Wars” became the hit of the year and the highest grossing film of all time until “E.T.” knocked it off its perch five years later. Fisher, Ford and Mark Hamill became overnight superstars, with their likenesses plastered on everything from bed sheets to bubble bath. The film and its merchandising goldmine made untold millions of dollars for everyone involved in the epic trilogy. Fisher revisited Princess Leia twice in the sequels “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “Return of the Jedi” (1983) -- both huge box office successes. The latter film provided “Star Wars” fans with the iconic image and many a young boy’s fantasy: Leia in the famously sparse metal bikini.

At the height of her stardom, Fisher hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live” (Nov. 1978), and hit it off with several of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” – most notably, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd (to whom she was briefly engaged in 1980). So began Fisher’s descent into drug addiction, which would later inform her writings and overall survivor persona. In between her galactic exploits on screen, Fisher tried to forge an independent screen identity, appearing on the big screen as Belushi’s jilted fiancée in “The Blues Brothers” (1980) and Chevy Chase’ love interest in the misbegotten comedy “Under the Rainbow” (1981). Neither role did much to advance her career. After dating singer Paul Simon on and off for several years, she married the music legend on Aug. 16, 1983. Fisher’s growing drug dependency was later cited as a reason the marriage lasted only 8 months.

After performing on Broadway in “Agnes of God” (1983), Fisher returned to the big screen. Unlike her former co-star Harrison Ford, Fisher never escaped her Leia legacy, taking supporting parts in such films as “Garbo Talks” (1984), “The Man w/ One Red Shoe” (1985), “Hannah and her Sisters” (1986), “Amazon Women on the Moon” (1987), “The Burbs” (1989) and “Soapdish” (1991).

Despite losing close friend Belushi to a heroin/cocaine overdose in 1982, Fisher continued to abuse a medicine cabinet of drugs – including alcohol, Percodan, cocaine and others. By the mid 1980s, she overdosed and was rushed to the hospital. Using her life-altering experience, she penned her first novel, Postcards from the Edge(1987) – a sardonic roman a’ clef detailing fictional actress Suzanne Vale’s battles with drugs, Hollywood high life and mom. A new career was born as Fisher became an overnight literary star, shooting up The New York Times bestseller list and winning the Los Angeles Pen Award for Best First Novel. Two years later, Fisher adapted the screenplay for the 1990 Mike Nichols film of the same name, starring Meryl Streep as the Fisher-esque Vale and Shirley MacLaine and her domineering movie star mother. For her freshman effort, she garnered a BAFTA nomination for best screenplay adaptation in 1991.

In 1990, Fisher began dating Hollywood uber-agent Bryan Lourd. The two had a daughter, Billie, in 1993. Fisher returned to the tabloid headlines when, after several years of dating, Lourd confessed his homosexuality to Fisher. The press had a field day, but the two shared custody and remained close for their daughter’s benefit.

Although Fisher found herself a critical favorite with her performance as Meg Ryan’s best friend in the romantic comedy hit “When Harry Met Sally” (1989), writing became her real bread and butter. Other best selling novels followed, including Surrender the Pink (1991)--with many allusions to her relationship with Simon--Delusions of Grandma (1994)--drawing on her experiences with Lourd--and The Best Awful (2004). Fisher began an impressive career as a top comedy-script doctor, polishing such scripts as “The Wedding Singer” and “Sister Act.” Although she received no on-screen credit, her reputation grew and directors sought out the much-beloved actress-turned-writer to add punch to their dialogue. Even old friend George Lucas tapped Fisher to spruce up scripts for his television series, “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” (1992).

At the peak of her success as script doctor du jour, Fisher suffered a “psychotic break” in 1997 when she was prescribed new drugs to curb her long-diagnosed mental depression. The allergic reaction landed her in a mental ward in Cedars-Sinai where she remained for six days. She spent a half a year in outpatient care. After surviving the harrowing experience, Fisher grew determined to de-stigmatize mental illness. On talk show after talk show, she made jokes at her own expense. She became a much sought-after speaker on the mental health lecture circuit – from urging State legislators to increase government spending for mental health issues, to serving as key note speaker for Community Alliance benefits and other mental health organizations.

Fisher returned to acting intermittently in recent years, appearing in cameo roles in “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” (1997), “Scream 3” (2000), “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (2001), “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (2003), “Wonderland” (2004) and “Undiscovered” (2005). She joined the Oxygen network in 2002 for her first venture into serial television – “Conversations From the Edge with Carrie Fisher.” The one-hour talk show allowed fans to view Fisher’s quick-wit up-close as she interviewed the entertainment industry’s biggest stars. As one of the most beloved women in town, it was not difficult to land interviews w/ George Lucas, Lisa Kudrow, Whoopie Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin and other Hollywood A-listers. Fisher also orchestrated the seemingly impossible – bringing together Debbie Reynolds and “the other woman” Elizabeth Taylor, by co-penning a campy TV movie, “These Old Broads” (2001) specifically for them and co-star Shirley MacLlaine. The screen legends’ much heralded appearance together was a hit with viewers, but not with critics.

With the re-release of the Special Edition “Star Wars” films, a new legion of fans joined the old timers and all lined up to see their favorite characters on the big screen during the winter of 1997 and Fisher was no exception. Having made peace with her timeless character years before, she happily joined the commemoration in television retrospectives and on the red carpet at the Hollywood premieres of both Special Edition films and the recent prequels. In June, 2005, she and fellow co-stars Ford and Hamill appeared onstage together for the first time in decades to help Lucas celebrate his American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award nearly thirty years after he turned them into unforgettable icons.