Star Wars fans are remembering Leia Organa star Carrie Fisher on what would have been her 63rd birthday. While on a flight from London to Los Angeles, Fisher suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for four days before passing away on December 27, 2016, at the age of 60. The Los Angeles County Coroner later determined Fisher died from sleep apnea “and a combination of other factors,” leaving the exact cause of death “undetermined.” Fisher returned to the Star Wars franchise alongside original trilogy co-stars Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill when new franchise owners Disney revived the saga with J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. Its sequel, The Last Jedi, featuring Fisher’s final performance as Leia, would be released posthumously in 2017.
Fisher’s Leia next returns in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker under returning writer-director Abrams, who said the ninth chapter in the Skywalker Saga “needed” Leia. The mother of First Order Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Resistance leader Leia appears through the use of re-purposed footage from The Force Awakens.
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“The character of Leia is really the heart of this story. We realized we could not possibly tell this story without Leia,” Abrams said at D23 Expo in August. “We had footage from Episode VII that we could use in a new way. So, we were able to use Carrie in a new way.”
Hamill, who returns as Leia’s brother Luke Skywalker, previously said Fisher would “get a kick” out of appearing in Rise of Skywalker posthumously.
“Harrison was more prominent in the first of the sequels, then I was more prominent, and Carrie was meant to be more prominent in the third,” Hamill previously told Den of Geek. “I’m glad they found a way to do that, and something tells me that she’d get a real kick out of the fact that she had a hit movie years after she left us, because that was just her. I like to think that would please her, but nothing would be better than having her here.”
Slide 1
Happy birthday Mom. Give God hell today. #CarrieFisher
โ Gary Fisher (@Gary_TheDog) October 21, 2019
Remembering #CarrieFisher on her birthday today. You’ll always be our princess… pic.twitter.com/FUzWGsJCiB
โ Comicbook.com (@ComicBook) October 21, 2019
Slide 2
Happy Birthday to #CarrieFisher
โ Paul Howe (@Dandy1138) October 21, 2019
You are missed by all of us. We could do with your humour right about now. pic.twitter.com/8JWce1o5Hh
๐ฅณHappy Birthday๐ฅณ#CarrieFisher pic.twitter.com/Qag81Pvufu
โ SilverGirl2.0๐งโโ๏ธ (@0Silvergirl2) October 21, 2019
Slide 3
โStealing is for the desperate. Building is for the hopeful. And as desperate as we are, we must also have hope.โ
โ Steve (whatever Kairos is) Vanto (@SteveDunk5) October 21, 2019
Happy birthday to our princess, senator, and general Carrie Fisher! #CarrieFisher #StarWars pic.twitter.com/yG3otWqDta
Happy Birthday #CarrieFisher I cried when you passed a few years ago. You were a huge part of my childhood and Iโll never forget that. pic.twitter.com/9xQEXo4Kcy
โ human (@pooploser64_) October 21, 2019
Slide 4
Happy birthday, #CarrieFisher. Dammit, we’ve lost too many of the funny ones. RIP. pic.twitter.com/1B7NEiM4QZ
โ Shiv/Gerri 2020 (@YesMeredithFinn) October 21, 2019
Our baby Carrie โค๏ธ #CarrieFisher pic.twitter.com/fG2qt6hDe2
โ Daisy Ridley is a beautiful angel love her so much (@daisyridleyfan4) October 21, 2019
Slide 5
Happy Birthday #CarrieFisher
โ Matt Rappaport (@nyactor) October 21, 2019
Youโre missed and weโre excited to see you again one final time at the movies in December ๐ข pic.twitter.com/h2J6mBPMdG
#CarrieFisher would’ve turned 63 today.
โ Only Film Media (@OnlyFilmMedia) October 21, 2019
She appeared in films such as #Shampoo (1975), #StarWars (1977), #TheBluesBrothers (1980), #HannahAndHerSisters (1986), #TheBurbs (1989), #WhenHarryMetSally (1989), #Soapdish (1991), and #TheWomen (2008).#CarrieOnForever. pic.twitter.com/s0MIPOX2Nt
Slide 6
Remembering Carrie Fisher on the day of her birth. Rest in peace our princess. #CarrieFisher pic.twitter.com/wRj3IhnHiy
โ Ziggy (@mrjafri) October 21, 2019
Happy birthday Carrie… Forever our beloved princess ๐ซ๐ซโคโค#CarrieFisher #happybirthdaycarriefisher pic.twitter.com/kG0ajrvOen
โ ๐ฅGinna grumpy dark lady๐ฅ (@Ginna_RenSolo) October 21, 2019
Slide 8
Happy Birthday #CarrieFisher. pic.twitter.com/n9zc8EuAYD
โ Bill Sienkiewicz (@sinKEVitch) October 21, 2019
Slide 9
Happy Birthday to the Princess Mental Health Warrior, #CarrieFisher. pic.twitter.com/2H1BjoSvGU
โ .:RiotGrlFright:. (@RiotGrlErin) October 21, 2019
Slide 7
Happy Birthday to this beauty.
โ CอaอlอlอiอoอpอeอMอoอoอnอ๐ (@chellemybell22) October 21, 2019
Always and forever โค #CarrieFisher pic.twitter.com/kYKaaufvTT
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens December 20.