Carrie Fisher Movies
Though she is a best-selling author and screenwriter, many fans will always associate Carrie Fisher with the role of Princess Leia from George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy. She is the daughter of movie stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and grew up wanting to follow in their footsteps. When Fisher was quite young, her father left the family to marry Elizabeth Taylor. Reynolds raised Fisher and her younger brother, Todd Fisher, alone, but then remarried. As a performer, she started appearing with her mother on Vegas nightclub stages at age 12. When she was 15, Fisher left high school to focus on her show business career. The following year, she was a dancer in the Broadway revival of Irene, which starred her mother. Soon after that, Fisher enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama where she studied for 18 months.Fisher made her film debut playing a sexy young thing who succumbs to womanizing Warren Beatty's seduction in Shampoo (1975). Next came the Star Wars films. Her feisty portrayal of the courageous young princess made Fisher a star. But with sudden stardom came a price. In November 1978, she hosted the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. There she met and became friends with John Belushi, and with him got heavily involved with illegal drugs. Fisher became romantically involved with singer/songwriter Paul Simon and married him in the early '80s. Due in part to her drug problems, the marriage lasted less than a year. A near overdose led Fisher to drug and alcohol rehabilitation. She details her experiences with drugs and recovery in her witty first novel, Postcards From the Edge (1987). Two years later, Fisher adapted the tale for Mike Nichols' charming and moving screen version which starred Meryl Streep as a drug-addicted daughter trying to make a comeback and compete with a glamorous movie star mother (Shirley MacLaine) who always outshines her.
Throughout the '80s, Fisher continued appearing sporadically in feature films, but made little impact as an actress. By the latter part of the decade, her acting career began perking up again with such films as When Harry Met Sally (1989), in which she played Meg Ryan's best friend. Fisher appeared in a few more films and also in the television series Leaving L.A. through 1992 and then abandoned acting for the next five years to focus on child rearing and her writing career. Subsequent novels include Surrender the Pink, a semi-autobiographical novel exploring her relationship with Paul Simon, and Delusions of Grandma. In 1997, Fisher returned to feature films playing a small role in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. She also experienced renewed fame when George Lucas released restored and enhanced versions of his Star Wars series in 1996. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
- PG13
This bittersweet comedy is, among many other things, a tour de force for the marvelous Anne Bancroft. The star is cast as Estelle Rolfe, an unconventional divorcee who resides in New York, in close proximity to her grown son Gilbert (Ron Silver) and his wife Lisa (Carrie Fisher). Though his wife yearns to move back to her home state of California, Gilbert cannot quite cut the silver cord that binds him to his mother. Upon learning that Estelle is dying, her dutiful son offers to honor her last request to meet the reclusive actress Greta Garbo. The rest of the film plays wonderful variations on this theme, involving such peripheral characters as a gay Garbo fan (Harvey Fierstein), an elderly Shakespearean actress (Hermione Gingold), a "female Joe Papp" director (Denny Dillon), and an ageing papparazzi (Howard Da Silva). Without giving away the ending, it is worth noting that the divine Garbo shows up in the person of playwright/lyricist/ performer Betty Comden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, (more)
In the final episode of the Star Wars saga, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) emerges intact from the carbonite casing in which he'd been sealed in The Empire Strikes Back. The bad news is that Solo, together with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), is prisoner to the grotesque Jabba the Hutt. But with the help of the charismatic Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), our heroes and our heroine manage to escape. The next task is to rid the galaxy of Darth Vader (body by David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones) and the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid), now in command of a new, under-construction Death Star. On the forest moon Endor, the good guys enlist the help of a feisty bunch of bear-like creatures called the Ewoks in their battle against the Empire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, (more)
- 1983
This lively, funny Faerie Tale Theatre production of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is about a thumb-sized girl (Carrie Fisher) who has to find her way back home after being kidnapped by a toad and a mole. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Made for British television, this adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is doggedly faithful to its source. Dr. Frankenstein's synthetic monster speaks, aspires to intellectual achievements, and begins descending into insanity and murder against his will. As in the Shelley original, both Frankenstein and his creation are left to die on an Arctic ice flow, a fitting punishment for dabbling in God's domain. Robert Powell, Carrie Fisher, David Warner, and Sir John Gielgud are seen in the principal roles. Originally telecast in 1982, Frankenstein made the American cable-TV circuit two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Hoping to be selected as a Playboy Bunny, Rhonda (Leslie Easterbrook) sends Laverne out to pick up an application. Not surprisingly, Laverne ends up trying to earn her own set of bunny ears, competing against her new friend Cathy (played by none other than Carrie Fisher). During the final selection process, the girls must prove their worth by waiting upon the "world's most obnoxious customer"--who turns out to be Squiggy (David L. Lander). Hugh Hefner himself makes a cameo appearance in this episode, which was directed by series regular Michael McKean (Lenny). As a bonus, guest star Carrie Fisher sings "My Guy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
In this comedy, a hotel becomes a chaotic place during the 1938 filming of The Wizard of Oz, when it is inundated with groups of midgets, secret agents, and Nazi and Japanese spies. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, (more)
- 1980
- PG
The second entry in George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy finds Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the green-as-grass hero from the first film, now a seasoned space warrior. Luke's Star Wars cohorts Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) are likewise more experienced in the ways and means of battling the insidious Empire, as represented by the brooding Darth Vader (body of David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones). And, of course, "The Force," personified by the ghost of Luke's mentor Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness), is with them all. Retreating from Vader's minions, Luke ends up, at first, on the Ice Planet Hoth, and then the tropical Dagobah. Here he makes the acquaintance of the gnomish Yoda (voice of Frank Oz), whose all-encompassing wisdom comes in handy during the serial-like perils of the rest of the film. Before the film's open-ended climax, we are introduced to the apparently duplicitous Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and are let in on a secret that profoundly affects both Luke and his arch-enemy, Vader. Many viewers consider this award-winning film the best of the Star Wars movies, and its special-effects bonanza was pure gold at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, (more)
Expanding on their Saturday Night Live characters, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd star as Jake and Elwood Blues, two white boys with black soul. Sporting cool shades and look-alike suits, Jake and Elwood are dispatched on a "mission from God" by their former teacher, Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman). Said mission is to raise $5000 to save an orphanage. In the course of their zany adventures, the Blues Brothers run afoul of neo-Nazi Henry Gibson, perform the theme from Rawhide before the most unruly bar crowd in written history, and lay waste to hundreds of cars on the streets and freeways of Chicago. In case you aren't swept up in the infectuous nuttiness of the brothers Blue, you might have fun spotting film's legion of guest stars, including James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Steve Lawrence, Twiggy, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman), Frank Oz, and Steven Spielberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, (more)
- 1978
At the height of his Three's Company popularity, John Ritter accepted an intensely dramatic role in the made-for-TV Leave Yesterday Behind. The carefree life of college athlete and veterinary student Paul Stallings (John Ritter) is grotesquely altered when he is paralyzed in an accident during a polo match. Attractive horse trainer Marny Clarkson (Carrie Fisher) tries her best to lift Paul out of his funk after his tragic mishap, and in so doing falls in love with him, leaving her fiance (Robert Urich) in the lurch. Some much-needed laughs are provided by Carmen Zapata as Paul's Mexican housekeeper, while Buddy Ebsen as the hero's country-doctor grandfather dispense his usual crusty sagacity. Leave Yesterday Behind was first offered by ABC on May 14, 1978. ~TV Guide/Marrill/Internet/Expert ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Carrie Fisher, who sends-up her famous character of Princess Leia in the sketch "New Kid on Earth." The musical guest is The Blues Brothers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carrie Fisher, The Blues Brothers, (more)
- 1978
Wookie sidekick Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) races across the galaxy to spend the holidays with his family in this TV movie, which was broadcast after Star Wars became a pop phenomenon but before the release of The Empire Strikes Back. Sometime after the events of the first film, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca are working a reconnaissance mission while Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the others pursue their own missions. Back on Chewie's home planet, preparations are underway for Life Day, the most important holiday in the Wookie calendar. As Chewbacca's family -- wife Malla (Mickey Morton), son Lumpy (Patty Maloney), and father Itchy (Paul Gate) -- anxiously awaits his return, agents of the Empire continue to oppress the people of their planet. Eventually, the Wookie clan is reunited, but not before Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Diahann Carroll, Harvey Korman, and Jefferson Starship appear in various vignettes. Broadcast once and only once -- on November 17, 1978, on CBS -- The Star Wars Holiday Special has never received an official video or DVD release. Despite George Lucas' avowed loathing of the project, however, bootlegs are traded avidly by Star Wars fans eager to see the first appearance of bounty hunter Boba Fett (in an 11-minute animated sequence). ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, (more)
- 1977
Discover the technical magic that makes the technology of Star Wars and the workings of the Force seem real. ~ All Movie Guide
George Lucas' mythological popcorn movie is a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has passed into movie legend. The story, for the tiny number of people not familiar with it, concerns a farm boy named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who discovers that the used robot recently purchased by his family plays back a message from one Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), begging for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks his father's friend Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) about this, and he discovers that Ben and Obi-Wan are one and the same. Kenobi tells Luke of the battle of the rebels against the ruling Empire and the spiritual energy called "The Force." Soon Luke, Kenobi, and a mercenary named Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join forces to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire's mammoth warship, the Death Star, controlled by evil genius Darth Vader (David Prowse, with the voice of James Earl Jones). George Lucas has frequently cited the influence of several films on Star Wars, particularly Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and John Ford's The Searchers, as well as the original Flash Gordon serials. After Star Wars became a success, Lucas announced his intention to turn the film into a series, originally totalling nine films (later pared back to six). Consequently, most reissue prints now feature the title Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) serving as Episodes Five and Six in the serial, and Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace (1999) going back to the myth's beginnings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, (more)
- 1977
Burt Lancaster was too young to play alcoholic, disillusioned Doc Delaney in the 1952 film version of William Inge's Come Back Little Sheba. At age 70, Laurence Olivier was too old for the part, yet Olivier's performance is far more persuasive than Lancaster's in this 1977 TV-movie remkae of Sheba. Inge's basic plot is left intact: Delany feels trapped by his marriage to the whining, slovenly Lola (Joanne Woodward, in the role created on Broadway by Shirley Booth). Doc can't appreciate the fact that, despite her inadequacies, Lola sincerely loves him; his emotional blindness stirs up a lot of trouble when a beautiful young woman (Carrie Fisher) rents a room in the Delany home. Despite American subject matter and setting, Come Back Little Sheba was produced in Britain by Granada Television. It was one of six plays coproduced for TV by Laurence Olivier as part of his "Great Plays of the 20th Century" series. Sheba was first seen by American viewers on December 31, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Woodward, Laurence Olivier, (more)
A frankly adult comedy about the sex lives of the aimless and the rich, Shampoo is also a pointed commentary on the demise of 1960s idealism at the dawn of the Nixon era. It is Election Day, 1968, and randy Beverly Hills hairdresser George Roundy (Warren Beatty) is too worried about attending to all of his women's tonsorial and sexual needs, while trying to swing a bank loan to fund his own salon, to notice the fateful Presidential race. As George juggles the demands of girlfriend Jill (Goldie Hawn) and mistress Felicia (Lee Grant), not to mention Felicia's daughter (Carrie Fisher), he meets Felicia's husband Lester (Jack Warden) to get money for the salon and discovers that his beloved ex-girlfriend Jackie (Julie Christie) is now Lester's mistress. Lester asks George to escort Jackie to a banquet for Nixon supporters, leading to a series of climactic confrontations at the dinner and a Hollywood orgy that expose the conflicting demands of sex, love, and security among these terminally narcissistic L.A. denizens. As Nixon's victory speech drones in the background the following day and Paul Simon's mournful '60s music plays on the soundtrack, George's free-wheeling world collapses around him for reasons that he can barely begin to comprehend. Produced and co-written (with Chinatown scribe Robert Towne) by its star Warren Beatty, Shampoo became Beatty's second critical and popular success as a producer after Bonnie and Clyde, and it bolstered Hal Ashby's track record as director. Shampoo earned Grant an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Supporting Actor nomination for Warden and Beatty's first nomination as writer. With Nixon's 1974 Watergate disgrace adding an extra edge to the humor for 1975 audiences, this tragic bedroom farce became one of the highest-grossing films in Columbia Pictures' history at the time. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, (more)
