Carrie Fisher captured the hearts of millions thanks to her portrayal of Princess Leia Organa in the original Star Wars trilogy.
There was little surprise that the star, who sadly died in 2016, became an actress, given that her parents were the Hollywood icons Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Eddie shot to fame as a presenter on The Eddie Fisher Show, while Debbie made her name in films like Singin’ in the Rain and Bundle of Joy.
But despite her Hollywood pedigree, Carrie has previously confessed that she didn’t have the easiest of upbringings. Part of this stemmed from her father leaving Debbie for Elizabeth Taylor when Carrie was just two.
According to Vanity Fair, she later reflected: “My mother and my father were America’s sweethearts. They literally received that tag. Even my parents sort of went along with the assumption that they were a good couple, but they probably weren’t a very good couple.”
Due to Debbie’s career, she was often away from her family for long periods of the day, meaning that Carrie and her younger brother, Todd, would want to spend as much time as possible with her, even if that meant taking up some unconventional sleeping locations.
Carrie recounted: “When my mother was home at weekends, we stayed with her as much as possible, which frequently meant we watched her dress and make herself up.”
The Catastrophe star continued: “When Mom was at home, she did a lot of sleeping because she worked so hard, so Todd and I wanted as much of her company as we could get. I slept on the rug on the floor next to her bed, and my brother slept on the couch near the window. In the morning when Todd and I got up, we would creep out of her room so we wouldn’t wake her.”
Dealing with the fame
It was often only when Debbie was at home that Carrie and her brother were able to get personal time with their mum, given that due to her A-list status, plenty of people would recognise the actress whenever she was in public.
© Getty ImagesSpeaking to The New York Times, Carrie confessed: “When we went out, people walked over me to get to her, and no, I didn’t like it. I overheard people saying, ‘She thinks she’s so great because she’s Debbie Reynolds’ daughter’. And I didn’t like it, it made me different from other people and I wanted to be the same.”
Carrie’s relationship with Eddie
Carrie was unimpressed with her father leaving their home to romance Elizabeth, even making snide remarks about how the pair started their relationship.
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyBut as a child, she was still determined to win her father’s affections. Speaking to The Los Angeles Times in 2008, she shared: “I started reading really early. I wanted to impress my father, who is unimpressible. My family called me ‘the bookworm’ and they didn’t say it in a nice way. I fell in love with words.”
She later said of their relationship: “In later years, I realised that we could have a relationship if I was taking care of him. If I had an expectation that he was going to be some kind of parent to me, that was always going to disappoint. For whatever reason that is who he was. At least he did one thing, he knew he didn’t deserve my care and attention, and he appreciated it.“
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