# Carrie Fisher has massive heart attack on plane \[UPDATE: RIP\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482 "2016-12-23T21:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/141 "2016-12-28T23:16:37Z")
2016 is a lethal year for celebrities. Sure hope Reynolds pulls through. She just completed a documentary with Carrie that will air on HBO in March. It would be tragic if they are both dead then. Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds  > **[Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_Lights:_Starring_Carrie_Fisher_and_Debbie_Reynolds)** > > Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (on-screen title is simply Bright Lights) is a 2016 documentary about the relationship between entertainer Debbie Reynolds (in her final film appearance) and her daughter, actress and writer Carrie Fisher. It premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and on January 7, 2017, on HBO. > A few weeks before the film's premiere broadcast, both Fisher and Reynolds died. On December 23, Fisher went into cardiac arrest and succumbed four days later... ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/142 "2016-12-29T00:36:01Z")
Great line from Twitter: > [@](#): > > It is becoming increasingly obvious that David Bowie has established a better alternate universe and is populating it selectively one-by-one ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/143 "2016-12-29T01:58:19Z")
Now being widely reported that Debbie Reynolds has passed. Wow. Just wow. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/144 "2016-12-29T02:00:05Z")
Goddammit. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/145 "2016-12-29T02:00:49Z")
[Here’s another thread where it’s being talked about.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=814908) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/146 "2016-12-29T02:14:31Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Great line from Twitter: > > > [@](#): > > > > It is becoming increasingly obvious that David Bowie has established a better alternate universe and is populating it selectively one-by-one Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Damn myself for laughing. So funny, but it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/147 "2016-12-29T02:55:33Z")
Fuck you 2016 ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/148 "2016-12-29T03:28:58Z")
This just in… Yes, Betty White is still breathing. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/149 "2016-12-29T06:02:47Z")
I was watching Johnny Carson tonight with Carrie Fisher and Garry Shandling. what struck me was how old Fisher looked considering she was promoting the third Star Wars movie. I never thought she looked 19 in the first movie. How fortunate to star in a major motion picture at such a young age. Forgot how good Shandling was as a standup comedian. 2016 took a pretty big toll on entertainers. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/150 "2016-12-29T07:14:17Z")
A 20 minute short film from 1999: “[Searching for Carrie Fisher](https://vimeo.com/84093348).” A couple of friends and film student make a documentary of their ludicrous quest to meet their childhood idol/crush. ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/151 "2016-12-29T07:17:09Z")
Several years ago my (baby boomer) husband worked at a used record store. This was in Chicago, so think High Fidelity, only more cramped and less cool. Occasionally I’d get roped into subbing for him. I’m quite a bit younger and not quite as much of a musicologist. One day this older gentleman came in and asked if we had any albums by… some guy. Making the leap that this was probably a pre rock era singer, I said, “…Uh, maybe in the male vocalists section?” The customer gave me a kids today sort of look and said, “You’ve never heard of him, have you?” He started pulling out all these albums by various obscure male singers, saying, “And I bet you don’t know who this is, either,” and generally he was right. But I could see him getting closer to the Fs, and it was like…wait for it…and finally he pulled out another album with a flourish, and he said, “And I bet you’ve never heard of Eddie Fisher.” I said, “I have too. That’s Princess Leia’s father.” The guy cracked up and bought a bunch of albums. And that’s my Carrie Fisher story. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/152 "2016-12-29T15:12:43Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I was watching Johnny Carson tonight with Carrie Fisher and Garry Shandling. what struck me was how old Fisher looked considering she was promoting the third Star Wars movie. I never thought she looked 19 in the first movie. How fortunate to star in a major motion picture at such a young age. > > … And Debbie Reynolds was just 19 when she filmed _Singin’ in the Rain._ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/153 "2016-12-31T07:12:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I was watching Johnny Carson tonight with Carrie Fisher and Garry Shandling. what struck me was how old Fisher looked considering she was promoting the third Star Wars movie. I never thought she looked 19 in the first movie. How fortunate to star in a major motion picture at such a young age. I caught a bit of that show as well; fascinating, knowing what was to follow. I have a question which I hope won’t ruffle any feathers. Does anyone else see no resemblance between Carrie Fisher from the early-'80s and her more recent appearances? And I don’t mean just the way she looked. I know people age, but there’s usually something that stays familiar over the years; the contours of their smile, the rhythm of their speech, the tempo of their walk, something. I’ve been seeing pictures of Debbie Reynolds recently, and from _Singin’ in the Rain_ up to the very recent pictures she’s still recognizably the same person. It just seems different with her daughter. If I didn’t know it was her, I wouldn’t believe it. Does anyone else feel the same; or for those who don’t is there some moment of unchanging Carrie-ness that stands out? I know there were hard years for her, and my heart goes out to those who knew her. It sounds like she was happier in recent times, and I’m glad for that. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/154 "2016-12-31T07:22:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I caught a bit of that show as well; fascinating, knowing what was to follow. > > I have a question which I hope won’t ruffle any feathers. Does anyone else see no resemblance between Carrie Fisher from the early-'80s and her more recent appearances? And I don’t mean just the way she looked. I know people age, but there’s usually something that stays familiar over the years; the contours of their smile, the rhythm of their speech, the tempo of their walk, something. I’ve been seeing pictures of Debbie Reynolds recently, and from _Singin’ in the Rain_ up to the very recent pictures she’s still recognizably the same person. It just seems different with her daughter. If I didn’t know it was her, I wouldn’t believe it. Does anyone else feel the same; or for those who don’t is there some moment of unchanging Carrie-ness that stands out? > > I know there were hard years for her, and my heart goes out to those who knew her. It sounds like she was happier in recent times, and I’m glad for that. Debbie Reynolds was Old Time Hollywood. So I believe she had a bit of judicious nipping & tucking done from time to time. Carrie did not–and a lifetime of smoking tobacco is harder on your looks than youthful excesses. Also harder on the heart, alas… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/155 "2016-12-31T20:14:54Z")
I never really thought of Carrie fisher as particularly good looking but that’s personal preference. Clearly she’s thought of as an attractive icon. I’m just a little surprised at her age. I thought she was closer to 30 when she was 19. She just had a very mature look to her IMO. It seems surreal to have watched the original SW when I was only a few years younger than her. I was just a kid and she’s in a blockbuster movie. Yes she died young but she also had a full life. A lot of actors burn out early and never see the success she experienced. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/156 "2017-01-01T03:48:10Z")
One of her last appearances, on the 8 out of 10 Cats Christmas episode, recorded a few days before she died: [- YouTube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyi2fK1-oUQ) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/157 "2017-01-01T23:06:28Z")
I just finished watching the 1982 _Laverne & Shirley_ episode in which Carrie Fisher appeared. Cindy Williams had left the show, so it was basically Laverne minus Shirley. Fisher was sexy and funny, and she and Penny Marshall had great chemistry together. Fisher also showed off her singing voice, performing _My Guy_. She was the bright spot in an otherwise mundane episode of a TV series that had long jumped the shark. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/158 "2017-01-08T01:34:56Z")
[Carrie Fisher laid to rest in giant Prozac pill.](https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/carrie-fishers-urn-looks-just-like-a-prozac-pill-234910539.html) > [@](#): > > Todd Fisher — Carrie’s brother and Debbie’s last surviving child — was photographed carrying his sister’s ashes in a giant Prozac pill, which was turned into an urn. Carrie was very open about her struggle with bipolar disorder, which the antidepressant medication can be prescribed to treat. According to People, Debbie was buried with some of Carrie’s ashes. > > “Carrie’s favorite possession was a giant Prozac pill that she bought many years ago. A big pill,” Todd explained to reporters after the memorial. “She loved it, and it was in her house, and Billie and I felt it was where she’d want to be… We couldn’t find anything appropriate. Carrie would like that. It was her favorite thing, and so that’s how you do it. And so they’re together, and they will be together here and in heaven, and we’re OK with that.” ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/159 "2017-06-17T06:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnea and a combination of other factors, but investigators were not able to pinpoint an exact cause, coroner’s officials said Friday. > > Among the factors that contributed to Fisher’s death was buildup of fatty tissue in the walls of her arteries, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a news release late Friday. The release states that the “Star Wars” actress showed signs of having taken multiple drugs, but investigators could not determine whether they contributed to her death in December. > > Her manner of death would be listed as undetermined, the agency said. [https://apnews.com/fd993597375f40c7b2d430743c6be2b6](https://apnews.com/fd993597375f40c7b2d430743c6be2b6) ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482/160 "2017-06-19T18:39:45Z")
Looks like she’d taken cocaine, heroin and MDMA when she died [Coroner Found Coke, MDMA, and Heroin in Carrie Fisher's System](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/carrie-fisher-reportedly-had-drugs-in-her-system-when-she-died-vgtrn) That hat trick has to be hard on a 60-year-old with a history of heavy drug abuse. It’s another case of someone mixing uppers and downers, the uppers wearing off first so they no longer counteract the downers which leads to respiratory depression. That seems more plausible as a cause of death than ordinary sleep apnea. The Force wasn’t with her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carrie-fisher-has-massive-heart-attack-on-plane-update-rip/775482.md?page=7)