Carrie Fisher Height, Weight and Body Measurements

Carrie Fisher was widely reported to stand about 5 ft 1 in (155 cm) tall. She never made weight a point of her public image beyond her own candid writing, so this biography sticks to height and the career that made her one of the most recognisable figures in film.

Quick facts

Hollywood family

Fisher was the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds, so she grew up around show business. She briefly studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and, early on, appeared in the film Shampoo (1975).

Princess Leia

In 1977 she played Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars, a role that became one of cinema’s best-loved heroines. The costume, hairstyle and attitude made Leia iconic. She returned in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and decades later in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, the latter completed using previously shot material.

Writing and wit

Away from the galaxy far, far away, Fisher was a celebrated writer. Her semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge (1987) was adapted into a 1990 film starring Meryl Streep. She also wrote memoirs including Wishful Drinking, which she adapted into a one-woman stage show. She worked as a script doctor, helping polish other writers’ screenplays. Her humour made her a popular talk-show guest.

Advocacy

Fisher spoke openly about mental health and addiction, helping to reduce stigma around those subjects. Her honesty was often cited by fans and fellow performers.

Legacy

She died in 2016, and tributes from film fans around the world followed. Her influence continues to be felt in the way Leia is remembered, and in the memoirs and essays that readers still discover.

Height and screen presence

At about 5 ft 1 in she was small in stature but unmistakably commanding on screen. Leia, as written and as played, was never the smallest person in the room in spirit.

Remembered by fans

Fisher’s fans admired her for more than the films. Her willingness to laugh at herself, to describe the strangeness of fame in plain words and to treat Leia as both a gift and a joke made her feel like someone readers could trust. Conventions, essays and books still keep her voice alive, and many younger viewers meet her first through the sequel trilogy before discovering her writing.

Her influence is visible in the number of modern heroines who combine authority with a sharp sense of humour, and she is regularly cited as a model by writers and actors who followed.

More than a princess

Fisher’s screen career extended beyond Leia. She appeared in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), the cult classic The Blues Brothers (1980) and, memorably, When Harry Met Sally… (1989), in which she played Marie, the friend who gets caught up in a very funny dating dilemma. On television she was nominated for an Emmy for a guest role on 30 Rock, and she appeared in the comedy series Catastrophe, playing a pointed, sharp-tongued mother-in-law.

The writer’s life

Fisher was often more proud of her writing than her acting, and it shows. Postcards from the Edge was loosely drawn from her own experiences and became a bestseller, Wishful Drinking began as a one-woman stage show and became a 2008 memoir, and Shockaholic (2011) continued in the same confessional, funny vein. The Princess Diarist (2016) drew on diaries she kept during the first Star Wars shoot. She also worked as an uncredited script doctor on several Hollywood films, a job that depends on wit and speed.

Family and documentary

Her relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds, was complicated and affectionate, and it was the subject of the documentary Bright Lights (2016). The film shows two performers who knew exactly how show business worked and didn’t take it too seriously. It is a good place to start for anyone who wants to see her off-screen character.

Frequently asked questions