even though the actress had suffered a heart attack just a few days prior , the world hoped and prayed that she ’d pull through .
usa today carrie fisher left everyone in a state of shock .
it must have been funny to her to have been such an icon of the silver screen , and also a writer in a world that tends to hollywoodize even enlarge image lucasfilm when i first saw carrie fisher as princess leia in 1977 's " star wars : a new hope , " she was fresh - faced and full of confidence and witty comebacks for the roguish rake han solo .
fisher , who died tuesday after suffering a heart attack days earlier , had a long history of drug abuse in the 1970s and 1980s .
now , we ’re struggling to figure out what it means to no longer have this incredibly funny , talented , and passionate actress with us .
she leaves behind her daughter , billie lourd , her brother , todd fisher , her mother , debbie reynolds — and her french bulldog , gary .
she was the perfect geek girl ranked on a scale from 1 to 10 , the trending score reflects the number of users reading a story in real time .
dan aykroyd saved her life and she almost married him in return story : how she died story : 7 things
here are seven surprising facts about her : she was a sought - after script doctor among the scripts the good doctor rewrote and punched up without credit : " sister act " and " hook . "