Carrie Fisher’s Family Guide: Daughter Billie Lourd and More (2024)

A family full of actors. Fans may have known Carrie Fisher for her iconic role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, but the legendary actress wasn’t the only movie star in her family.The late When Harry Met Sally actress was born in 1956 to award-winning actress Debbie Reynolds and actor and singer Eddie Fisher. Two years after her birth, the Hollywood stars welcomed son Todd Fisher.After her parents’ divorce in 1959 due to Eddie’s infamous affair with Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie was married to the Cleopatra actress from 1959 to 1964 and later wed Connie Stevens from 1967 before splitting two years later. Stevens and Eddie had two daughters together: Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher, born in 1967 and 1968, respectively.Following in her parents’ Hollywood footsteps, Carrie started acting in the 1970s and quickly became beloved the world over with her iconic role as Princess Leia in 1977’s Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, which she quickly followed up with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983.Despite her incredible success, the Wishful Drinking author later revealed that she still had a difficult time living in her mother’s shadow in her early 20s. In a 2011 interview, Carrie spoke about her life growing up with famous parents and how she struggled to have a good relationship with her mom.“We had a fairly volatile relationship earlier on in my 20s. I didn’t want to be around her,” she shared at the time. “I did not want to be Debbie Reynolds’ daughter.”In addition to coming from a famous family, Carrie went on to create her own. After marrying Paul Simon in 1983 — and divorcing him one year later — Carrie had a relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd. Their daughter, Billie Lourd, was born in 1992.[sendtonews type="float" key="ZRowQv5rPZ-3109946-14453"]Carrie’s death in December 2016 was devastating for Billie, who was 23 at the time. The Shampoo actress passed away at age 60 after suffering cardiac arrest. One day later, her mother died at age 84 after suffering a stroke.“She wanted to be with Carrie,” Todd told Variety after Reynolds’ death, adding that the stress of Carrie’s passing was “too much for her.”Billie, for her part, recalled the death of her mother and grandmother as a “brutal” period of time in her life."It was really, really brutal, and I still hesitate and stutter because it’s really hard for me,” the Scream Queens alum shared on the “New Day” podcast in October 2021. “I miss my mom every day and my grandma, but really, my mom the most.”Seven years after Carrie’s death, Billie broke her silence about not inviting her late mother’s siblings to the actress’ Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in May 2023.“Days after my mom died, her brother and her sister chose to process their grief publicly and capitalize on my mother’s death, by doing multiple interviews and selling individual books for a lot of money, with my mom and my grandmother’s deaths as the subject," the American Horror Story alum explained in a statement obtained by Variety at the time. "I found out they had done this through the press. They never consulted me or considered how this would affect our relationship. Though I recognize they have every right to do whatever they choose, their actions were very hurtful to me at the most difficult time in my life. I chose to and still choose to deal with her loss in a different way.”Keep scrolling to learn more about Carrie’s famous family members:

A family full of actors. Fans may have known Carrie Fisher for her iconic role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, but the legendary actress wasn’t the only movie star in her family.The late When Harry Met Sally actress was born in 1956 to award-winning actress Debbie Reynolds and actor and singer Eddie Fisher. Two years after her birth, the Hollywood stars welcomed son Todd Fisher.After her parents’ divorce in 1959 due to Eddie’s infamous affair with Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie was married to the Cleopatra actress from 1959 to 1964 and later wed Connie Stevens from 1967 before splitting two years later. Stevens and Eddie had two daughters together: Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher, born in 1967 and 1968, respectively.Following in her parents’ Hollywood footsteps, Carrie started acting in the 1970s and quickly became beloved the world over with her iconic role as Princess Leia in 1977’s Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, which she quickly followed up with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983.Despite her incredible success, the Wishful Drinking author later revealed that she still had a difficult time living in her mother’s shadow in her early 20s. In a 2011 interview, Carrie spoke about her life growing up with famous parents and how she struggled to have a good relationship with her mom.“We had a fairly volatile relationship earlier on in my 20s. I didn’t want to be around her,” she shared at the time. “I did not want to be Debbie Reynolds’ daughter.”In addition to coming from a famous family, Carrie went on to create her own. After marrying Paul Simon in 1983 — and divorcing him one year later — Carrie had a relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd. Their daughter, Billie Lourd, was born in 1992.[sendtonews type="float" key="ZRowQv5rPZ-3109946-14453"]Carrie’s death in December 2016 was devastating for Billie, who was 23 at the time. The Shampoo actress passed away at age 60 after suffering cardiac arrest. One day later, her mother died at age 84 after suffering a stroke.“She wanted to be with Carrie,” Todd told Variety after Reynolds’ death, adding that the stress of Carrie’s passing was “too much for her.”Billie, for her part, recalled the death of her mother and grandmother as a “brutal” period of time in her life."It was really, really brutal, and I still hesitate and stutter because it’s really hard for me,” the Scream Queens alum shared on the “New Day” podcast in October 2021. “I miss my mom every day and my grandma, but really, my mom the most.”Seven years after Carrie’s death, Billie broke her silence about not inviting her late mother’s siblings to the actress’ Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in May 2023.“Days after my mom died, her brother and her sister chose to process their grief publicly and capitalize on my mother’s death, by doing multiple interviews and selling individual books for a lot of money, with my mom and my grandmother’s deaths as the subject," the American Horror Story alum explained in a statement obtained by Variety at the time. "I found out they had done this through the press. They never consulted me or considered how this would affect our relationship. Though I recognize they have every right to do whatever they choose, their actions were very hurtful to me at the most difficult time in my life. I chose to and still choose to deal with her loss in a different way.”Keep scrolling to learn more about Carrie’s famous family members:

Born in 1992, Billie was Carrie’s only child. After graduating from New York University in 2014, the California native followed in her mom’s footsteps in the industry, making a cameo appearance in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens and as Young Leia in Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker in 2020. She has also appeared in hit TV shows including American Horror Story and Scream Queens.

The actress began dating Austin Rydell in early 2016 and the two got engaged in June 2020. Nearly three months later, the couple welcomed a son named Kingston. After tying the knot in March 2022, her father revealed several months later that the duo had welcomed their second child.

Following her mother’s death, Billie has also been very open about dealing with grief.

“There’s really no way to explain it, and it’s so hard to talk about,” she told Ellen DeGeneres in September 2017. “If I say that I’m doing good, I’m too happy. If I say that I’m not doing good, then I’m a mess.”

Reynolds, born in 1932, was known for iconic roles in ‘50s and ‘60s movie musicals, including 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain and 1964’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown. The latter led to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

The alum married Eddie in 1955 and soon welcomed their children, Carrie and Todd. Following their divorce in 1959, Reynolds was married to businessman Harry Karl from 1960 to 1973, later tying the knot a third time to real estate developer Richard Hamlett from 1984 to 1996.

Although Carrie and her mother were not as close earlier in life and went nearly 10 years without speaking, they did reunite later in life and have a closer relationship.

“I just admire my mother very much," Carrie told NPR in November 2016, calling Reynolds an “extraordinary woman.”

She added: “There are very few women from her generation who worked like that, who just kept a career going all her life and raised children and had horrible relationships and lost all her money and got it back again. I mean, she’s had an amazing life, and she’s someone to admire.”

Reynolds died of a stroke in December 2016, one day after Carrie’s death. Following the passing of his mother and sister, Todd opened up about the family's devastating losses.

“From the family’s perspective, this is Debbie’s destiny. She didn’t want to leave Carrie and did not want her to be alone,” he told ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas at the time. “She didn’t die of a broken heart. She just left to be with Carrie … Carrie was a force of nature in her own right, you know. It took another force of nature to bridle and work with that and she was great with her.”

Carrie’s father was born in 1928 and dropped out of high school in the middle of his senior year to pursue a career as a singer. Following his discharge from the U.S. Army in 1953, the teen idol began to sing at top nightclubs and had a variety television series called co*ke Time with Eddie Fisher from 1953 to 1957 and The Eddie Fisher Show from 1957 to 1959.

The singer was married five times and also was involved in an affair with Elizabeth Taylor, known as one of Hollywood’s most notable scandals. His relationship with Debbie and Carrie became especially strained after he wrote an autobiography detailing his affairs and criticizing his ex-wife. In November 2010, Carrie revealed to the New York Times that her father “defined me more by his absence than by presence.”

In September 2010, Eddie ultimately died from complications from hip surgery. He was 82.

Carrie’s younger brother was born in 1958 and went on to attend the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. After becoming the CEO of the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino, the director was hired as the of the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum.

Todd has been married three times. He wed his high school sweetheart, Donna Freberg in 1981 and the pair divorced five years later. He was married to his second wife, Christi Marie Zabel, from 1989 until her passing in 2008, before tying the knot with Catherine Hickland in 2012.

In June 2018, the businessman opened up about how his relationship with his mother differed from the one his sister had with her, alleging that “Carrie perceived me as a bit of a threat because Debbie and I had a quiet, peaceful, unspoken love that did not require constant attention,” he told Variety at the time. “Carrie was more insecure about her relationship. I didn’t mind being Debbie Reynolds’ son, but Carrie was always trying to get out from under Debbie Reynolds’ shadow.”

In May 2023, Todd told TMZ that it was “heartbreaking and shocking” to be excluded from the guest list at Carrie’s posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. He added: “I was always a big part of everything my sister and mother did historically over their lifetimes.”

Following Billie’s response, Todd shared that he “never capitalized” on either Carrie or Reynolds’ deaths. “In no way meant to hurt Billie … and that is the truth,” the director insisted to Page Six.

The daughter of Eddie and Stevens, Tricia made her acting debut in the 1985 crime drama Stick. Aside from appearing in several movies, the Hollywood Chaos star has made guest appearances on shows such as Our House, Growing Pains and 7th Heaven. Tricia married husband Byron Thames in 2007.

Following Billie’s response on why she and the rest of Carrie’s siblings weren’t invited to the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony, Tricia shared that the situation was both “hurtful” and “confusing.”

“I had a relationship with Carrie long before Billie was born. I don’t know why she’s processing her pain this way, and maybe needs to. I can’t even guess,” she told Entertainment Tonight in May 2023. “I think maybe she wants to erase the past, the fissures. I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s unnecessary, because I am a really supportive and loving human being.”

Born in 1967 to Eddie and Stevens, Joely went on to attend Emerson College and made her film debut in 1987’s Pretty Smart with her sister Tricia. The I’ll Do Anything star was cast on the sitcom Ellen in 1994 and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. After appearing on television, Joely starred in the revival of Grease on Broadway in 1994.

The Desperate Housewives star married cinematographer Christopher Duddy in 1996. The twosome share three daughters together.

In 2017, Joely released a memoir titled Growing up Fisher in which she touched upon her relationship with Carrie.

“She talked me off the ledge,” the actress wrote when describing how she called Carrie — who had been vocal about her substance abuse issues throughout her life — for help after struggling with staying sober. “Take a shower, drink a beer. She was the only one I could talk to who didn’t judge me, who knew the experience I was having."