Carrie Fisher has taken her one-woman show, “Wishful Drinking,” which the actress, writer, and recovering drug addict performed all over the country, and turned it into a memoir. Fisher details her shocking celeb life- her childhood spent playing on movie back lots, her iconic role as Princess Leia in “Star Wars”, her failed marriages, and her ongoing battle with mental illness.
Fisher barely conceals her hatred for her father, Eddie Fisher. She isn’t afraid to deride and poke fun at her father throughout the book. Eddie’s been married 5 times, and is a widower now. Carrie says:
“He’s not alone for long because now he dates all of Chinatown! He does this partly as a tribute to (his last wife Asian) Betty and partly because my father has had so many face-lifts that he looks Asian himself.”
Mom Debbie Reynolds fares a lot better than her Eddie. Carrie obviously loves her deeply. She discusses hilarious times like the Christmas her mother gave her a vibrator (she was 15), and the time that Debbie called none other than Cary Grant to give Carrie advice about her drug intake.
Carrie describes her journey through mental hospitals, rehab and controversial electroshock therapy which, she says, “reintroduced her to her life.” She discusses her relationship with Paul Simon saying “I think ultimately I fell under the heading of ‘Good Anecdote, Bad Reality'”, and her second marriage, to Bryan Lourd, father of her only child, who left her soon after for another man. She ruefully discloses that “turning people gay is kind of a superpower of mine.”
Carrie’s comedic talent comes through when she recounts antics like the time her father mistook his hearing aid for one of his pills, when George Lucas made a gaffer tape her breasts on “Star Wars,” and when Bob Dylan incredibly calls her for advice on naming a cologne! Did that ever make it to market?!
Carrie stopped by the Today show to discuss her latest literary offering: