[edit]

• 418 – Pope Boniface I is elected.
• 457 – Majorian is acclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Emperor Leo I the Thracian.
• 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the Visigoths. He establishes his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Southern Gaul).
• 893 – An earthquake destroys the city of Dvin, Armenia.
• 1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
• 1308 – The reign of Emperor Hanazono of Japan begins.
• 1768 – King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital.
• 1795 – Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto).
• 1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
• 1835 – Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army.
• 1836 – South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
• 1836 – Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico with the signing of the Santa María–Calatrava Treaty.
• 1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
• 1867 – United States claims Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
• 1879 – Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapses as a train passes over it, killing 75.
• 1885 – Indian National Congress, a political party of India is founded in Bombay Presidency, British India.
• 1895 – The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
• 1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.
• 1902 – The Syracuse Athletic Club defeated the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden.
• 1908 – The 7.1 Mw Messina earthquake shakes Southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 75,000 and 200,000.
• 1912 – The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco.
• 1918 – Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons.
• 1941 – World War II: Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich, commences.
• 1943 – World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the Battle of Ortona concludes with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona.
• 1944 – Maurice Richard becomes the first player to score eight points in one game of NHL ice hockey.
• 1948 – The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami.
• 1956 – Chin Peng, David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman meet in Baling, Malaya to try and resolve the Malayan Emergency situation.
• 1958 – "Greatest Game Ever Played": Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.
• 1972 – Kim Il-sung, already Prime Minister of North Korea and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, becomes the first President of North Korea.
• 1973 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.
• 1989 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
• 2006 – War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops capture Mogadishu unopposed.
• 2009 – Forty-three people die in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims are observing the Day of Ashura.
• 2010 – Arab Spring: Popular protests begin in Algeria against the government.
• 2014 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashes into the Karimata Strait en route from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard.

Births[edit]

• 1164 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan (d. 1176)
• 1522 – Margaret of Parma (d. 1583)
• 1619 – Antoine Furetière, French author and scholar (d. 1688)
• 1651 – Johann Krieger, German organist and composer (d. 1735)
• 1655 – Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk (d. 1698)
• 1665 – George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (d. 1716)
• 1722 – Eliza Lucas, Caribbean-American agriculturalist (d. 1793)
• 1763 – John Molson, English-Canadian brewer, founded the Molson Brewery (d. 1836)
• 1775 – Jean-Gabriel Eynard, Swiss banker and photographer (d. 1863)
• 1798 – Thomas Henderson, Scottish astronomer and mathematician (d. 1844)
• 1818 – Carl Remigius Fresenius, German chemist and academic (d. 1897)
• 1842 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (d. 1891)
• 1856 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
• 1865 – Félix Vallotton, Swiss/French painter (d. 1925)
• 1866 – Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian, educator, and diplomat, founded the Askenazy school (d. 1935)
• 1870 – Charles Bennett, English runner (d. 1949)
• 1882 – Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (d. 1944)
• 1882 – Lili Elbe, Danish model and painter (d. 1931)
• 1887 – Werner Kolhörster, German physicist and academic (d. 1946)
• 1888 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1931)
• 1890 – Quincy Wright, American political scientist, historian, and academic (d. 1970)
• 1895 – Carol Ryrie Brink, American author and playwright (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Carl-Gustaf Rossby, Swedish-American meteorologist and academic (d. 1957)
• 1898 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
• 1902 – Mortimer J. Adler, American philosopher and author (d. 2001)
• 1902 – Shen Congwen, Chinese author and educator (d. 1988)
• 1903 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1983)
• 1903 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (d. 1957)
• 1907 – Ze'ev Ben-Haim, Ukrainian-Israeli linguist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1908 – Lew Ayres, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Billy Williams, American singer (d. 1972)
• 1911 – Wil van Beveren, Dutch sprinter and journalist (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian-American actor (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Bidia Dandaron, Russian author and educator (d. 1974)
• 1914 – Pops Staples, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Emily Cheney Neville, American author (d. 1997)
• 1920 – Bruce McCarty, American architect, designed the Knoxville City-County Building (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Steve Van Buren, Honduran-American football player (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (d. 2016)
• 1921 – Johnny Otis, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Stan Lee, American publisher, producer, and actor
• 1925 – Hildegard Knef, German actress and singer (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Milton Obote, Ugandan engineer and politician, 2nd President of Uganda (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Donald Carr, German-English cricketer and referee
• 1928 – Moe Koffman, Canadian flute player, saxophonist, and composer (d. 2001)
• 1929 – Brian Redhead, English journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1929 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 1970)
• 1930 – Mariam A. Aleem, Egyptian illustrator and academic (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Guy Debord, French theorist and author (d. 1994)
• 1931 – Martin Milner, American actor (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, founded Reliance Industries (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Dorsey Burnette, American singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
• 1932 – Roy Hattersley, English journalist and politician, Shadow Home Secretary
• 1932 – Harry Howell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1932 – Nichelle Nichols, American actress
• 1932 – Manuel Puig, Argentinian author and playwright (d. 1990)
• 1933 – John Y. Brown Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 55th Governor of Kentucky
• 1934 – Rudi Faßnacht, German footballer and manager (d. 2000)
• 1934 – Maggie Smith, English actress
• 1936 – Alan Coleman, English-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Lawrence Schiller, American journalist, director, and producer
• 1937 – Ratan Tata, Indian businessman and philanthropist
• 1938 – Dick Sudhalter, American trumpet player, scholar, and critic (d. 2008)
• 1939 – Philip Anschutz, American businessman, founded Anschutz Entertainment Group
• 1939 – Frank McLintock, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1939 – Michelle Urry, American journalist and illustrator (d. 2006)
• 1940 – A. K. Antony, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence
• 1940 – Don Francisco, Chilean-American journalist and talk show host
• 1941 – Intikhab Alam, Indian-Pakistani cricketer and coach
• 1942 – Roger Swerts, Belgian cyclist
• 1943 – Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Peruvian cardinal
• 1943 – David Peterson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Ontario
• 1943 – Joan Ruddock, Welsh politician
• 1943 – Richard Whiteley, English journalist and game show host (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Sandra Faber, American astronomer and academic
• 1944 – Johnny Isakson, American sergeant and politician
• 1944 – Kary Mullis, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1944 – Gordon Taylor, English footballer
• 1945 – Max Hastings, English journalist, historian, and author
• 1945 – Birendra of Nepal (d. 2001)
• 1946 – Mike Beebe, American lawyer and politician, 45th Governor of Arkansas
• 1946 – Pierre Falardeau, Canadian director, screenwriter, and activist (d. 2009)
• 1946 – Tim Johnson, American lawyer and politician
• 1946 – Barbara, Lady Judge, American-English lawyer and businesswoman
• 1946 – Bill Lee, American baseball player and author
• 1946 – Edgar Winter, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1947 – Dick Diamonde, Dutch-Australian rock bass player
• 1947 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2000)
• 1948 – Ziggy Modeliste, American drummer
• 1950 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Clifford Cocks, English mathematician and cryptographer
• 1950 – Rainer Maria Latzke, German-American painter and academic
• 1952 – Arun Jaitley, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Indian Minister of Law and Justice
• 1952 – Bridget Prentice, Scottish educator and politician
• 1953 – Richard Clayderman, French pianist
• 1953 – Tatsumi Fujinami, Japanese wrestler and promoter, founded Dradition wrestling promotion
• 1953 – Charlie Pierce, American journalist and author
• 1953 – Martha Wash, American singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Gayle King, American television journalist
• 1954 – Denzel Washington, American actor, director, and producer
• 1955 – Stephen Frost, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 1955 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese author, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1956 – Nigel Kennedy, English violinist
• 1958 – Terry Butcher, English footballer and manager
• 1959 – Hansjörg Kunze, German runner and sportscaster
• 1959 – Daniel Léo Simpson, American composer
• 1959 – Ana Torroja, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1960 – Ray Bourque, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – Melvin Turpin, American basketball player (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Kent Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager
• 1964 – Maite Zúñiga, Spanish runner
• 1965 – Allar Levandi, Estonian skier
• 1967 – Chris Ware, American illustrator
• 1968 – Akihiko Hoshide, Japanese engineer and astronaut
• 1969 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish-American computer programmer, developed Linux kernel
• 1970 – Elaine Hendrix, American actress
• 1970 – James Jett, American sprinter and football player
• 1970 – Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Dutch tennis player
• 1971 – Benny Agbayani, American baseball player
• 1971 – Anita Doth, Dutch singer-songwriter
• 1971 – William Gates, American basketball player
• 1971 – Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder, model, and author
• 1972 – Roberto Palacios, Peruvian footballer
• 1972 – Patrick Rafter, Australian-Bermudian tennis player and model
• 1972 – Adam Vinatieri, American football player
• 1973 – Holger Blume, German sprinter
• 1973 – Marc Blume, German sprinter
• 1973 – Seth Meyers, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and talk show host
• 1973 – Ids Postma, Dutch speed skater
• 1974 – Rob Niedermayer, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Markus Weinzierl, German footballer and manager
• 1975 – B. J. Ryan, American baseball player
• 1976 – Igor Žiković, Croatian footballer
• 1976 – Trond Nymark, Norwegian race walker
• 1977 – Derrick Brew, American sprinter
• 1977 – Shane Elford, Australian rugby player
• 1977 – Seun Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter
• 1978 – Chris Coyne, Australian footballer and manager
• 1978 – John Legend, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
• 1979 – James Blake, American tennis player
• 1979 – Senna Guemmour, German singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Bill Hall, American baseball player
• 1979 – Noomi Rapace, Swedish actress
• 1980 – Lomana LuaLua, Congolese footballer
• 1980 – Ryta Turava, Belarusian race walker
• 1981 – Narsha, South Korean singer and dancer
• 1981 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
• 1981 – Elizabeth Jordan Carr, American journalist
• 1981 – Sienna Miller, American-born British actress and fashion designer
• 1981 – Frank Turner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1981 – Mika Väyrynen, Finnish footballer
• 1982 – Cedric Benson, American football player
• 1982 – François Gourmet, Belgian decathlete
• 1982 – Ferry Rotinsulu, Indonesian footballer
• 1982 – Curtis Glencross, Canadian hockey player
• 1984 – Martin Kaymer, German golfer
• 1984 – Leroy Lita, English footballer
• 1984 – Alex Lloyd, English race car driver
• 1984 – Duane Solomon, American runner
• 1985 – Kamani Hill, American soccer player
• 1986 – Tom Huddlestone, English footballer
• 1987 – Matthias Schwarz, German footballer
• 1990 – Ayele Abshero, Ethiopian runner
• 1990 – Bastiaan Lijesen, Dutch swimmer
• 1994 – Adam Peaty, English swimmer

Deaths[edit]

• 925 – Wang Zongbi, general of the Chinese state of Former Shu
• 1326 – Sir David II Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, Constable of Scotland, and Chief Warden of Northumberland
• 1367 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (b. 1330)
• 1446 – Antipope Clement VIII (b. 1369)
• 1503 – Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (b. 1471)
• 1558 – Hermann Finck, German organist and composer (b. 1527)
• 1622 – Francis de Sales, French bishop and saint (b. 1567)
• 1663 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1618)
• 1671 – Johann Friedrich Gronovius, German scholar and critic (b. 1611)
• 1694 – Mary II of England (b. 1662)
• 1706 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and author (b. 1647)
• 1708 – Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, French botanist and mycologist (b. 1656)
• 1715 – William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (b. 1649)
• 1734 – Rob Roy MacGregor, Scottish outlaw (b. 1671)
• 1736 – Antonio Caldara, Italian composer (b. 1670)
• 1785 – Peter Ernst Wilde, Polish-Estonian physician and journalist (b. 1732)
• 1795 – Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian physician and lawyer (b. 1747)
• 1859 – Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, English historian and politician, Secretary at War (b. 1800)
• 1872 – James Van Ness, American lawyer and politician, 7th Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1808)
• 1890 – Dennis Miller Bunker, American painter (b. 1861)
• 1897 – William Corby, American priest and academic (b. 1833)
• 1900 – Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. 1846)
• 1913 – Ahmet Mithat Efendi, Turkish journalist and translator (b. 1844)
• 1916 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1835)
• 1917 – Alfred Edwin McKay, Canadian captain and pilot (b. 1892)
• 1918 – Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet and journalist (b. 1865)
• 1919 – Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1854)
• 1924 – Léon Bakst, Russian painter and costume designer (b. 1866)
• 1932 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (b. 1854)
• 1935 – Clarence Day, American author and illustrator (b. 1874)
• 1937 – Maurice Ravel, French pianist and composer (b. 1875)
• 1938 – Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (b. 1886)
• 1942 – Alfred Flatow, German gymnast (b. 1869)
• 1943 – Steve Evans, American baseball player (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (b. 1871)
• 1946 – Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (b. 1882)
• 1947 – Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (b. 1869)
• 1949 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and soldier (b. 1910)
• 1959 – Ante Pavelić, Croatian war criminal, Holocaust/Porajmos perpetrator; Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1889)
• 1960 – Philippe Panneton, Canadian physician, academic, and diplomat (b. 1895)
• 1963 – Paul Hindemith, German violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1895)
• 1967 – Katharine McCormick, American biologist and philanthropist (b. 1875)
• 1968 – David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (b. 1893)
• 1971 – Max Steiner, Austrian-American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1888)
• 1976 – Katharine Byron, American politician (b. 1903)
• 1981 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
• 1983 – William Demarest, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1983 – Dennis Wilson, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (b. 1944)
• 1984 – Sam Peckinpah, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
• 1986 – John D. MacDonald, American colonel and author (b. 1916)
• 1986 – Jan Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (b. 1922)
• 1989 – Hermann Oberth, Romanian-German physicist and engineer (b. 1894)
• 1990 – Warren Skaaren, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Sal Maglie, American baseball player and coach (b. 1917)
• 1993 – William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (b. 1904)
• 1994 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Clayton Moore, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Samuel Abraham Goldblith, American lieutenant, biologist, and engineer (b. 1919)
• 2001 – William X. Kienzle, American priest and author (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Benjamin Thurman Hacker, American admiral (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Jerry Orbach, American actor and singer (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, critic, and playwright (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Jamal Karimi-Rad, Iranian politician, Iranian Minister of Justice (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Irene Lieblich, Polish-American painter and illustrator (b. 1923)
• 2009 – The Rev, drummer for the American rock band Avenged Sevenfold (b. 1981)
• 2010 – Billy Taylor, American pianist and composer (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Nicholas Ambraseys, Greek-English seismologist and engineer (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Mark Crispin, American computer scientist and academic, designed the IMAP (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Václav Drobný, Czech footballer (b. 1980)
• 2012 – Frankie Walsh, Irish hurler and manager (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Halton Arp, American-German astronomer and critic (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (b. 1913)
• 2013 – Harry C. Goode Jr., American soldier and politician, 51st Mayor of Melbourne, Florida (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Andrew Jacobs, Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Joseph Ruskin, American actor and producer (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ilya Tsymbalar, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (b. 1969)
• 2014 – Vahan Hovhannisyan, Armenian politician (b. 1956)
• 2014 – Frankie Randall, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2015 – John Bradbury, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1953)
• 2015 – Eloy Inos, Mariana Islander businessman and politician, 8th Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
• 2015 – Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, English singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1945)

Obituary: Carrie Fisher

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Carrie Fisher's acting career was dominated by her role as Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars franchise.

It was a part that catapulted her into the limelight as one of the most famous faces on the planet.

But the fame brought a price and her personal life was dogged by failed relationships, mental health issues, and drug and alcohol abuse.

She later turned to writing before returning to Star Wars in the 2015 film, The Force Awakens.

Carrie Frances Fisher was born on Oct 21 1956, the daughter of Academy Award-nominated actress Debbie Reynolds and pop singer Eddie Fisher.

Fisher's parents divorced two years later, after her father had an affair with one of Reynolds' closest friends, Elizabeth Taylor. Her father and Taylor later married.

She was a self-confessed bookworm as a child reading poetry and classical literature. Her high school education was disrupted by the lure of the stage when she appeared in the musical Irene alongside her mother, and she never graduated. 

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

She moved to London where she enrolled in the Central School of Speech and Drama before returning to the US and attending the Sarah Lawrence arts college near New York.

Fisher made her big screen debut in the film Shampoo (1975), alongside Goldie Hawn, Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, but it would be another two years until she got her big break in Star Wars.

She told the Daily Mail in 2011 that when she got the part in a "little science-fiction film", she just thought of it as a bit of fun. "But then Star Wars, this goofy, little three-month hang-out with robots did something unexpected," she said. 

"It exploded across the firmament of pop culture, taking all of us along with it. It tricked me into becoming a star all on my own."

'Long-ago experience'

Fisher's memoir, The Princess Diarist, released in 2016, revealed for the first time that the then 19-year-old actress had an affair with co-star Harrison Ford, who was then married to Mary Marquardt. The affair ended after three months.

In the memoir, she wrote: "I don't remember much about things like the order we shot scenes in, or who I got to know well first.

"Nor did anyone mention that one day I would be called upon to remember any of this long-ago experience."

Image copyrightAP

In 1980 she reappeared in The Empire Strikes Back and, three years later in the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi.

She married singer Paul Simon in 1983. The pair had been in a relationship for five years, but they divorced just a year later.

Fisher had other roles during the decade, including in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and When Harry Met Sally (1989), but none had the same impact as the Star Wars franchise.

She also made a number of stage appearances during and after the filming of Star Wars.

Addictions and illness

Having managed to kick drugs and alcohol, she was rushed to hospital in 1985 after accidentally taking an overdose of sleeping pills and prescription drugs.

The episode formed the basis for her first novel, the semi-autobiographical Postcards from the Edge, in which she satirised her own dependence on drugs and the sometimes difficult relationship she had with her mother.

Three years later Fisher adapted it into a screenplay, and it was made into a film starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Dennis Quaid.

There were three further novels, Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma and The Best Awful.

She had a number of minor roles in various films but she found herself unable to recapture the profile that Star Wars had given her. 

Fisher - who had bipolar disorder - also wrote and frequently talked in public about her years of drug addiction and mental illness.

In 2001, she told Psychology Today: "Drugs made me feel normal. They contained me."

Remarkably frank

She also featured in a 2006 BBC television documentary Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive.

By the turn of the century she had made something of a reputation as a script doctor, revising and polishing screenplays by other writers. Among the films she lists as having worked on were Hook, Sister Act and Lethal Weapon 3.

In 2007, she wrote and performed her autobiographical one-woman show Wishful Drinking, which was released as a book the next year.

Image copyrightREUTERS

It was confirmed in 2013 that she would reprise her role as Leia in Star Wars VII which screened in 2015 as Star Wars - The Force Awakens. She appeared alongside original cast members Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill.

Billed as a sequel to The Return of the Jedi, the film became the highest grossing episode of the Star Wars franchise. Her character leads the resistance against the First Order, as she continues to seek the missing Luke. She won a Saturn Award in 2016 for Best Supporting Actress.

Days after the release of the film it was announced that Fisher would return in Star Wars VIII in 2017.

As well as her marriage to Paul Simon, Fisher also had a three-year relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd, which resulted in the birth of her daughter, Billie Lourd.

Carrie Fisher's fame as an actress rested on just one role, but it was a role in one of the best known and most successful film franchises in cinema history.

She was remarkably frank about the personal difficulties she had fought and overcome.

"There's a part of me that gets surprised when people think I am brave to talk about what I've gone through," she once said. "I was brave to last through it."

• 875 – Charles the Bald King of the Franks is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor Charles II.
• 1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.
• 1427 – The Ming army begins its withdraw from Hanoi, ending the Chinese domination of Đại Việt.
• 1503 – The Battle of Garigliano (1503) was fought between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French army commanded by Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo
• 1508 – Portuguese forces under the command of Francisco de Almeida attack Khambhat at the Battle of Dabul.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: Three thousand British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.
• 1786 – French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.
• 1812 – The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three-hour battle.
• 1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
• 1845 – In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, the United States annexes the Republic of Texas, following the manifest destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
• 1851 – The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1860 – The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolescent.
• 1874 – The military coup of Gen. Martinez Campos in Sagunto ends the failed First Spanish Republic and Prince Alfonso is proclaimed King of Spain.
• 1876 – The Ashtabula River railroad disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
• 1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
• 1911 – Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.
• 1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.
• 1916 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, was first published as a book by an American publishing house B. W. Huebschis after it had been serialized in The Egoist (1914–15).
• 1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
• 1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
• 1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
• 1939 – First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
• 1940 – World War II: In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, UK, killing almost 200 civilians.
• 1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
• 1972 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
• 1975 – Bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
• 1989 – Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
• 1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
• 1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
• 1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
• 1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives.
• 2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
• 2006 – UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
• 2011 – Samoa and Tokelau skip straight to December 31 when moving from one side of the International Date Line to another.
• 2012 – A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.
• 2013 – A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.

Births[edit]

• 765 – Ali al-Ridha, Arabian 8th of the Twelve Imams (d. 818)
• 1709 – Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
• 1746 – Saverio Cassar, Gozitan priest and rebel leader (d. 1805)
• 1796 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (d. 1877)
• 1800 – Charles Goodyear, American chemist and engineer (d. 1860)
• 1808 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1809 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)
• 1816 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (d. 1895)
• 1844 – Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, Indian barrister and was the first president of Indian National Congress. (d. 1906)
• 1855 – August Kitzberg, Estonian author and poet (d. 1927)
• 1856 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch-French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)
• 1859 – Venustiano Carranza, Mexican soldier and politician, 37th President of Mexico (d. 1920)
• 1874 – François Brandt, Dutch rower and bishop (d. 1949)
• 1876 – Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973)
• 1879 – Billy Mitchell, American general and pilot (d. 1936)
• 1881 – Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)
• 1885 – Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Austrian-Russian general (d. 1921)
• 1886 – Norman Hallows, English runner and captain (d. 1968)
• 1895 – Oswald Freisler, German lawyer and author (d. 1939)
• 1896 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)
• 1899 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese general and politician, Mayor of Beijing (d. 1992)
• 1902 – Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1957)
• 1903 – Candido Portinari, Brazilian painter (d. 1962)
• 1904 – Kuvempu, Indian author and poet (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian and author (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Magnus Pyke, English scientist and author (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Ronald Coase, English-American economist, author, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• 1911 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and spy (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter and academic (d. 1976)
• 1914 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (d. 1989)
• 1914 – Albert Tucker, Australian painter and illustrator (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Bill Osmanski, American football player and coach (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Robert Ruark, American hunter and author (d. 1965)
• 1915 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Tom Bradley, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 38th Mayor of Los Angeles (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Ramanand Sagar, Indian director and producer (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (d. 2014)
• 1919 – Roman Vlad, Italian pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Little Joe Cook, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1922 – William Gaddis, American author and academic (d. 1998)
• 1923 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (d. 1986)
• 1923 – Morton Estrin, American pianist and educator
• 1923 – Dina Merrill, American actress, game show panelist, socialite, heiress, and businesswoman
• 1923 – Shlomo Venezia, Greek-Italian author and Holocaust survivor (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Joe Allbritton, American businessman and publisher, founded the Allbritton Communications Company (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Pete Dye, American golfer and architect
• 1927 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (d. 1985)
• 1929 – Matt Murphy, American guitarist
• 1931 – Stasys Stonkus, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1932 – Inga Swenson, American actress and singer
• 1933 – Samuel Brittan, English journalist and author
• 1934 – Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress and producer
• 1936 – Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
• 1937 – Wayne Huizenga, American businessman, founded AutoNation
• 1938 – Harvey Smith, English horse rider and sportscaster
• 1938 – Jon Voight, American actor and producer
• 1939 – Ed Bruce, American country music singer-songwriter
• 1940 – Fred Hansen, American pole vaulter and dentist
• 1941 – Ray Thomas, English singer-songwriter and flute player
• 1942 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor, singer, and producer (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Honduran cardinal
• 1943 – Bill Aucoin, American talent manager (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Molly Bang, American author and illustrator
• 1943 – Rick Danko, Canadian singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 1999)
• 1944 – Rodney Redmond, New Zealand cricketer
• 1945 – Birendra of Nepal, King of Nepal from 1972 to 2001 (d. 2001)
• 1946 – Marianne Faithfull, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1946 – Laffit Pincay, Jr., Panamanian jockey
• 1947 – Richard Crandall, American physicist and computer scientist (d. 2012)
• 1947 – Ted Danson, American actor and producer
• 1947 – Leonhard Lapin, Estonian architect and poet
• 1947 – Cozy Powell, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 1998)
• 1947 – David Tanner, English rower and coach
• 1947 – Vincent Winter, Scottish actor, director, and production manager (d. 1998)
• 1948 – Peter Robinson, Northern Irish politician, 3rd First Minister of Northern Ireland
• 1949 – Syed Kirmani, Indian cricketer and actor
• 1949 – David Topliss, English rugby league player and coach (d. 2008)
• 1951 – Yvonne Elliman, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1952 – Gelsey Kirkland, American ballerina and choreographer
• 1953 – Thomas Bach, German lawyer and fencer, 9th President of the International Olympic Committee
• 1953 – Alan Rusbridger, Zambia-born English journalist and academic
• 1953 – Kate Schmidt, American javelin thrower and coach
• 1953 – Stanley Williams, American gang leader, co-founded the Crips (d. 2005)
• 1954 – Albrecht Böttcher, German mathematician and author
• 1954 – Norihito, Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
• 1957 – Brad Grey, American screenwriter and producer
• 1957 – Oliver Hirschbiegel, German actor, director, and producer
• 1957 – Iain Paxton, Scottish rugby player and coach
• 1957 – Paul Rudnick, American author, playwright, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Nancy J. Currie, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1959 – Keith Crossan, Irish rugby player
• 1959 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• 1959 – Ann Demeulemeester, Belgian fashion designer
• 1959 – Milton Ottey, Jamaican-Canadian high jumper and coach
• 1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian and author
• 1960 – David Boon, Australian cricketer
• 1960 – David Gilbert, Australian cricketer
• 1960 – Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Congolese militia leader, founded the Union of Congolese Patriots
• 1961 – Kevin Granata, American engineer and academic (d. 2007)
• 1961 – Jim Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1961 – Richard Horton, English physician and journalist
• 1962 – Wynton Rufer, New Zealand footballer
• 1962 – Devon White, Jamaican-American baseball player
• 1963 – Des Foy, English rugby player
• 1963 – Dave McKean, English illustrator, photographer, director, and pianist
• 1963 – Sean Payton, American football player and coach
• 1963 – Liisa Savijarvi, Canadian skier
• 1965 – Laurent Boudouani, French boxer
• 1965 – Dexter Holland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1965 – Danilo Pérez, Panamanian pianist and composer
• 1966 – Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer and coach
• 1966 – Martin Offiah, English rugby league player and sportscaster
• 1967 – Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian-American journalist
• 1967 – Chris Barnes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 – Evan Seinfeld, American bass player, actor, and director
• 1969 – Jennifer Ehle, American actress
• 1969 – Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver and journalist
• 1969 – José Antonio Noriega, Mexican footballer
• 1970 – Aled Jones, Welsh singer and television host
• 1970 – Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese race car driver
• 1970 – Glen Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 – Jude Law, English actor
• 1973 – Theo Epstein, American businessman
• 1974 – Twinkle Khanna, Indian producer and former actress
• 1974 – Mekhi Phifer, American actor and producer
• 1974 – Richie Sexson, American baseball player and coach
• 1974 – Ryan Shore, Canadian composer and producer
• 1975 – Shawn Hatosy, American actor
• 1975 – Jaret Wright, American baseball player
• 1976 – Filip Kuba, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 – Danny McBride, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1977 – Jimmy Journell, American baseball player
• 1977 – Katherine Moennig, American actress
• 1978 – Jake Berry, English lawyer and politician
• 1978 – Matthew Carr, Australian footballer
• 1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Kieron Dyer, English footballer and coach
• 1978 – Danny Higginbotham, English footballer and journalist
• 1978 – Steve Kemp, English drummer
• 1978 – Angelo Taylor, American hurdler and sprinter
• 1979 – Mitsuhiro Ishida, Japanese mixed martial artist
• 1979 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director, and producer
• 1979 – Moe Oshikiri, Japanese model and actress
• 1981 – Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater and sportscaster
• 1981 – Shaun Suisham, American football player
• 1981 – Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko, Estonian footballer
• 1982 – Alison Brie, American actress and singer
• 1982 – Brian Hill, Canadian swimmer
• 1982 – Dale Morris, Australian footballer
• 1982 – Norbert Siedler, Austrian race car driver
• 1983 – Jessica Andrews, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – James Kelly, Australian footballer
• 1984 – Brenton Lawrence, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 – Reimo Tamm, Estonian basketball player
• 1986 – Joe Anyon, English footballer
• 1986 – Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and singer
• 1987 – Yuhi Sekiguchi, Japanese race car driver
• 1988 – Eric Berry, American football player
• 1988 – Christen Press, American footballer
• 1988 – Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player
• 1989 – Left Brain, American rapper and producer
• 1989 – Kei Nishikori, Japanese tennis player

Deaths[edit]

• 721 – Empress Genmei of Japan (b. 660)
• 1170 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop and saint (b. 1118)
• 1563 – Sebastian Castellio, French preacher and theologian (b. 1515)
• 1565 – Queen Munjeong of Korea (b. 1501)
• 1634 – John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (b. 1612)
• 1661 – Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
• 1689 – Thomas Sydenham, English physician and author (b. 1624)
• 1720 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and educator (b. 1670)
• 1731 – Brook Taylor, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1685)
• 1737 – Joseph Saurin, French minister and mathematician (b. 1659)
• 1785 – Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian-Danish poet and playwright (b. 1742)
• 1825 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter and illustrator (b. 1748)
• 1887 – Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, Estonian-Russian linguist and botanist (b. 1805)
• 1890 – Spotted Elk, American tribal leader (b. 1826)
• 1891 – Leopold Kronecker, Polish-German mathematician and academic (b. 1823)
• 1894 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and hymn-writer (b. 1830)
• 1897 – William James Linton, English-American painter, author, and activist (b. 1812)
• 1910 – Reginald Doherty, English tennis player (b. 1872)
• 1924 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1925 – Félix Vallotton, Swiss/French painter (b. 1865)
• 1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet and author (b. 1875)
• 1929 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (b. 1846)
• 1937 – Don Marquis, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1878)
• 1941 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician and scholar (b. 1873)
• 1944 – Khasan Israilov, Chechen rebel (b. 1910)
• 1949 – Tyler Dennett, American historian and author (b. 1883)
• 1952 – Fletcher Henderson, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1897)
• 1959 – Robin Milford, English soldier and composer (b. 1903)
• 1960 – Eden Phillpotts, English author and poet (b. 1862)
• 1967 – Paul Whiteman, American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1890)
• 1968 – Austin Farrer, English theologian and philosopher (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Marie Menken, American director and painter (b. 1909)
• 1972 – Joseph Cornell, American sculptor and director (b. 1903)
• 1972 – Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, Greek priest and missionary (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Ivo Van Damme, Belgian runner (b. 1954)
• 1980 – Tim Hardin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
• 1980 – Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian author and educator (b. 1899)
• 1981 – Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
• 1986 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
• 1986 – Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1932)
• 1988 – Mike Beuttler, Egyptian race car driver (b. 1940)
• 1989 – Süreyya Ağaoğlu, Azerbaijani-Turkish lawyer and jurist (b. 1903)
• 1996 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Jean-Claude Forest, French author and illustrator (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Leon Radzinowicz, Polish-English criminologist and academic (b. 1906)
• 2000 – Adele Stimmel Chase, American sculptor and painter (b. 1917)
• 2001 – Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)
• 2010 – Avi Cohen, Israeli footballer and manager (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Mike Auldridge, American singer and guitarist (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Tony Greig, South African-Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Roland Griffiths-Marsh, Malaysian-Australian soldier and author (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Edward Meneeley, American painter and sculptor (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Paulo Rocha, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Bruce Stark, American cartoonist (b. 1933)
• 2013 – C. T. Hsia, Chinese-American critic and scholar (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (b. 1978)
• 2013 – Connie Dierking, American basketball player (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Wojciech Kilar, Ukrainian-Polish pianist and composer (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish skier (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Jagadish Mohanty, Indian author and translator (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Paul Sally, American mathematician and academic (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Hari Harilela, Indian-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Odd Iversen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Jenny Pat, Hong Kong illustrator and art dealer (b. 1981)
• 2014 – Juanito Remulla, Sr., Filipino lawyer and politician, Governor of Cavite (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Om Prakash Malhotra, Indian general and politician, 25th Governor of Punjab (b. 1922)
• 2015 – Pavel Srníček, Czech footballer and coach (b. 1968)
• 2015 – Kim Yang-gon, North Korean politician (b. 1942)

US actress Debbie Reynolds dies 

grieving for daughter Carrie Fisher

Debbie Reynolds, who starred opposite Gene Kelly in the 1952 musical Singin' in the Rain, has died a day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher.

The US actress, 84, had been rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke. 

Her son, Todd Fisher, said the stress of his sister's death had been too much for her and in her last words, she had said she wanted to be with Carrie. 

As tributes flowed, Star Trek actor William Shatner said she had been one of the last of the Hollywood royalty.

Reynolds had been at her son's house in Beverly Hills - apparently discussing the arrangements for Carrie Fisher's funeral - when she was taken ill. 

She was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre suffering from breathing difficulties and her death was confirmed a few hours later. It is thought she suffered a stroke. 

Carrie Fisher, renowned for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, had died aged 60 the day before, after spending three days in a Los Angeles hospital. 

She never regained consciousness after suffering a massive heart attack on board a flight from London to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. 

Speaking to the Associated Press news agency about his mother, Todd said: "She's now with Carrie and we're all heartbroken.''

Celebrity news site TMZ reports that Reynolds cracked while discussing plans for Carrie's funeral with her son, telling him: "I miss her so much; I want to be with Carrie."

In other tributes: 

• US actress Bette Midler said: "This is too hard to comprehend. Beautiful, talented, devoted to her craft, she follows Carrie, dead days ago"

• US actress Alyssa Milano tweeted: "Dear Debbie Reynolds, I totally get it. Hug her so tight for all of us"
• British actress Joan Collins recalled a "wonderfully warm friend and colleague"

• British comedian Stephen Fry, who earlier tweeted that it had been a "crushing blow to lose Carrie Fisher", offered his "deepest sympathy" to the family at "this new blow"

Image copyrightAFP

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

As people gathered to pay their respects to the actress at Hollywood's Walk Of Fame, one couple, Jose and Daniela Barrera, appeared to speak for many after a year marked by celebrity deaths: 

"It's just, you know, a sad time I guess," Jose told Reuters news agency. "With the closing of the year and so many deaths in the year, it's just sad."

"It was so sad," added Daniela. "It was a shocker. I mean, what were the odds of this happening? It was incredible finding out, sad."

Reynolds was leading lady in a succession of major Hollywood musicals and comedies in the 1950s and 60s.

She rose to stardom with Singin' in the Rain, at the age of only 19.

She received a best-actress Academy Award nomination for the 1964 musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

In 2015, she was given a lifetime achievement award by the Screen Actors Guild. The award was presented to her by her daughter. 

Fraught relationship

Reynolds married singer Eddie Fisher in 1955 and had two children, Carrie and Todd. The couple divorced in 1959 after news emerged of his affair with movie star Elizabeth Taylor.

Reynolds married twice more. 

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Carrie Fisher shot to fame in the initial Star Wars series but had a number of other roles including in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and When Harry Met Sally (1989). 

Fisher was also an author and screenwriter. Her semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge was made into a film, starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Dennis Quaid.

The story drew on Fisher's struggles with drugs and her sometimes strained relationship with her mother.

The pair stopped speaking to each other for many years but became closer later in life. 

In an interview last month with US radio network NPR, Fisher spoke of their relationship: "She's an immensely powerful woman, and I just admire my mother very much."