Carrie Fisher was born October 21st, 1956 in Beverly Hills, California.  She is best known for playing Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars Trilogy.  She is the child of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, so I'm guessing hers is not a rags to riches story.  At any rate, contrary to what you might think, I didn't develop my crush on Carrie Fisher after seeing Princess Leia don the metal Bikini in 'Return of the Jedi', although, I'm a huge fan of the Metal Bikini.  By the time 'Return of the Jedi' came out I was a teen, so my Childhood crush on Carrie Fisher began when I saw her in the original Star Wars movie, 'Episode IV: A New Hope'.  At the time, the movie was unlike anything I had ever seen and my crush developed straight away as her ship was being attacked by the Empire while she loaded the famous, "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" message into R2-D2.  The crush only got stronger from there as I loved Leia's sort of snarky attitude and she seemed to be somebody who got sh*t done which appealed to my practical side, throw in the fact that she was cute and a brunette, and resistance was futile.

In addition to acting, which as far as I can tell continues to this day, Carrie Fisher also writes having released at least four novels and her autobiographical book, Wishful Drinking.

Love that cover.  I haven't read any of her books, but then, she probably hasn't read mine either.  For more about Carrie Fisher you could also visit her wikipedia page.