Hollywood Stars Gather to Mourn Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
Gwenyth Paltrow attends memorial for Carrie Fisher. Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Some of best-known people in the film industry gathered to remember Hollywood actresses Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, at a private memorial service in Los Angeles.
Actors Stephen Fry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Meg Ryan, Candace Bergen, Meryl Streep, Ed Begley Jr., Jamie Lee Curtis and Penny Marshall were among the guests who attended the memorial Thursday for Fisher, who portrayed Princess Leia in the 1970s “Star Wars” film series, the New York Daily News reported. George Lucas, the series’ director, was also in attendance.
Fisher, who was Jewish, died at the age of 60 aboard an airplane of a heart attack on Dec. 27. Her mother, who launched her storied career in the iconic film musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” died a day later of a stroke at the age of 84.
Fry, who, like Paltrow is also Jewish, bonded with Fisher partly over their experiences fighting depression, the Daily Mail reported. He was one of five people, including Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd, who eulogized Fisher at the event before some 120 guests, according to the Daily Mail.
“All the tributes circled back to billie and how much Carrie loved her,” Fry, 59, told People Magazine of the event held Thursday at a Beverly Hills venue, where Fisher’s friends, including the celebrities entered a lush green garden as reporters huddled outside. The venue was Fisher’s home, the New York Post reported.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Fisher’s body was cremated and her family planned to bury some of her ashes alongside her Reynolds, who will be laid to rest at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills.
Fry, who arrived with his 29-year-old husband, Eliott Sepncer, called Fisher his “dear friend.”
On Twitter, Fry wrote that Fisher was “the brightest, funniest, kindest, cleverest and sweetest person I ever knew. A crushing blow to lose” her.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
