Star Wars creator George Lucas is mourning the death of his longtime friend and leading lady Carrie Fisher. 
 
 “Carrie and I have been friends most of our adult lives,” he said in a statement to PEOPLE. “She was extremely smart; a talented actress, writer and comedienne with a very colorful personality that everyone loved. In Star Wars she was our great and powerful princess – feisty, wise and full of hope in a role that was more difficult than most people might think.” 
 
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 “My heart and prayers are with Billie, Debbie and all Carrie’s family, friends and fans. She will be missed by all,” the statement concludes. 
 
 Fisher, 60, was aboard an 11-hour flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday when she went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics removed her from the flight and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for a heart attack. She later died in the hospital. 
 
 Since her death, other members of the famous franchise have paid tribute to Fisher’s life and legacy. 
 
 “Carrie was one-of-a-kind…brilliant, original,” Harrison Ford said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Funny and emotionally fearless. She lived her life, bravely…My thoughts are with her daughter Billie, her mother Debbie, her brother Todd, and her many friends. We will all miss her.” 
 
 Her onscreen brother Mark Hamill, on the other hand, was speechless about the heartbreaking news of Fisher’s death: “No words #Devastated,” the actor tweeted alongside a photo of the two during their Star Wars years. 
 
 After him, several other Star Wars alums shared messages of love for Fisher on Twitter — including the actor who played Chewbacca. 
 
 There are no words for this loss. Carrie was the brightest light in every room she entered. I will miss her dearly. pic.twitter.com/GgIeYGeMt9 — Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars) December 27, 2016 
 
 “There are no words for this loss,” said Peter Mayhew. “Carrie was the brightest light in every room she entered. I will miss her dearly.” ||||| Actor who played Princess Leia in Star Wars films transferred to hospital in LA after suffering cardiac arrest mid-flight 
 
 Carrie Fisher in intensive care after heart attack on flight to LA 
 
 Carrie Fisher, the actor beloved for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, is being treated in intensive care after suffering a serious heart attack on a flight to Los Angeles from London, her brother has said. 
 
 Todd Fisher said the 60-year-old was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a medical emergency on the United Airlines flight from London on Friday. 
 
 He added his older sister was receiving excellent care, but said he could not classify her condition. He had earlier told reporters that she had been stabilised and was out of the emergency room. 
 
 But he later clarified his comments. “It’s not fair to say ‘stable’. I am not saying she is fine, or not fine,” he told Reuters by telephone. “She is in the ICU.” But in a subsequent interview he said many details about her condition or what caused the medical emergency are unknown. 
 
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 Emergency services did not confirm the actor’s condition. Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles fire department, said: “At 12.11pm the Los Angeles fire department responded to LAX airport for a patient in cardiac arrest. 
 
 “Firefighters aggressively provided advanced medical life support and transported the patient to a local area hospital.” 
 
 A large gathering of reporters was camped outside the Ronald Reagan UCLA medical centre in Santa Monica where TMZ and the Los Angeles Times reported she had been taken. 
 
 A United Airlines statement said: “Medical personnel met United flight 935 from London to Los Angeles upon arrival today after the crew reported that a passenger was unresponsive. 
 
 
 
 “Our thoughts are with our customer at this time and any requests for additional information should be directed to local authorities.” 
 
 A number of unnamed sources spoke to news outlets. One, who said they were not authorised to discuss the incident, told the Los Angeles Times Fisher was “in a lot of distress on the flight”. 
 
 People who said they had been on board the plane detailed the incident on Twitter. One, the YouTube star Anna Akana, wrote: “She wasn’t breathing for 10 minutes or so. They were administering CPR up until we landed. 
 
 “So many thanks to the United flight crew who jumped into action, and the awesome doctor and nurse passengers who helped.” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in the original 1977 Star Wars film, Episode IV – A New Hope. Photograph: Century Fox/Rex/Shutterstock 
 
 Fisher, the daughter of the Hollywood couple Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, rose to stardom as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. She recently published The Princess Diarist, her eighth book, about playing the role. She has also written for the Guardian. 
 
 She was returning to Los Angeles after being in the UK to film the third season of the British television comedy Catastrophe. 
 
 She has written extensively about her struggles with fame and addiction. Her first novel, published in 1987, was Postcards from the Edge, a thinly veiled autobiography about a cocaine-addicted actor trying to put her life together after a drug overdose. It was adapted into a 1990 film starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. 
 
 A one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, played on Broadway. It was filmed for HBO and also became a book. 
 
 Carrie Fisher on Harrison Ford: ‘I love him. I'll always feel something for him’ Read more 
 
 Fisher revealed in her new book that she and her Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford had an on-set affair that they kept secret for decades. She was also once married to the singer Paul Simon. 
 
 
 
 Ford and Fisher were reunited on screen in The Force Awakens, last year’s seventh film in the Star Wars series. Fisher had recently finished filming on the eighth movie, which is due to be released next year. 
 
 Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, tweeted: “As if 2016 couldn’t get any worse... sending all our love to @carrieffisher.” 
 
 Peter Mayhew, the actor who played the Wookiee Chewbacca, said: “Thoughts and prayers for our friend and everyone’s favorite princess right now.” ||||| J.J. Abrams has assembled an eclectic cast for his take on 'Star Wars.' 
 
 Actors Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill have been included in the cast for 'Star Wars: Episode VII', which has been announced today. (Photo: Vince Bucci, Getty Images) 
 
 Long ago in a galaxy far, far away — or, more like two years ago when Disney purchased Lucasfilm — Star Wars fans maybe could have guessed that original stars such as Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would be returning to the universe that George Lucas built. 
 
 The Jedi faithful probably weren't prescient enough, however, to predict some of the other arrivals to the ways of the Force: Andy Serkis from The Lord of the Rings movies, Oscar-nominated legend Max von Sydow and Adam Driver, a former Marine best known for his role in the HBO comedy series Girls. 
 
 The main cast of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII movie (due out Dec. 18, 2015) was revealed on Tuesday, and with his first Star Wars film, director J.J. Abrams has gathered an eclectic group of actors for the franchise's future. 
 
 "They have a good group of people who have a mix of demonstrated talent and fresh resumes. (These are) people who can fill into any role they need to and who won't be recognized for something they've done that will take audiences out of the movie," says Eric Geller of the Star Wars fan site TheForce.net. 
 
 But fans were also excited when Lucas put a talented group including Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor together for 1999's first Star Wars prequel, the much-maligned The Phantom Menace, reminds Mike Ryan, senior editor for Screencrush.com. 
 
 The big difference with the new crew? "Han Solo is sitting right there with them," Ryan says. 
 
 Ford, Fisher and Hamill have been rumored for months to reprise their roles as Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker — arguably the most famous sci-fi trio in history. 
 
 That wasn't good enough for Abrams, though. He also signed on stalwarts such as Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker to play droids C-3PO and R2-D2, plus Peter Mayhew as Han's Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. 
 
 One notable snub, though, is Billy Dee Williams, notes Geller, who expected Williams to return as Cloud City huckster-turned-hero Lando Calrissian. 
 
 While Williams might still have a cameo, "Abrams has to make a movie that features Han, Luke and Leia, while handing the movie off to the newcomers," Ryan adds. "Perhaps there just wasn't enough room for Lando." 
 
 The returning six actors are fan favorites yet are getting up in age — Ford is 71, Hamill 62, Fisher 57 — and this is most likely Abrams' way to send them off in style while also passing the torch to a younger generation of potential icons. 
 
 Like Lucas with his original Star Wars in 1977, Abrams balanced slim resumes with vaunted ones to fill out his cast. And while no characters, good or bad, Jedi or Sith, have been assigned to any of the actors, Abrams cast a trio of youngsters much like Lucas' core three. 
 
 When they joined the first Star Wars, Ford was a veteran of TV roles and had a credit in Lucas' American Graffiti in 1973; Fisher boasted of a supporting role in Shampoo and a TV movie with her mom Debbie Reynolds; and Hamill hadn't even been seen on a big screen. 
 
 Similarly, Episode VII cast members John Boyega, Domhnall Gleeson and Daisy Ridley are all relative unknowns in the U.S. Boyega starred in the cult British alien-invasion flick Attack the Block and is "an excellent choice," Ryan says; Gleeson is the son of Irish actor Brendan Gleeson and had roles in the last two Harry Potter films; and Ridley's first big-screen credit is for a yet-to-be-released movie from last year, according to the TV/movie database IMDb. 
 
 "This is going to make her career," Geller says of Ridley, whom he guesses may play Han Solo's daughter. "If that's the case, I think it's a great choice to pick someone in her position." 
 
 Driver and Oscar Isaac may be more familiar to audiences. Isaac had a breakout role as a folk musician in last year's Coen brothers movie Inside Llewyn Davis, while Driver is famous for Girls. 
 
 Meanwhile, Abrams adds some geek royalty in Serkis and von Sydow. 
 
 Fans are probably wondering if Serkis will be seen as himself or whether he'll don the motion-capture suit for which he's become famous. He's helped bring life to the creepy, computer-generated Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, as well as Caesar the ape in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and July's sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. 
 
 Lucas brought in Hollywood thespians in Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing for that first Star Wars movie, and 85-year-old von Sydow fills that role in Episode VII and is famous for his role in 1980's Flash Gordon. 
 
 "It's funny that Lucas originally wanted the Flash Gordon rights, couldn't get them, then made Star Wars instead," Ryan says. "Now, Star Wars has Ming the Merciless. 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Shannon Rae Green reveals what Star Wars fans are saying on social media about the cast list for Episode VII. Find out what some think is missing. (USA TODAY, USA NOW) 
 
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– Carrie Fisher is gone but she will live on through her books and movies—including Star Wars: Episode VIII, which won't be in theaters for almost a year. Sources tell the Wrap that the 60-year-old Fisher had completely finished filming her role and all necessary reshoots for the movie, in which she reprises her role as Princess Leia. It's not clear how her death will affect the future of the Star Wars series. George Lucas was among the many people paying tribute to Fisher on Tuesday. "She was extremely smart; a talented actress, writer and comedienne with a very colorful personality that everyone loved," he told People. "In Star Wars she was our great and powerful princess—feisty, wise and full of hope in a role that was more difficult than most people might think.” Harrison Ford was among the Star Wars co-stars with warm words for Fisher. "Carrie was one-of-a-kind…brilliant, original," he said. "Funny and emotionally fearless. She lived her life, bravely." Mark Hamill, at first, could only tweet that he was "devastated." In a follow-up tweet, he praised his "beloved space-twin." "She was OUR Princess, damn it, and the actress who played her blurred into one gorgeous, fiercely independent and ferociously funny, take-charge woman who took our collective breath away." Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, tweeted photos of himself with Fisher over the years. "There are no words for this loss," he wrote. "Carrie was the brightest light in every room she entered. I will miss her dearly."