May the Fourth: Carrie Fisher gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Almost 46 years after Carrie Fisher became a household name, she has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May the Fourth, the unofficial holiday for everything “Star Wars.”

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Fisher’s star, which is the 2,754th star on the Walk of Fame, was unveiled near the Walt Disney Company-owned El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Disney also owns the “Star Wars” franchise, the movies that made Fisher an icon on the big screen.

“I am happy to add, that her star is just a few feet away from the star of Mark Hamill and across the street from the star of her legendary mother Debbie Reynolds!” Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame said in a statement when the star was announced last month.

Hamill was part of Thursday’s ceremony honoring his co-star and on-screen sister, starting his remarks with what he posted on Twitter earlier in the day, “May the Fourth be Carrie Frances Fisher Day.” He called her at one point during the remarks his “beloved space-twin.”

Lourd, wearing a dress with an image of her mother as Princess Leia printed on it, accepted the star on behalf of her mother. She finished her remarks by saying, “Thank you to the fans who love her as much as I do,” before unveiling her mother’s star with help from Hamill and next to C3-PO and R2-D2. She then sprinkled some glitter that her mother was so fond of on the star itself.

Fisher’s brother and sister were not part of the ceremony, spurring Lourd to speak out on Wednesday, claiming that her uncle and aunts were trying to capitalize on her mother’s death, Entertainment Weekly reported.

“I have seen the postings and press release issued by my mother’s brother and sister,” Lourd said in a statement. “I apologize to anyone reading this for feeling the need to defend myself publicly from these family members. But unfortunately, because they publicly attacked me, I have to publicly respond. The truth is I did not invite them to this ceremony. They know why.”

Fisher’s brother Todd Fisher told TMZ this week, “It’s heartbreaking and shocking to me that I was intentionally omitted from attending this important legacy event for my sister, Carrie.”

He claims that he is the one who started the process to get his sister her star and that he was inseparable from her for more than 60 years, TMZ reported.

According to the Walk of Fame, “The criteria for receiving a star consists of the following: professional achievement, longevity in the category of five years or more, contributions to the community and the guarantee that the celebrity will attend the dedication ceremony if selected. Posthumous awards require a two-year waiting period after death.”

It currently costs $75,000 for a star with the money going to the creation, installation and maintenance.

Carrie Fisher’'s half-sisters, Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher posted photos of the three of them together on Instagram with Joely Fisher writing, “For some bizarre, misguided reason our niece has chosen not to include us in this epic moment in our sister’s career.” She added, “The fact that her only brother and two sisters were intentionally and deliberately excluded is deeply shocking.”

Carrie Fisher died on Dec. 27, 2016, at the age of 60. She had suffered a heart attack, People magazine reported. Fisher was flying from London to Los Angeles when she went into cardiac arrest on Dec. 23. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died.

A coroner’s report released about six months after Carrie Fisher’s death said the manner was undetermined but “sleep apnea and other undetermined factors” contributed to her demise, CNN reported. The report also stated that there were signs of “multiple drug intake” and that she had suffered from “drug use” and atherosclerotic heart disease, or a build-up of fats and cholesterol on the walls of arteries.

Lourd said at the time of the report that her mother “battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life,” adding that “she ultimately died of it,” CNN reported.

Reynolds, died the next day at the age of 84 of a stroke, The New York Times reported.

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Through the years American actress and singer Debbie Reynolds (1932 - 2016) with her husband, singer Eddie Fisher (1928 - 2010) and their baby daughter Carrie Fisher (1956 - 2016), circa 1956. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images) (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

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Carrie Fisher Honored With A Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Posthumously HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 04: View of podium at the ceremony for Carrie Fisher being honored posthumously with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 04, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images) (David Livingston/Getty Images)

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