Carrie Fisher, beloved actress and icon, has died after suffering from a heart attack on Friday, December 23. The incident occurred while she was on a flight from London to Los Angeles, and she was treated by fast-acting onboard medical staff, then taken to UCLA Medical, where she was later stabilized. Ms. Fisher succumbed to the cardiac damage earlier this morning. Family spokesman Simon Halls confirmed the news via a statement to People:

“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning. She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”

Carrie Fisher had a long and tempestuous career in Hollywood, but was best known for her iconic role as Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope. This was a role that she reprised last year in Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens, and this year via digital proxy in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Carrie Fisher long struggled with drug addiction and bipolar disorder which led her to become an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness. She was awarded the Annual Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by Harvard, noting that “her forthright activism and outspokenness about addiction, mental illness, and agnosticism have advanced public discourse on these issues with creativity and empathy.”

She is survived by her mother Debbie Reynolds, daughter Billie Lourd, brother Todd Fisher, and half-sisters Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher.