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Sleep Apnea Factored In Carrie Fisher's Death, Coroner Reports

By Christopher Dean Hopkins
Published June 16, 2017 at 10:08 PM EDT
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Actors Mark Hamill (from left), Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford on the set of Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. ()
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Carrie Fisher (right) with her mother and fellow actor, Debbie Reynolds, in February 1972. ()
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Carrie Fisher (second from right), who played Princess Leia in the movie Star Wars, is pictured with co-stars (left to right) Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo; Anthony Daniels, who played C-3P0; and Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca the Wookiee, as they take a break from filming a television special in 1978. ()
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Carrie Fisher and singer-composer Paul Simon stand together at their apartment in New York during their wedding reception in 1983. ()
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Carrie Fisher stars in Wishful Drinking, a one-woman show (and title of her best-selling memoir) in New York in 2009. ()
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Characters from Star Wars join writer and director George Lucas (center) and actors Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill at the world premiere of Star Wars Special Edition, in 1997. ()
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Carrie Fisher and director George Lucas pose at the dinner during the 33rd AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Lucas in 2005. ()
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Carrie Fisher and her dog Gary Fisher sign copies of her new book The Princess Diarist at Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles in November 2016. ()

A number of factors contributed to actress Carrie Fisher's death in December, the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported late Friday, including sleep apnea and heart disease. The statement also mentions drug use but doesn't specify which drugs or how long ago they were taken.

The report leaves the cause of death "undetermined" for the 60-year-old, best known as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies.

Fisher had long battles with drug addiction and mental illness, The Associated Press reported after she died, which she had been open about in her memoirs and novels.

"She said she smoked pot at age 13, used LSD by 21 and was first diagnosed as bipolar at age 24. She was treated with electroconvulsive therapy and medication."

Aside from Star Wars, Fisher was known from roles in When Harry Met Sally, The Blues Brothers, and most recently, the Amazon comedy series Catastrophe. Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died one day after she did.

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Christopher Dean Hopkins
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