Carrie Fisher at 16 – Original Associated Press Photograph – Broadway Debut in Irene – 1973 – Star Wars

Description

A scarce and highly appealing original 1973 black-and-white Associated Press photograph of Carrie Fisher at the age of sixteen, taken at the very beginning of her professional career and four years before she became internationally famous as Princess Leia in Star Wars.

The photograph shows the teenage Fisher standing outdoors in a garden setting, wearing a broad-brimmed hat, patterned blouse and dark skirt. It is a particularly attractive and revealing early portrait, capturing her before the screen persona for which she would later become famous had been established.

The reverse retains the original Associated Press caption headed:

“DEBBIE’S GIRL”

The caption identifies Carrie Fisher, 16 years old, and records that she had arrived on Broadway and was living with her mother, Debbie Reynolds, on New York’s East Side.

It further states that Fisher was learning to be a chorus girl in the Broadway revival of Irene, in which Reynolds starred, and refers to her father, singer Eddie Fisher.

The caption is credited:

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO FROM LONDON

and includes the contemporary publication instruction:

“FOR FIRST PUBLICATION IN EVENING PAPERS OF WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6th.”

The reverse also carries a later archive date stamp of 30 August 1973.

This surviving caption is especially important because it places the photograph very precisely at the start of Fisher’s career, before her first substantial film role and well before Star Wars. It is therefore far more than a generic celebrity portrait: it is a documented pre-fame image of one of the defining screen performers and cultural figures of the late twentieth century.

Carrie Fisher Before Star Wars

Carrie Fisher’s early career was closely connected with that of her mother, Debbie Reynolds. In 1973 she appeared in the Broadway revival of Irene, marking one of her first professional stage appearances.

Her first feature-film role followed in Shampoo (1975), and in 1977 she was cast as Princess Leia Organa in George Lucas’s Star Wars, the role that transformed her into an international star.

The present photograph therefore captures Fisher at a particularly interesting transitional moment: still only sixteen, still working in the orbit of her famous parents, but already beginning the professional career that would soon establish her independently.

Provenance and Authenticity

The photograph has strong contemporary press provenance.

The original AP caption provides direct evidence of:

• Fisher’s identity;
• her age of sixteen;
• her association with the Broadway production of Irene;
• her relationship to Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher;
• contemporary newspaper distribution;
• the original publication date.

The photograph has been handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at Hornseys.

Its identity and period status are supported directly by the surviving Associated Press caption and 1973 archive markings. It is an original working press photograph and not a later reproduction.

Condition

Very good condition overall for an original working press photograph dating from 1973.

The image remains sharp and strongly contrasted, with very good detail throughout Fisher’s face, clothing and hat.

There is light age-related toning, minor surface and handling wear and slight edge and corner wear consistent with genuine newspaper use.

The reverse retains the original Associated Press caption, publication instruction, newspaper-library stamp and 30 August 1973 date stamp. There is minor age-related marking and adhesive residue associated with the caption.

Please study both photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the description.

Subject: Carrie Fisher
Age: 16
Date: 1973
Associated production: Irene
Mother: Debbie Reynolds
Father: Eddie Fisher
Agency: Associated Press
Caption heading: “Debbie’s Girl”
First publication instruction: Wednesday, 6 June 1973
Archive date: 30 August 1973
Photographer: Uncredited
Size: 20.3 × 15.2 cm
Format: Original black-and-white press photograph
Verso: Original Associated Press caption, publication instruction and archive markings

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