LOS ANGELES  — Carrie Fisher, a princess onscreen and off, played both roles in her own gutsy way.

As Leia of the “Star Wars” franchise, she commanded the troops, enjoyed a fling with Han Solo — and, in real life, co-star Harrison Ford — and showed fledgling 1970s feminists what life as a liberated woman might be like in a galaxy far, far away.

As the offspring of Hollywood royals Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, she drew on her painful family history and personal demons to forge a distinctively tart, unsettlingly funny style as a best-selling writer.

Fisher’s throaty voice and inviting delivery also told the tale: She’d lived through much and wanted to — needed to — share her journey that included drug addiction and mental illness.

“People relate to aspects of my stories and that’s nice for me because then I’m not all alone with it,” she told The Associated Press in 2009. “Also, I do believe you’re only as sick as your secrets. If that’s true, I’m just really healthy.”