The World Mourns The Loss of ‘Star Wars’ Icon Carrie Fisher

Friends, family members and co-stars remembered Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” series, for her wit and humor after learning she died on Tuesday.

Fisher, 60, suffered a heart attack on Dec. 23 during a flight from London to Los Angeles. She was rushed to a nearby hospital after the flight landed, but died several days later.

“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly,” Billie Lourd, Fisher’s 24-year-old daughter said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”

Fisher was the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds, who said on Facebook that she was grateful for the “thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop.”

Fisher became an international movie star after the release of “Star Wars” in 1977.

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The film, which was written and directed by George Lucas, was the first installment in a series that broke box-office records. She appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back” in 1980, “Return of the Jedi” in 1983 and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015.

She appeared in a number of other movies, including “When Harry Met Sally” and “Hannah and Her Sisters.” She was also a novelist and memoirist, writing about her struggles with bipolar disorder in books such as “Postcards from the Edge” and “Wishful Drinking.”

She was also a talented script doctor, helping to improve screenplays such as “Hook,” “Lethal Weapon 3,” “Sister Act” and “The Wedding Singer.”

Her “Star Wars” co-star Mark Hamill tweeted a black-and-white photo of the two of them in costume, writing that he was devastated by her death.

He wrote a longer post on Facebook.

“She was OUR Princess, damn it, & the actress who played her blurred into one gorgeous, fiercely independent & ferociously funny, take-charge woman who took our collective breath away,” he wrote. “Determined & tough, but with a vulnerability that made you root for her & want her to succeed & be happy.”