On the morning of February 26, the day before the Academy Awards, actress Carrie Fisher woke up in her Beverly Hills home to a devastating discovery – the lifeless body of R. Gregory Stevens, a gay Republican political operative. Their unlikely friendship, spanning globe-trotting adventures and shared experiences, came to a tragic end, leaving behind unanswered questions and a void that Hollywood and Washington could hardly comprehend.
Stevens had embarked on a remarkable journey, climbing the ranks of the Republican Party from the beaches of San Clemente to a position in the first Bush White House at the age of 26. His career took him to various corners of the world as a political fixer, orchestrating elections behind closed doors and in distant palaces, from Costa Rica to Croatia, Thailand to Togo, South Korea to the former Soviet Union.
Carrie Fisher expressed her disbelief over his tragic demise
Throughout his eventful life, Stevens survived a bout of disease in Africa and sustained shrapnel wounds in either the Middle East or the Balkans, accumulating stories that seemed too incredible to be true. He even carried a mysterious piece of metal embedded in the back of his skull, as confirmed by an autopsy.
“He thought he was invincible,” Carrie Fisher shared in an interview, expressing her disbelief over his tragic demise. “The way he died, it was like Patton dying in a car accident.” She further continued, “I would’ve seen it if he was on a lot of drugs. I know what that looks like. That’s the thing that killed me: I thought, how did I miss this?”
In the months leading up to his untimely death, Stevens had grown weary of his lifestyle and had conversations with Fisher about slowing down, traveling less, and potentially building a room on her estate. Unfortunately, his life was cut short when a lethal combination of cocaine and oxycodone overwhelmed his already compromised heart. Fisher, upon learning the coroner’s conclusions, found some solace in the fact that Stevens may not have appeared noticeably high when he arrived in Los Angeles. She expressed remorse, questioning how she had missed the signs of his struggle.
What was R Gregory Stevens doing with Carrie Fisher?
Stevens, 42, had flown into Los Angeles from Belgrade late on the previous Friday night, joining Fisher at a star-studded pre-Oscars party before heading to her home. The two friends watched Mrs. Miniver on television, conversing about Greer Garson’s record-breaking seven-minute-long Oscar acceptance speech for her role in the film.
When they finally retired for the night after 2 a.m., Stevens’s snoring kept Fisher awake until she managed to get him to roll over. The next morning, she found him unresponsive and immediately called for help.
In Fisher’s unconventional world, characterized by her candid writings about addiction and failed relationships, her friendship with Stevens stood out. As the grandson of a conservative German Baptist minister, Stevens hailed from a different political background than Fisher, a devoted Democrat. However, his tales of intrigue and international exploits fascinated Fisher, and his strained relationship with his own family, due to their disapproval of his homosexuality and drug use, struck a chord.
Source: The New York Times
