Heather Locklear

Heather Deen Locklear was born the youngest of four sisters. Their father, William, was Dean of the School of Engineering at UCLA, and their mother, Diane, an administrative assistant at Disney. Locklear attended the Newbury Park High School, in Newbury Park, California. Finding herself rejected from the cheerleading squad, she joined the drama club instead and here discovered a passion for acting. After school, Locklear attended UCLA as a Psychology major and during her first year, met a casting director. He couldn’t help but notice her fresh-faced, all-American look and encouraged her to take a commercial acting class. By the end of that year, she had begun to do guest spots on television and decided to drop out of university to pursue acting fulltime. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and in her early 20s, Locklear had no trouble breaking into the world of television. She began with a whole run of guest appearances in the early 1980s. She was in “CHIPS”, “Eight Is Enough”, “The Fall Guy” and “Twirl”. However, it was when she met and began working for the mighty television producer, Aaron Spelling, her luck changed and her career in acting really took off. 1982 saw Spelling casting Locklear as Samantha Josephine Dean Carrington Fallmont (Sammi Jo) in the majorly successful and long-running primetime soap, “Dynasty”. This became her claim to fame and she played Sammi Jo for seven years. Also in the 1980s, she was given the role of Officer Stacy Sheridan on “T.J. Hooker”. Locklear is one of only a handful of actors working on two television series at one time. “Firestarter” (1984), a horror film starring Drew Barrymore, was Locklear’s big screen debut. Then followed the television movie, “City Killer” (1984). In 1985, Heather shed her wholesome image, for all the world to see, when she married her rock ‘n’ roll boyfriend, Motley Crue drummer, Tommy Lee (pre-Pamela Anderson). Next up was more television work, with “T.J. Hooker: Blood Sport” (1986). Art mimicked life when Locklear played the lead in the made-for-television movie “Rock ‘n’ Roll Mom” (1988). Things seemed to be going really well but her next big screen role, of Abby Arcane in “The Return of the Swamp Thing” (1989), brought her a Razzie Award, in 1990, for Worst Actress in Film. Locklear’s role in “The Big Slice“ (1991) went by without much fanfare. Not one to be easily discouraged, Locklear threw herself into a whole range of television series and films, but it was her role as blonde vixen, Amanda Woodward, in “Melrose Place” (1992) for which she is most remembered. Once again, it was Aaron Spelling who cast her in this primetime series. The show’s ratings had dropped and it needed something of a boost. Locklear did just that, she was the character the audience loved to hate, and the critics learned to love. She was nominated for Best Actress in a TV Drama for four consecutive years for this role, and was with the series a total of seven years, finally leaving in 1999. During this time, Locklear guest-starred in some big screen films: “Wayne’s World 2” (1993), as Wayne and Garth’s most ‘schwingable babe’, and then appeared in an un-credited role in “The First Wives Club” (1996). It was also to be the end of her marriage to Tommy Lee, and they divorced on 16 August 1993, with no children. Still the ‘rock chick’ at heart, a year later, after a whirlwind romance, Locklear married Bon Jovi guitarist, Richie Sambora (post-Cher). They jetted off to Paris and were married on 17 December 1994. They have a daughter, Ava Elizabeth, born 4 October 1997. “Money Talks” (1997) brought Locklear together with Charlie Sheen and was followed by “Double Tap” (1997). In 1999, at the end of the successful run of “Melrose Place”, Locklear was invited to join the cast of “Spin City” (1996), an ABC sitcom, as Caitlin Moore, with Michael J. Fox in the leading role. The Fox-Locklear onscreen chemistry was unmistakeable and helped make the show a hit. When Fox left the show, Charlie Sheen took his place. With her gorgeous looks, and star status, Locklear is often called upon to host television shows, such as “The 1994 Billboard Music Awards” (1994) and “VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards” (1999), or to make guest appearances in shows, such as “King of the Hill: Old Glory” (2000) and “Ally McBeal: Tom Dooley” (2002). Locklear had roles in “Uptown Girls” (2003), a contrived modern fairy tale, and in “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” (2003), a cartoon/live action hybrid. She then starred as the single mother in “The Perfect Man” (2005), with Hilary Duff, her match-making 16-year-old daughter. The small screen seems to be the arena most suited to Locklear. Whilst earning fame for her onscreen ‘bitch’ status, this couldn’t be further from her real personality. She is a warm and friendly person, who is decent and good. In fact, her perfect proportions and natural beauty has earned her ‘babe’ status in many admirers’ hearts. She is currently taking time out from acting, to spend time with her family. Who knows what the future will bring, but my guess is that we haven’t seen the last of Locklear yet.