Heather Locklear biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Born on September 25, 1961 in Los Angeles, California, Heather Locklear was raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks. Her father worked as a director in the registrar's office at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her mother worked as an administrative assistant for the Walt Disney Company in the early 1990s.

Locklear entered UCLA in 1979, with the intention of majoring in psychology. However, casual modeling jobs soon turned into regular work in television commercials for major companies, including Pepsi, Polaroid and the California Dairy Council. After a year at UCLA, Locklear dropped out to pursue a full-time acting career.

Career Breakthrough

Locklear made her first television series appearance on CHiPs in 1980, and later guest-starred on the shows Eight Is Enough and Twirl.

Locklear got her big break in 1981, when she successfully auditioned for a role in Dynasty—the popular prime-time soap opera starring John Forsythe, Joan Collins and Linda Evans. She played Sammy Jo Carrington, the conniving wife of Steven (the son of Blake Carrington) on the show, which was produced by Aaron Spelling. After 13 weeks, Locklear was written out of the show, but was quickly offered a part on Spelling's other project, T.J. Hooker. Shortly after that, Locklear was written back into Dynasty, making her the only actress working regularly on two popular prime-time series. Dynasty aired for nearly a decade, while T.J. Hooker was canceled after five seasons.

Always the driven worker, Locklear also appeared in several big-screen and television movies, including Firestarter (1984) and Return of the Swamp Thing (1989). Additionally, she served as spokeswoman for a national chain of health clubs and produced an exercise video.

Melrose Place and Later Roles

In 1993, Locklear reunited with Spelling as part of the cast of Melrose Place, a spin-off of the extremely successful Beverly Hills 90210. Prior to her appearance on Melrose, the show's ratings were dismal. After her arrival as Amanda Woodward, a scheming advertising executive and apartment-complex owner, the show's ratings soared.

Melrose Place was canceled in 1998, but the following year, Locklear had the opportunity to remake her image as mayoral advisor Caitlin Moore on the sitcom Spin City. Trading verbal jibes with co-stars Michael J. Fox—and, later, Charlie Sheen—Locklear boosted the show's ratings and demonstrated her versatility as an actress. In 2003, she signed on to star in her own NBC sitcom, One Around the Park, playing a single mom with two kids.