Heather Locklear biography

Synopsis

Early Life

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

Locklear entered UCLA in 1979 with the intention of majoring in psychology. Casual modeling jobs soon turned into regular work in television commercials for major companies. Pepsi, Polaroid and the California Dairy Council were only a few of her more popular clients. After a year at UCLA, Locklear dropped out to pursue a full time career in acting.

Career Breakthrough

She made her first television series appearance in CHiPs in 1980 and also guest-starred on Eight Is Enough and Twirl. In 1981, Locklear got her big break when she successfully auditioned for a role in Dynasty- The popular prime-time soap opera starring John Forsythe, Joan Collins, and Linda Evans.

Locklear played Sammy Jo Carrington, the conniving wife of Blake Carrington's son Steven. After 13 weeks, Locklear was written out of the show, but was quickly offered a part on producer Aaron Spelling's other project, T.J. Hooker. Shortly after that Locklear was written back into Dynasty, making her the only actress working regularly in 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 appeared in several big-screen and television movies including Firestarter (1984) and Return of the Swamp Thing (1989). She also served as spokeswoman for a national chain of health clubs and produced an exercise video.

Melrose Place

In 1993 Locklear rejoined Spelling as part of the cast of Melrose Place, a spinoff of the extremely successful Beverly Hills 90210. Prior to Locklear's 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.

While Melrose Place was canceled in 1998, the following year Locklear had the opportunity to remake her image as mayoral advisor Caitlin Moore in the sitcom Spin City. Trading verbal jibes with co-stars Michael J. Fox (and later Charlie Sheen) Locklear boosted the shows ratings and demonstrated her facility with ensemble comedy. In 2003, she signed on to star in her own NBC sitcom, One Around the Park, playing a single mom with two kids, but the show never really got off the ground. Locklear returned to television the next year with LAX, a drama set in an airport. Again she faced disappointment. The show did not do well in the ratings and ended after 13 episodes.

Locklear received raves for her 2005 guest appearance on Boston Legal as a man-eating widow. Locklear has broadened her horizons beyond television recently with leading roles in a few films. She starred in Uptown Girls (2003) and The Perfect Man (2005) with Hillary Duff and Chris Noth.

In 2009, Locklear revisited some familiar territory by appearing on a new version of Melrose Place. This latest take on her earlier hit show failed to develop a following and was cancelled after one season. Since then, Locklear has undertaken a few roles, including a part in the sitcom