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Heather Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is a six time-Golden Globe-nominated American actress. She is primarily known for her television work, her most notable roles being Sammy Jo Carrington on the 1980s soap opera Dynasty, Officer Stacy Sheridan in the 1980s cop drama T.J. Hooker, Amanda Woodward on the 1990s soap opera Melrose Place, and as Caitlin Moore on the sitcom Spin City. Classic California blonde Heather Locklear became TV royalty with concurrent roles in the classic '80s primetime soap Dynasty and the cop show T.J. Hooker. But Locklear cemented her fame on Fox's Melrose Place as calculating, business-savvy Amanda Woodward. She followed that up with a similarly possessed turn as Michael J. Fox's (and then Charlie Sheen's) fellow politico on the sitcom Spin City. Her rock-star oriented love life has long obsessed tabloid readers with marriages to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and Bon Jovi lead guitarist Richie Sambora, who took up with her neighbor Denise Richards after Locklear filed for divorce. The golden goddess has since moved on with former Melrose Place costar Jack Wagner. Blonde, with perfect California girl cuteness and an attractive air of self-possession, actress Heather Locklear made an indelible mark on television, her unforgettable roles in the Aaron Spelling dramas "Dynasty" (ABC) and "Melrose Place" (Fox) among the most notable entries in a prolific decades-spanning career. Perky, but with an undercurrent of peremptoriness, Locklear hit the big time soon after she left her freshman studies at UCLA to pursue an acting career. Before long, the neophyte had secured guest spots on such series as "CHiPs" (NBC) and "Eight Is Enough" (ABC) and supporting roles in the unremarkable TV-movies "Twirl" (NBC) and "Return of the Beverly Hillbillies" (CBS). In late 1981, Locklear joined the cast of the primetime soap "Dynasty", playing Sammy Jo Dean, the seemingly innocent niece of Krystle Carrington, in town for a brief visit. The visit turned into eight seasons on the series, and Sammy Jo proved a force to reckon with, allowing Locklear to treat audiences to some of the more enjoyable scenes of two-faced opportunism in primetime television. Locklear was born in Westwood, California, the daughter of Diane (née Tinsley), a production executive for Disney, and William Robert Locklear, an administrator at UCLA. She is the youngest of four children and a cousin of Donald Trump's second wife, Marla Maples. She is of Scottish and distant paternal Lumbee ancestry. While attending the University of California, Los Angeles, Locklear began modeling and working in commercials for the school store. In 1979, Locklear landed her first roles appearing in Tales of the Unexpected, and an episode of CHiPs a year later. She landed a few more bit parts in shows, including Eight Is Enough, before Aaron Spelling cast her in the role of Sammy Jo Dean during the second season of his TV series Dynasty. It would be the beginning of a highly successful long-term collaboration with Spelling who, the following year, cast her in the cop show T.J. Hooker with William Shatner. Until the mid 1980s, Locklear would appear as a series regular on T.J. Hooker whilst making semi-regular appearances on Dynasty. She later became a full-time cast member on Dynasty until its cancellation in 1989. Following the demise of "Dynasty", Locklear found herself in the unique and not altogether pleasant position of being a somewhat legendary veteran of television, while still roundly considered a young ingénue. Haunted by the specter of "Dynasty" and its melodramatic reputation, the actress managed to land a spate of TV-movie work, including "Rock 'n' Roll Mom" (1988) and "Rich Men, Single Women" (1990), as well as a starring role in the short-lived sitcom "Going Places" (1990-1991), all on ABC. Still, her most memorable credit from this time period was her reprise of Sammy Jo in the long-awaited two-parter "Dynasty: The Reunion" (1991). Work in unremarkable TV-movies followed, before Locklear staged a most triumphant comeback, joining the cast of Fox's "Melrose Place" from 1993 to 1999. Her character Amanda Woodward was slightly older and infinitely wiser than the assembled group of twenty-somethings populating the series, and injected some much needed life in to the flailing program. The tart-tongued and unstoppable Amanda didn't shy away from destruction, and with skirts as short as her temper, managed to seduce nearly every man on the show, while engrossing a loyal audience. Locklear's calculating and uncompromising antics as Amanda jazzed up the series, while her work on the program reestablished her reputation and energized her career. In 1995, she starred in the ABC miniseries "Texas Justice" and skillfully handled the challenging role of a woman suffering with multiple personality disorder in the following year's "Shattered Mind" (NBC). By now she had not only traded in her hard partying Motley Crüe drummer husband (they divorced in 1992) for the more stable Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi guitarist and former Cher flame), but she had also begun to emerge in interviews and appearances as an intelligent and genuine person with an evolved self-mocking sense of humor. In the 1990s, after the failed sitcom Going Places and the 3 hour mini-series Dynasty: The Reunion, Locklear went on to play another of her best known roles, that of scheming vixen Amanda Woodward on the primetime soap opera Melrose Place. She was originally brought in as a guest star in an attempt to boost the ratings, and her billing in the credits reflected this. Despite eventually becoming a regular cast member in 1993, she continued to be listed as a "Special Guest Star" throughout the entire run of the series until its cancellation in 1999. In 1999, Locklear joined the cast of "Spin City", portraying Communications Director Caitlin Moore. When Michael J. Fox retired from the sitcom, Locklear continued her wise-cracking innuendos but focusing them on Fox's replacement Charlie Sheen. In 2002, Locklear decided to end her run with the sitcom that earned her two Golden Globe Nominations, Before making her way back to the big screen, she guest starred in three episodes of the NBC hit comedy "Scrubs" as a gorgeous drug sales rep who raises Dr. Cox's temperature, after which it was off to New York where she co-starred in the feature film dramedy "Uptown Girls" (2003), directed by Boaz Yakin, in which she played precocious Dakota Fanning's upwardly mobile but neglectful mother; Locklear played the lusty casino entertainer Dusty Tails in the live-action/animated hybrid "Looney Tunes: Back In Action" (2003) before returning to television on the one-hour drama "LAX" (NBC, 2004-2005) as runway chief Harley Random. Locklear also won First Americans in the Arts: Best Actress in a TV series for her role on Melrose Place. After the show ended, she was immediately cast on the TV sitcom, Spin City, opposite Michael J. Fox. She was also one of the candidates for the lead role as single mother Susan Mayer on the popular dramedy series, Desperate Housewives, but had lost the role to Teri Hatcher. Locklear starred in the short-lived drama LAX in 2004. After “LAX” aired its last episode in April 2005, Locklear was next seen in the Hilary Duff romantic comedy vehicle, “The Perfect Man” (2005), playing her hapless mom who moves the family to a different city after breaking up with her latest boyfriend while on the search for the perfect guy. Duff tries to play matchmaker by creating an imaginary secret admirer, but the ruse, of course, becomes increasingly difficult to mask. The movie was rocked by a spate of bad reviews, leaving one critic on the verge of vomiting from its sugary sweetness. Throughout her career, Locklear has starred or guest-starred in no less than seven different television series produced by Aaron Spelling, these being Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Hotel, and Melrose Place. Locklear has dated Tom Cruise and Scott Baio (the latter claiming on the July 24th 2007 edition of The Howard Stern Show that she "was hands down the greatest lover I ever had"). Heather was married to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee from May 1986 to August 1993. After their divorce, she married Richie Sambora on December 17, 1994 in Paris. On October 4, 1997 she gave birth to their daughter, Ava Elizabeth. Locklear's representative announced on February 2, 2006 that divorce papers had been filed to dissolve the couple's marriage. In further papers filed by Sambora, it has been revealed that the couple has been separated since December 26, 2005, and that Sambora will be seeking joint custody of Ava. After filing for divorce, Sambora became romantically involved with Denise Richards, ending what Locklear had considered a close friendship. In May 2007, Locklear and fellow Melrose Place alum Jack Wagner confirmed their new romance at a charity golf event. In March 2008, Locklear was involved in a controversy when a 911 call was made by a caller claiming to be her doctor who said that she was trying to commit suicide. The authorities arrived at Locklear's home shortly afterwards. Locklear's publicist has since downplayed the incident stating that Locklear had never requested any medical assistance and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department later stated that no further action was taken once they arrived at Locklear's Thousand Oaks home as she appeared to be fine. They did, however, state that they still believed the call to be genuine. |
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