Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. She is also known for her role as Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty from 1981 to 1989, her first major television role, which began a longtime collaboration with producer Aaron Spelling.
Other notable television roles include Officer Stacy Sheridan on T. J. Hooker (1982–1986) and Caitlin Moore on Spin City (1999–2002), for which she earned two more Golden Globe nominations, this time for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. She had a recurring role on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland and a main role on the TNT drama-comedy television series Franklin & Bash in 2013. Her film roles include the science-fiction thriller Firestarter (1984), the action comedy Money Talks (1997), the live-action/animated comedy Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and the romantic comedy The Perfect Man (2005).
Early life
Heather Deen Locklear was born on September 25, 1961, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Diane (née Tinsley), a production executive and Bill Locklear, an administrator at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and former Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. She has Lumbee ancestry.
Career
While at UCLA, she began modeling and working in commercials for the school store. She made her earliest screen appearances in the early 1980s with small roles in episodes of CHiPs, 240-Robert and Eight Is Enough, before beginning a long-term collaboration with Aaron Spelling. Spelling cast her in the role of Sammy Jo Dean during season 2 of his TV series Dynasty, and the following year, he cast her in the cop show T.J. Hooker with William Shatner. Until the mid-1980s, Locklear appeared as a series regular on T.J. Hooker, while making semi-regular appearances on Dynasty. After T.J. Hooker ended in 1986, she became a full-time cast member on Dynasty until its cancellation in 1989. In 1991, the cast of Dynasty (including Locklear) reconvened for the four-hour miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.
Following Dynasty, Locklear appeared as Drew Barrymore's mother in Firestarter (1984) and had a starring role in the 1989 film The Return of Swamp Thing (for which she won the satirical Razzie Award for Worst Actress); she also starred in the short-lived sitcom Going Places.
In 1993, she began playing another of her best-known roles, Amanda Woodward, on Aaron Spelling's drama series Melrose Place, which was a spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210. Spelling originally signed Locklear for a limited four-episode run, the first of which aired on January 27, 1993. Locklear became a full-time cast member (though she continued to be billed as "Special Guest Star" in the opening credits) until its cancellation in 1999. Throughout her career, Locklear has appeared in eight television productions made by Aaron Spelling: Dynasty, T. J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Hotel, Melrose Place, and the television film Rich Men, Single Women.
Locklear was the guest host on Saturday Night Live on May 14, 1994. Two of her best-known skits included her as an elderly Jewish woman on Coffee Talk with Mike Myers and her acting as Amanda Woodward in a Wayne's World skit with Myers, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and Phil Hartman, wherein Wayne has a dream that he is a character on Melrose Place. Locklear also made a cameo in Wayne's World 2 in 1993. In 1996, she appeared as the main guest on Muppets Tonight, performing in a spoof of Melrose Place titled "Muppet Heights". She was also the subject of a Lifetime Intimate Portrait special in 1997, and of an E! True Hollywood Story special in 2004.
Locklear was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine on May 19, 1994, as Melrose Place reached the height of its popularity. She was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People twice, first in 1994, and again in 2001.
After Melrose Place ended in 1999, Locklear was cast in the sitcom Spin City (initially opposite Michael J. Fox and later opposite Charlie Sheen). Locklear earned two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy before the series ended in 2002. In 2002, Locklear had a brief recurring role on the sitcom Scrubs. In 2003, she starred in a pilot for her own comedy series, Once Around the Park, but this was unsuccessful. The same year, Locklear appeared in the film Uptown Girls. In 2004, Locklear made a guest appearance on the sitcom Two and a Half Men, which starred her former Spin City co-star Charlie Sheen. She then starred in the short-lived television drama series LAX set in the airport of the same name. She was also executive producer on the series, but it was cancelled after 11 episodes. In 2005, Locklear appeared in the film The Perfect Man with Hilary Duff. The same year, she had a brief recurring role on the series Boston Legal, which starred her former T. J. Hooker co-star William Shatner. She was also featured in a Biography Channel special. In 2006, Locklear starred in another television pilot, Women of a Certain Age, but this was unsuccessful. She appeared in the music video for country singer Toby Keith's single "Crash Here Tonight" that same year.
In 2007, Locklear made another pilot for ABC, See Jayne Run, about a business woman who juggles a career with single motherhood, but this was also unsuccessful. She guest-starred on the series Hannah Montana and in the sitcom Rules of Engagement, and was placed 25th on TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly's "100 Greatest TV Icons" list.
In 2009, Locklear joined the cast of The CW's updated version of Melrose Place. Beginning on November 17, 2009, she reprised her role as Amanda Woodward and appeared in eight episodes. Ten years after the end of the original Melrose Place, Amanda Woodward is now a partner in a public relations firm, and is both mentor and tormentor to a young underling, Ella, played by Katie Cassidy. However, despite Locklear's appearances (along with various other original series regulars), the new show was not a ratings success and was cancelled after one season. In 2011, Locklear starred in the television movie He Loves Me on the Lifetime Channel.
In 2012, Locklear began appearing in a recurring role on the TV Land comedy series Hot in Cleveland. In 2013, she became a regular on the comedy-drama Franklin & Bash. In 2014, Locklear featured in a public service announcement titled "We Are, Sarah Jones", in memory of camera assistant Sarah Jones who was killed in an accident on the set of Midnight Rider on February 20, 2014.
In 2016, Locklear appeared in the television movie The Game of Love, which aired on UP on May 15, 2016. Later in 2016, it was revealed that Locklear would be guest-starring in a recurring role in Tyler Perry's drama Too Close to Home on TLC.
