Heather Deen Locklear was born on September 25, 1961, in Westwood, California, the youngest of four children of Bill and Diane Locklear. She has two sisters, Laurie and Colleen, and a brother, Mark. Her ancestry is mostly Scottish, but she has Lumbee Native American roots on her father’s side. (The surname Locklear is quite common among the Lumbee.) Her father was the dean of the School of Engineering at UCLA and after graduation from Newbury Park High School (where, believe it or not, she was rejected by the cheerleading squad) she herself attended UCLA.
It was while she was attending UCLA that Heather began modeling and working in commercials for the school store. Her television debut came in 1979 with a part in a movie, which was followed by an episode of “Chips” in 1980. She worked in bit parts for a while until Aaron Spelling cast her in his hit television series, “Dynasty.” She became an instant hit in 1981 when the series premiered. In 1982 she was cast (also by Spelling) in the television cop show, “T.J. Hooker” opposite William Shatner. This set her along a golden path, and all through the 1980s she worked on both of these shows and in numerous movies and television specials.
In 1993 she gained some stability in the enduring role of vixen, Amanda Woodward, on the television series “Melrose Place”, which lasted until 1999. Oddly, throughout the run of the series she was billed as a guest star even though she was a full fledged cast member all the way through to its end. For her role on this series, she won a ”First Americans In the Arts: Best Actress in a TV Series”. After the demise of that show she was quickly placed on another to boost its ratings, this time opposite Michael Fox on “Spin City.”
Heather has been married twice, once to Motley Crue drummer, Tommy Lee from 1986-1993 and once to guitarist, Richie Zambora, from whom she is also divorced. The couple have a daughter, Ava, for whom they will share custody.
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