Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress. Her first major television role was the part of Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty from 1981 to 1989, which began her longtime collaboration with producer Aaron Spelling. She is also known for her role as Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place (1993–99), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. Her other notable television roles include Officer Stacy Sheridan on T. J. Hooker (1982–86), and Caitlin Moore on Spin City (1999–2002), for which she earned a further two Golden Globe nominations 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.
Locklear’s notable 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).
Locklear attended UCLA, and pledged Chi Omega and Delta Delta Delta, but was never initiated into either sorority. 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 the second season 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 semiregular 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 had a starring role in the movie The Return of Swamp Thing (for which she won the satirical Razzie Award for Worst Actress) and also starred in the short-lived sitcom Going Places.
In 1993, she began playing what was another of her best-known roles, that of 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, these being Dynasty, T. J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Hotel, Melrose Place, and the made-for-TV movie Rich Men, Single Women.
