In the early days of her career, Heather Locklear was the platonic ideal of a blonde bombshell, idolized by fans real and fictional.
After she rose to fame in the early 1980s playing Officer Stacy Sheridan on T.J. Hooker, Locklear became a tabloid fixture as well because of her 1986 marriage to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. Her association with the metal band only made her seem cooler — just ask Wayne and Garth, who gave her the top spot on their list of babes in Wayne’s World. (Locklear made a cameo appearance as herself in Wayne’s World 2, which hit theaters in 1993.)
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Locklear remained a TV fixture, starring on Melrose Place, Spin City and Hot in Cleveland and appearing in films including Uptown Girls and The Perfect Man. “I’ve always loved being on TV. I loved being in a series,” she told PopEntertainment.com in 2013 as she joined the cast of Franklin & Bash. “I love having a regular place to go to all the time.”
Locklear’s TV career has died down somewhat in recent years, but she’ll always be Amanda Woodward — or Sammy Jo Dean, or Officer Stacy — to her fans.
Keep scrolling for a look back at Locklear’s ups and downs through the years:
1982
Locklear made her first appearance in season 2 of T.J. Hooker as Stacy Sheridan, who works as a police officer in a fictional, unnamed California city. The show, which starred William Shatner as the titular character, ran for five seasons, ending in 1986. During this period, Locklear was also a fixture on the primetime soap Dynasty, where she played Sammy Jo Carrington.
1986
Locklear, then 24, married Lee, then 23, after meeting him one year earlier at an REO Speedwagon concert. Locklear actually popped the question, asking Lee to marry her after just three months of dating. The duo divorced in 1993. Lee later said that his infidelity caused the implosion of the romance. “F–king with porno stars ruined my marriage,” he told Blender in 2004. “That was in ’93, right before I got divorced from Heather.”
1993
Locklear landed her next pivotal role, playing the merciless ad exec Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place. She earned four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for her performance, and Amanda landed a spot on TV Guide‘s list of “The Biggest TV Bitches.” Locklear told Entertainment Weekly in 2009 that “a good TV bitch” is “just trying to be strong and do what you are supposed to do.”
1994
After finalizing her split from Lee, Locklear married Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora after meeting him through mutual friends. The pair welcomed daughter Ava in 1997. Locklear and Sambora divorced in 2007, but they’ve since remained amicable coparents of Ava. “We’re better friends now than ever,” Sambora told People in 2020, adding that Locklear was “still hot.”
Following the divorce, Sambora moved on with Locklear’s friend Denise Richards. Rumors swirled at the time that there was overlap in the two relationships, but Richards later denied that any infidelity occurred — and claimed she wasn’t still friends with Locklear when she began dating Sambora. “I don’t want to say what caused the split, but she and I weren’t even speaking then,” Richards told Redbook in 2008. “It wasn’t ever like we’d be shopping and go back to her house and I’d flirt with her husband. Yes, I got together with Heather’s soon-to-be ex-husband, but no, I didn’t have an affair with him. If Heather and I had been friends at that time, I would never have crossed that line. But we weren’t. The friendship was not salvageable.”
1999
Following the end of Melrose Place, Locklear transitioned into her next TV role on ABC’s Spin City, opposite Michael J. Fox. She played campaign manager Caitlin Moore, who helmed Randall Winston’s (Barry Bostwick) run for Senate.
2007
Shortly after finalizing her divorce from Sambora, Locklear moved on with her former Melrose Place costar Jack Wagner. The duo announced their engagement in August 2011 but called it quits three months later.
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2008
In March, a person claiming to be Locklear’s doctor called paramedics to the actress’ home, claiming they feared she’d overdosed on prescription medication. Locklear’s rep said the alleged incident was a false alarm, but in June, Locklear checked into a treatment center for anxiety and depression. Two months after leaving the facility, she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. She later pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to three years of informal probation and was ordered to pay a $700 fine and complete a DMV driver safety class.
2009
Locklear reprised her role as Amanda Woodward on the Melrose Place reboot, which starred Katie Cassidy a clearly Amanda-inspired character named Ella.
2011
Locklear was arrested on a hit-and-run charge after a “concerned citizen” saw her “driving forwards and backwards over a pair of sunglasses and revving her engine” in a parking lot, per a police report. She was released on $5,000 bail and never prosecuted.
2012
In January, Locklear’s sister called 9-1-1 because she feared the actress was in danger from mixing alcohol and prescription drugs. Locklear was taken to the hospital but was soon reported to be in stable condition.
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2018
In February, Locklear was arrested for domestic violence and battery against a police officer, who responded to a call about her and her boyfriend, Chris Heisser, arguing. Locklear was arrested again in June and charged with two misdemeanor counts of battery following a domestic disturbance 9-1-1 call at her home. Hours after she was released on bail, she was hospitalized for a potential overdose. In August, she pleaded no contest to the charges from both arrests and was ordered to complete a 30-day stay in a mental health facility.
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2020
Locklear announced her engagement to Heisser, her former high-school sweetheart, in April. “Heather and Chris are in a really good place right now,” an insider exclusively told Us Weekly one year later. “They couldn’t be happier. They each go out of their way to make the other feel special — she’ll cook for him, he’ll buy her flowers, etc.” That same month, Locklear celebrated one year of sobriety.
2023
In June, Locklear sparked concern among fans and observers when she was photographed looking walking along the ledge of a building in Malibu, California. An insider told Us at the time that the actress was “struggling” with her sobriety. “She has been drinking and told friends over a month ago she wanted to go back to rehab,” the source said. “Friends say she may never have quit drinking after a judge ordered unsupervised probation in 2019. She didn’t have any oversight so no one knows if she ever stopped drinking, even back then.”
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