Actors - Heather O'Rourke

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Heather O'Rourke

	Actors - Heather O'Rourke

Heather Michele O'Rourke (December 27, 1975 - February 1, 1988) was an American child actress who starred in the Poltergeist movie trilogy.

Heather O'Rourke was born in San Diego, California. She was discovered in 1980 by Steven Spielberg while eating lunch at the MGM Studios Commissary. Spielberg was looking for someone to play the part of 6-year-old "Carol-Anne Freeling" in his upcoming production of Poltergeist. He originally thought that she was too young for the part (she was five at the time) but after an interview and a "scream test", he cast her in the role.

Poltergeist was released in June 1982, and Heather's line: "They're he-eere!" entered American pop culture.

Her success in Poltergeist immediately led to television work, and in 1982-1983 she was briefly a regular on the sitcom Happy Days, playing the daughter of Fonzie's girlfriend.

In 1986, Poltergeist II was released, and once again, Heather coined another pop culture phrase, when she said "They're ba-aaack!"

Heather began filming Poltergeist III in 1987, and the movie was set to be released in 1988. Principal photography on the film lasted between April-June 1987, and by all accounts she finished her work on the film.

On February 1, 1988, Heather became ill suddenly and was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that she had developed an acute bowel obstruction. She was diagnosed with Acute bowel syndrome. Despite emergency surgery, Heather died from septic shock and infection, complications of the obstruction. She was only 12 years old. MGM decided to re-shoot the ending of "Poltergeist III" in March of 1988 using a body double stand in. The director of the film, Gary Sherman, claims this re-shoot never took place, and that in fact Heather died "before they could film the original ending." However, the majority of credible evidence does not back up his claim. In fact, the finished film was rated "PG" by the MPAA in November 1987, before Heather died.

Heather is interred in a crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Her crypt can be found by GPS at 34.05849, -118.44177. This location is close to grave markers for Truman Capote and Mel Torme.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Heather O'Rourke ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Heather O'Rourke; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Actors - Heather O'Rourke

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay