Blonde, with perfect California girl cuteness and an attractive air of self-possession, actress Heather Locklear made an indelible mark on television, her unforgettable roles in the Aaron Spelling dramas “Dynasty” (ABC) and “Melrose Place” (Fox) among the most notable entries in a prolific decades-spanning career. Perky, but with an undercurrent of peremptoriness, Locklear hit the big time soon after she left her freshman studies at UCLA to pursue an acting career. Before long, the neophyte had secured guest spots on such series as “CHiPs” (NBC) and “Eight Is Enough” (ABC) and supporting roles in the unremarkable TV-movies “Twirl” (NBC) and “Return of the Beverly Hillbillies” (CBS). In late 1981, Locklear joined the cast of the primetime soap “Dynasty”, playing Sammy Jo Dean, the seemingly innocent niece of Krystle Carrington, in town for a brief visit. The visit turned into eight seasons on the series, and Sammy Jo proved a force to reckon with, allowing Locklear to treat audiences to some of the more enjoyable scenes of two-faced opportunism in primetime television.
While playing this deliciously deceitful manipulator on ABC’s “Dynasty”, Locklear demonstrated her adaptability and established her place as a veritable TV fixture with a concurrent role on the network’s police drama “T.J. Hooker” (ABC 1982-1985, CBS 1985-1986). The actress co-starred alongside William Shatner, and brought fresh-faced enthusiasm and girl-next-door sexiness to the role of Officer Stacy Sheridan for five seasons. These two ABC roles offered Locklear unparalleled visibility while showcasing her versatility, and television audiences developed a fondness for and familiarity with the actress that would make her continually marketable, helping to cut down on the long-term career lulls that can follow series work. By all accounts and appearances the archetypal nice girl, Locklear married bad boy rocker Tommy Lee in 1985, a move that embodied the ideals of that decade’s excess and cast just enough mystery on the actress to make her all the more interesting and attractive to an audience.
