Heather Thomas, who turned 66 on September 8, was set to have a very successful Hollywood career. She was most known for her leading performance alongside Lee Majors in The Fall Guy.
However, the stunning blonde hurried to the hospital, thinking her father had an emergency, when the actor’s mother arrived on set following the filming of the show’s conclusion.
When she arrived to the Santa Monica hospital, her family and friends assured her that her father, Leon, was doing well and that their worries were for her.
After that medical visit, the 28-year-old woman’s personal life and work underwent a total transformation, marking the start of a new path.
To learn more about the fate of the former 1980s pinup girl, continue reading!
With the ability and innate beauty of a movie star that rivaled those of Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear, Heather Thomas fulfilled her destiny.
At the age of 14, the girl hosted Talking with a Giant, an NBC series in which she and four other teenagers conducted celebrity interviews.
Thomas, now 66, studied theater and cinema at UCLA with the goal of advancing her career as an actor, director, and writer. The year before she graduated, she made an appearance in the short-lived comedy series Co-Ed Fever (1979).
Heather Thomas and Heather Locklear
Posted on Saturday, June 5, 2021 by Back to 80s
The actor from Connecticut landed her first major part in 1980 in the television series The Fall Guy, as Lee Majors’ sidekick. Majors was well-known throughout the world in the 1970s for his portrayal of Steven Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man.
On the popular action show, Thomas played the role of Jody Banks, a stuntwoman-bounty hunter. She was admired by the male audience, who saw her as a sex symbol, a term she acknowledges she has mixed feelings about.
“That comes with a certain amount of condescension,” Thomas told People. You fit the description of the blonde bimbo archetype. But I was just enjoying myself at the time.
Regretfully, she was enjoying the incorporation of drugs too much, a habit that predates her portrayal of Jody Banks.
She began using medications to maintain consistent high marks in the sixth grade, which is when her substance use began. “I was taking acid and getting straight As,” Thomas recalled. I simply believed it to be mind-expanding.
Her drug use changed along with her mental development from child to adult.
Thomas began taking cocaine while attending UCLA, and her drug use worsened in 1981, a year after she began filming The Fall Guy.
Additionally, the 5-foot-7 Thomas developed an obsession with weight and began taking Lasix, a diuretic that may produce extreme lethargy, since she felt she had to live up to her reputation as a sex symbol.
She took more cocaine for a boost of energy to combat the sluggishness.
“I was in the honeymoon phase of the medicine at first. For my money, I thought I was receiving a lot. She claimed that she never used cocaine on set, saying, “It allowed me to stay up all night and then work all the next day.” “On sets, cocaine is not permitted. Doing it is no longer clubby. It is merely a personal hell.
A person close to the performer told People that her drug usage was destroying her career, despite what she claimed. According to the source, word got around about Heather. “People were aware of her issue.”
Between takes, Thomas was dozing off and had lost 125 pounds to 105 pounds. “I was in a minicoma sometimes,” Thomas said.
Majors phoned her manager, who then called her mother after she fainted in front of him.
Her mother, Gladdy Ryder, a former special education teacher, showed up on the set of The Fall Guy after the series finale was over and informed her daughter that her father was in the hospital.
When the author of “Trophies” hurried to St. John’s Hospital, her loved ones were waiting for her to be admitted into the hospital’s three-week drug program.
Thomas described that day as “a big relief to me,” noting that she had pneumonia, scarred lungs, and swollen kidneys when she checked into detox. “I wanted to get off the roller coaster that I had been on.” I probably would have continued living my life until I lost my job or passed away if my family hadn’t stepped in.
“The doctors said I should have been dead three years ago,” she continued.
Thomas was dedicated to her rehabilitation and surrounded herself with people who shared her values in order to achieve her drug-free goals. In September 1986, Thomas, who was 28 at the time, got married to Allan Rosenthal, a co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, with whom she had a divorce.
She was hit by a car while crossing the street that same month, severely injuring both of her legs.
Thomas resumed to work with minor roles in TV shows following her detox, divorce, and surgery to correct significant damage to one of her legs. Additionally, she appeared in movies such as 1987’s Cyclone and 1990’s Canadian feature Red Blooded American Girl, starring Christopher Plummer.
After putting her problems behind her, Thomas began a new life in the 1990s. In 1992, she married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham in an attempt to revitalize her career. In June 2000, Thomas gave birth to her sole biological child, India Rose, and assumed the new role of stepmother to his two daughters, Kristina and Shauna.
She told Reuters, “I decided to give it up and write for a while when I had about 45 restraining orders out, and I was on everything from an ashtray to a toilet seat cover—and I was in love, and [then] had two little girls.”
The Fall Guy reunion (Heather Thomas and Lee Majors) at Fanboy Expo Orlando… pic.twitter.com/6BHitvP6Nz
— Stacey Adam (@oldandbitterest) September 4, 2022
Among her 26 acting appearances, Heather makes a brief reappearance in the 2017 film Girltrash: All Night Long.
The Zapped! star, who mostly focuses on writing, claimed that stalkers who repeatedly invaded her privacy were the reason she stopped performing rather than a lack of roles.
I was being stalked a lot. On one occasion, I had a man with a knife scale the fence. My two little daughters were in dire need of rearing, so that was that. However, I believe that I am now old enough that I won’t be bothered by others very much.
In addition to his current activism, Thomas has served on the boards of the Amazon Conservation Team and the Rape Foundation.
Thomas clarified the significance of both by identifying as a feminist, a deceitful term for a previous sex symbol.
“I followed instructions when I was younger, but as I grew older, I refused to compromise. I desired independence and power. This provided me with a home and the reputation I needed to gain entry. Letting others see your body is not a bad thing. I do not believe that I have betrayed myself. Being a feminist, in my opinion, does not entail body shame, she stated.
Although it’s really unfortunate that Heather Thomas was unable to resurrect her acting career, we’re glad she received the support she required and is currently embarking on a lifelong healing process.
We adored her portrayal of Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with the Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors, one of the many fantastic series from the 1980s!
What you think about Thomas and her recuperation would be greatly appreciated!
