Heather Thomas, who turned 66 on September 8, was poised for a successful Hollywood career after starring opposite Lee Majors in The Fall Guy.
After the show’s finale, the actor’s mother arrived on site, and the lovely blonde ran to the hospital, thinking her father had an emergency.
Her family and friends at the Santa Monica hospital assured her that her dad, Leon, was OK and that they were worried about her.
After that medical visit, the 28-year-old woman’s life and profession changed forever.
Read on to learn what happened to the 1980s pinup girl!
Heather Thomas was born to act, with talent and beauty to rival Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear.
At 14, she hosted Talking with a Giant, an NBC show where she and four other teens questioned celebrities.
Before graduating, Thomas, 66, studied film and theater at UCLA and appeared in the short-lived comedy series Co-Ed Fever (1979). She wanted to become an actress, director, and writer.
Heather Locklear, Heather Thomas
Saturday, June 5, 2021, by Back to 80s
In 1980, the Connecticut native scored her first major job in The Fall Guy, playing the sidekick to Lee Majors, who was famous for playing Steven Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man in the 1970s.
As Jody Banks, a stuntwoman-bounty hunter on the famous action show, Thomas was adored by men who saw her as a sex symbol, a term she admits to having conflicting feelings about.
“There’s obligatory condescension that goes with that,” Thomas told People. “You fit the blonde bimbo stereotype. At that time, I was having fun.”
Unfortunately, she was having too much fun with drugs, a habit she developed before playing Jody Banks.
She began using medications in sixth grade to maintain high grades. Thomas claimed, “I was taking acid and getting straight A’s. I thought it was mentally stimulating.”
Like her thinking, her medicines changed as she grew up.
Thomas started using cocaine at UCLA and her drug issues worsened in 1981, one year into The Fall Guy.
The 5-foot-7 Thomas got obsessed with weight and started using Lasix, a diuretic that causes acute sleepiness, to conform to her sex symbol status.
She took additional cocaine to boost her energy as she was tired.
I honeymooned with the medication. I felt I got good value. It let me stay up all night and work the next day, she added, denying using cocaine on set. Cocaine is prohibited on site. Doing it is no longer clubby. Just private hell.”
Contrary to her assertions, a source close to the actor told People that drugs were hurting her career. “Word was out on Heather,” the person stated. “People knew she was troubled.”
Between takes, Thomas dropped from 125 to 105 pounds and fell asleep. Thomas said, “Sometimes I was in a minicoma.”
She fainted in front of Majors, who contacted her manager, who called her mother.
After The Fall Guy’s series finale, her mom, Gladdy Ryder, a former special education teacher, notified her that her father was hospitalized.
At St. John’s Hospital, the author of “Trophies” was rushed by family and friends to be admitted into a three-week drug treatment.
Thomas stated, “It was a big relief to me,” adding that she checked into detox with pneumonia, scarred lungs, and swollen kidneys. I wanted to get off a roller coaster. Without my family’s intervention, I probably would have continued until I lost my job or died.”
“The doctors said I should have been dead three years ago,” she remarked.
Thomas sought for like-minded folks to help her stay drug-free. Thomas, 28, married Cocaine Anonymous co-founder Allan Rosenthal, whom she divorced in September 1986.
The same month, a car hit her while crossing the street, injuring both legs.
Thomas returned to TV with smaller roles after detox, divorce, and leg surgery. She appeared in 1987’s Cyclone and 1990’s Canadian Red Blooded American Girl opposite Christopher Plummer.
In 1992, Thomas married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham to restart her career after her difficulties. Thomas had her sole biological child, India Rose, in June 2000 after becoming a stepmother to Kristina and Shauna.
“So when I had about 45 restraining orders out, and I was on everything from a toilet seat cover to an ashtray–and I was in love, and [then] had two little girls–I decided to give it up and write,” she said.Heather made a brief comeback in Girltrash: All Night Long in 2017, one of her 26 acting credits.
The Zapped! actor says stalkers kept her from performing, not a lack of roles.
The Fall Guy reunion (Heather Thomas and Lee Majors) at Fanboy Expo Orlando… pic.twitter.com/6BHitvP6Nz
— Stacey Adam (@oldandbitterest) September 4, 2022
“I was stalked. One man climbed the barrier with a knife. I had two tiny children that required raising, so that was it. However, I suppose I’m old enough to be ignored.”
Thomas is now an activist and was on the Rape Foundation and Amazon Conservation Team boards.
Thomas explained the power of both as a feminist, a deceptive label for a former sex symbol.
When I was young, I did what others told me, but as I got older, I didn’t compromise. For power and freedom. This provided me a house and the fame to enter. Showing your body is fine. Don’t think I betrayed myself. Feminists shouldn’t be ashamed of their bodies, she argued.
Reuters. We’re sad that Heather Thomas couldn’t resume acting, but we’re glad she got therapy and is now recovering for life.
We adored her as Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with Lee Majors, one of many great 1980s series!
Please share your thoughts on Thomas’ recuperation!