Heather Deen Locklear was born on September 25, 1961, in Westwood, California, and grew up in Southern California. Her father, William Locklear, worked as an administrator at the University of California, Los Angeles, while her mother, Diane, also worked in administration. Locklear attended UCLA herself and initially studied psychology, although modeling and commercial work gradually began competing rather successfully for her attention. Psychology's loss would eventually become prime-time television's gain.

Locklear appeared in commercials before beginning to pursue acting professionally, and early television appearances included CHiPs, Eight Is Enough and other productions. These were relatively small jobs, but Hollywood television in the early 1980s contained a particularly important figure for an aspiring actress with Locklear's combination of confidence, screen presence and photogenic California glamour: producer Aaron Spelling.

Spelling had become one of the dominant forces in American television, with an extraordinary ability to produce programs involving beautiful people experiencing far more trouble than their expensive homes suggested should be necessary. In 1981, Locklear joined his enormously successful prime-time soap opera Dynasty as Sammy Jo Dean, later Sammy Jo Carrington.

Dynasty was not a television program particularly interested in understatement. The series revolved around the wealthy Carrington family and provided audiences with mansions, oil fortunes, extravagant wardrobes, business warfare, marriages, divorces, betrayals and confrontations sufficiently dramatic that merely closing a door normally seemed inadequate. John Forsythe starred as Blake Carrington, Linda Evans played Krystle Carrington and Joan Collins became television royalty as the magnificently troublesome Alexis.

Locklear's Sammy Jo fitted comfortably into this environment. Introduced as Krystle's niece, she became involved with Steven Carrington and subsequently established herself as another source of romantic and family complications. Locklear's ability to combine beauty, charm and trouble made Sammy Jo a memorable presence in a series where behaving sensibly would probably have resulted in immediate dismissal from the cast.

Her initial Dynasty stint might have been comparatively brief, but Locklear was soon given another opportunity by Aaron Spelling. She joined the police drama T.J. Hooker, starring William Shatner as veteran police officer Thomas Jefferson Hooker. Locklear played Officer Stacy Sheridan, a considerably more straightforward character than Sammy Jo and therefore useful evidence that she was capable of doing something besides causing expensive domestic warfare.

Then television scheduling became interesting.

Locklear returned to Dynasty while continuing to appear on T.J. Hooker, meaning that for several years she worked regularly on two prime-time television series at the same time. Most actors regard one weekly television production as a fairly demanding occupation. Locklear apparently looked at the problem and concluded that sleep had been receiving altogether too much publicity.

The two roles also allowed audiences to see contrasting versions of her screen persona. Sammy Jo inhabited the glamorous, manipulative world of the Carringtons, while Stacy Sheridan worked alongside police officers chasing criminals through Los Angeles. Locklear became increasingly recognizable throughout the 1980s and developed a long professional association with Spelling that would eventually produce the role most closely associated with her career.

She also pursued film work during the decade. Locklear appeared in the 1984 adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter, starring Drew Barrymore as a young girl with pyrokinetic abilities. She later starred as Abby Arcane in the wonderfully eccentric 1989 comic-book movie The Return of Swamp Thing. The latter was not destined to trouble the Academy Awards greatly, but it became a cult curiosity and demonstrated that Locklear was willing to venture beyond polished prime-time television.

By the end of the 1980s, Dynasty had completed its original run and T.J. Hooker was already finished. Locklear had nevertheless spent much of the decade as one of television's most recognizable actresses. The role that would define the next stage of her career had not yet arrived.

Melrose Place premiered in 1992 as a spin-off from Beverly Hills, 90210. Created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling's company, the series followed a group of young adults living in a West Hollywood apartment complex. Initially, the program concentrated on relatively earnest stories involving careers, relationships and the ordinary struggles of young adulthood.

The ratings were not especially encouraging.

In January 1993, Heather Locklear arrived.

She was initially billed as a "Special Guest Star" when she joined the series as Amanda Woodward, an ambitious advertising executive who quickly became involved professionally and romantically with the existing characters. The "special guest" designation became one of television's more amusing technicalities because Locklear remained with Melrose Place for the rest of its original run.

Amanda helped transform the series. Melrose Place increasingly abandoned earnest young-adult drama and embraced the outrageous plotting that made it a defining prime-time soap of the 1990s. Affairs, betrayals, corporate scheming, blackmail, explosions, murder and spectacularly unhealthy relationships accumulated with impressive efficiency. Amanda Woodward operated beautifully in that environment because she frequently appeared to be the only person who had arrived with an actual plan.

Locklear played Amanda as intelligent, ambitious, commanding and frequently ruthless. She could deliver a cutting remark without raising her voice and dominate an office simply by entering it. Amanda was certainly capable of manipulation, but Locklear prevented her from becoming a simple villain. The character had vulnerabilities, loyalties and genuine emotional attachments beneath the formidable exterior.

The transformation of Melrose Place into compulsive television coincided with Locklear's arrival, strengthening her reputation as someone capable of invigorating a series. Amanda became one of the show's defining characters and Locklear received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama for her performance.

Amanda's romantic history alone could have supported a separate television series, although possibly one requiring flowcharts. Relationships with characters including Billy Campbell, Jake Hanson, Peter Burns and Kyle McBride generated enough complications to ensure that peaceful evenings at the Melrose apartment complex remained an endangered species.

The show became famous for plots that cheerfully rejected moderation. Kimberly Shaw, played by Marcia Cross, became particularly memorable after evolving from a relatively ordinary doctor into one of prime-time television's most spectacularly unstable residents. The apartment complex itself eventually became the target of an explosion, which was probably inevitable once ordinary relationship counseling had clearly failed.

Through all of this, Amanda Woodward remained one of the show's anchors. Locklear possessed the useful ability to treat ridiculous situations seriously enough that viewers could enjoy them without the actors appearing embarrassed by the material. Prime-time soap opera requires a peculiar discipline: everyone involved must understand that the plot is outrageous while behaving as though nothing could possibly be more important.

Melrose Place concluded its original run in 1999 after seven seasons. Locklear had appeared as Amanda in nearly 200 episodes, turning what began as a guest role into the defining performance of her television career. She later described Melrose Place as a highlight of her career, an understandable assessment considering how closely Amanda Woodward became associated with her public image.

Locklear did not remain away from series television for long. She joined the ABC comedy Spin City, which originally starred Michael J. Fox as New York City deputy mayor Mike Flaherty. Locklear played Caitlin Moore, a campaign manager who entered the mayor's chaotic political operation and became romantically involved with Fox's character.

The role demonstrated another side of her abilities. Locklear had always possessed comic timing, but Spin City placed her firmly within a sitcom rather than the melodramatic worlds of Dynasty and Melrose Place. Caitlin could be sharp and formidable, qualities familiar from Amanda Woodward, but the surrounding comedy allowed Locklear to play those characteristics differently.

When Michael J. Fox left the regular cast because of his battle with Parkinson's disease, Charlie Sheen became the show's new central male star. Locklear remained with the series and successfully navigated the substantial cast transition. Her performance on Spin City earned two additional Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, bringing her career total to six Golden Globe nominations.

Locklear continued working in both television and film after Spin City. Her movie appearances included Money Talks, Uptown Girls, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and The Perfect Man, the latter starring Hilary Duff. Yet television remained the medium most strongly associated with her career, and producers repeatedly returned to the qualities that had made her such a reliable presence in earlier series.

She starred in the short-lived airport drama LAX, playing an executive responsible for managing Los Angeles International Airport. Anyone who has actually traveled through a major airport may reasonably argue that this was the most terrifying assignment of her entire acting career.

Locklear later appeared in series including Hot in Cleveland and Franklin & Bash. In the latter she played Rachel Rose King, joining the legal comedy-drama during its third season. She also made guest appearances on other television programs, demonstrating the durability of a career that had begun more than three decades earlier.

In 2009, Locklear returned to one of her most famous characters when a new version of Melrose Place arrived on television. The revival featured younger residents while bringing back several performers from the original series. Amanda Woodward returned because apparently Los Angeles had still not learned that allowing this woman anywhere near an advertising agency could have consequences.

Although the revival lasted only one season, Locklear's return demonstrated how strongly Amanda remained identified with Melrose Place. Characters come and go in long-running television dramas, but some become inseparable from the program itself. Amanda Woodward was one of them.

Locklear's personal life has frequently attracted considerable media attention as well. She married Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee in 1986, and the couple divorced in 1993. In 1994, she married Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora. They had a daughter, Ava, before divorcing in 2007. Between those two marriages, Locklear managed the unusual achievement of becoming closely connected with two of the most famous rock bands of the era while simultaneously maintaining her own highly visible television career.

Later periods of Locklear's life brought significant personal difficulties that played out publicly, including struggles involving mental health, substance use, legal incidents and treatment. Those episodes generated headlines, but they represent only one portion of a career and life extending across decades. Locklear has spoken publicly at various times about treatment and recovery, while continuing to maintain connections with family, friends and professional colleagues.

Her daughter Ava grew up to pursue modeling and acting before completing graduate studies in marriage and family therapy. Locklear has frequently spoken warmly about her relationship with her daughter, while Ava has publicly supported her mother through difficult periods.

What can sometimes become obscured by celebrity coverage is just how unusual Locklear's television career was. She did not simply appear in a single successful program and spend decades being identified with it. She played important roles in Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, Melrose Place and Spin City, four distinctly different series spanning drama, police television, prime-time soap opera and comedy.

Her association with Aaron Spelling was particularly important. Few producer-actor partnerships in popular television lasted across so many successful programs. Spelling recognized early that Locklear possessed something extremely useful for television: viewers noticed when she entered a scene. She could play glamorous without becoming decorative, tough without becoming humorless and manipulative without making a character impossible to enjoy.

Amanda Woodward remains the clearest example. On paper, the character could have been unbearable: intimidating boss, romantic rival, corporate schemer and occasional destroyer of other people's happiness. Locklear instead made Amanda one of the characters viewers tuned in specifically to see.

There is also something distinctly old-school about Locklear's career. She emerged during an era when television stars appeared in viewers' homes every week for years at a time, gradually becoming familiar in a way movie stars rarely could. Audiences watched Sammy Jo through the excesses of Dynasty, Stacy Sheridan patrol the streets on T.J. Hooker, Amanda Woodward terrorize Melrose Place and Caitlin Moore negotiate the insanity of Spin City.

The roles changed, the hairstyles changed, and television itself changed enormously around her, but Heather Locklear remained one of the medium's recognizable personalities.

Perhaps the most appropriate evidence of her television instincts came with Melrose Place. The series was struggling, the producers needed something to shake it up, and Heather Locklear arrived as Amanda Woodward.

After that, nobody at Melrose Place got much peace. The viewers, fortunately, didn't want any.