Heather's Story

Heather was discovered while watching her older sister Tammy perform "Pennies From Heaven" by Director(E.T., Indiana Jones) Steven Spieldberg. Steven had considered Drew Barrymore for the part of Carol-Anne Freeling but the moment he saw Heather he reconsidered the idea. She was clearly perfect for the role. With her angelic face and wide blue eyes. Steven had been lucky that day or so he thought. He walked up to the blonde haired little girl who was lunching with her mother Kathleen at the time and Heather was interested in her BLT rather than the stranger before her. When Steven had tried to speak with Heather she replied simply, "I'm not suppose to talk to strangers." He then turned to her mother and asked,"Who is the proud mother or agent of this beautiful child?" Both Heather's mom and her agents hands shot up and almost instantly Heather was asked to audition for the role of Carol-Anne Freeling. A little girl who is kidnapped by evil spirits and is taken into a realm of horror. Heather however, failed her first screentest because she laughed instead of cried when she saw a stuffed animal. Steven had confidence in young Heather and asked her to come back for another screen test and bring a scary book along. She did and Heather screamed and screamed until she cried. She was a big hit! Her favorite scenes were the foodfighting scene and the goldfish feeding scene in the 1982 blockbuster hit Poltergeist.

After Poltergeist came Happy Days in which Heather played The Fonz's stepdaughter Heather Pfister. Things were definetly looking up for the aspiring Actress who would later film Poltergeist II in 1986. Many roles came after her film debut. She won a Young Artist Award for Best Actress in a guest television series for her role as Melanie in the comedy Webster in 1985. Heather loved acting and loved that others lvoed to see her acting. She wanted to be a director someday but in earlier 1988 Heather became ill. A week before her death she suffered froms stomach cramps. The doctors claimed she had Crohns disease only later would they find that they were way. On February 1,1988 Heather was already tot ake off to school when she found she was unable to swallow her breakfast. Her mother insisted she stay home after that while in the process of calling Heather's doctor. Kathleen went to the phone but watched in horror as Heather's fingers and toes had begun to turn blue. Heather's intestines burst and she collapsed. Kathleen called the ambulance immediately. The last words Heather ever said were,"I love you mom." She died on the operating table from septic shock and caridiac arrest. The doctors later discovered Heather's death was caused by an acute bowel obstrustion in other words there was a blockage in her small intestine which was a birth defect. Before Heather had died she was filming Poltergiest III which she believed was destined to be a big hit and she was sure to win an Academy Award for her performance. Heather never got a chance to finish that movie and it was given a horrible ending becuase of that. Even though enjoy the movie and it is a memorial to one of Heather's last and greatest performance others were to grief stricken to even see it in the theatre. The death of Heather Michele O'Rourke was a shock to millions of Poltergeist fanatics around the world. ~We Miss You Heather~