Heather Thomas, who celebrated her 66th birthday on September 8, is best known for her role in “The Fall Guy” alongside Lee Majors. With her striking beauty and talent, she seemed destined for Hollywood stardom. However, a pivotal moment occurred when she rushed to the hospital, fearing her father had an emergency, only to find out that the concerns were actually about her.
This turning point marked the beginning of a significant transformation in her life and career. Read on to discover the journey of the former 1980s pinup girl and her path to recovery.
Thomas’s natural beauty and talent, reminiscent of Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear, set her apart from a young age. At 14, she hosted NBC’s “Talking with a Giant,” interviewing celebrities alongside four other teenagers. Thomas pursued theater and film at UCLA, appearing in the comedy series “Co-Ed Fever” (1979) before landing her breakthrough role in “The Fall Guy” in 1980.
Starring as Jody Banks, a stuntwoman and bounty hunter, Thomas became a sex symbol, a label she found both flattering and burdensome. She admitted to People, “That comes with a certain amount of required condescension. The blonde bimbo is a stereotype that you fit into. But I was simply enjoying myself at the moment.”
Unfortunately, her enjoyment included drug use, a habit that began in sixth grade. “I was taking acid and getting straight As,” she recalled. By her time at UCLA, her drug use escalated to cocaine, worsening after she started filming “The Fall Guy.” Struggling with weight and the pressures of her image, she turned to Lasix, a diuretic, and more cocaine to combat the side effects.
Thomas’s drug abuse took a toll on her health and career. Her weight dropped dramatically, and she frequently fell asleep between takes. Concerned colleagues, including Lee Majors, intervened after she fainted on set. Her family staged an intervention, and she entered a detox program, discovering she had pneumonia, scarred lungs, and swollen kidneys.
Despite these challenges, Thomas was determined to recover. She surrounded herself with supportive individuals, including Allan Rosenthal, a co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, whom she married and later divorced in 1986. That same year, she was hit by a car, severely injuring her legs.
After detox, surgery, and divorce, Thomas resumed her career in minor TV roles and Canadian films like “Red Blooded American Girl” (1990) and “Cyclone” (1987). In the 1990s, she focused on writing and married entertainment attorney Skip Brittenham in 1992. They have a daughter, India Rose, born in 2000, and Thomas also became a stepmother to Brittenham’s daughters, Kristina and Shauna.
Reflecting on her past, Thomas told Reuters, “I decided to give it up and write for a while… and I was in love, and [then] had two little girls.” Her brief return to acting included the 2017 film “Girltrash: All Night Long.”
Thomas’s withdrawal from acting was influenced by privacy invasions from stalkers, not a lack of roles. “I was being really harassed. One day, I witnessed a person use a knife to scale the fence. That was it; I had these two small kids who needed to be raised so badly,” she explained. Now older, she hopes to face less harassment.
Today, Thomas is an activist, serving on the boards of the Amazon Conservation Team and the Rape Foundation. A self-declared feminist, she emphasizes the importance of autonomy and control. “When I was younger, I followed people’s instructions, but as I grew older, I refused to compromise. I desired independence and control.”
Heather Thomas’s journey from addiction to activism is a testament to her resilience. While we miss seeing her on screen, we celebrate her recovery and continued contributions to important causes. Share your thoughts on Thomas’s journey and recovery.
