Heather Thomas, who turned 66 on September 8, was famous for her role in The Fall Guy with Lee Majors and seemed destined for a brilliant Hollywood career. But things changed dramatically one day when she rushed to the hospital, thinking her father had an emergency, only to find out it was actually about her.
Family and friends met her at the Santa Monica hospital and told her that her father, Leon, was fine. Their real concern was for her.
This was the beginning of a new path for Heather, changing both her career and personal life completely.
Heather Thomas was destined for greatness, with natural beauty and talent comparable to Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear. At just 14, she hosted the talk show Talking with a Giant on NBC, where she and other teenagers interviewed celebrities.
Heather studied theater and cinema at UCLA, aiming to become an actor, director, and writer. Before graduating, she appeared in the short-lived comedy series Co-Ed Fever (1979). In 1980, she landed her first major role in the TV series The Fall Guy, playing Lee Majors’ sidekick, Jody Banks. This role made her a sex symbol, a label she had mixed feelings about.
“That comes with a certain amount of required condescension,” Heather told People. “The blonde bimbo is a stereotype that you fit into. But I was simply enjoying myself at the moment.”
But she enjoyed herself too much, using drugs even before playing Jody Banks. Her drug use started in the sixth grade to maintain high grades. “I was taking acid and getting straight A’s,” Heather recalled. “I thought it was mind-blowing.”
As she grew older, her drug use escalated. While at UCLA, she started using cocaine, and it worsened after she began filming The Fall Guy in 1981. She also became obsessed with her weight, using a diuretic called Lasix, which made her very tired. To combat the tiredness, she took more cocaine.
“At first, I thought I was getting a good deal,” she said. “I never used cocaine on set; it helped me work through the night.” However, people noticed her problem. Her weight dropped from 125 to 105 pounds, and she would fall asleep between takes.
Eventually, she collapsed in front of Lee Majors, who called her manager and her mother. Her mother, Gladdy Ryder, told Heather her father was in the hospital after the Fall Guy series finale. Heather rushed to St. John’s Hospital, where she was met by family and friends ready to admit her into a three-week drug program.
“It was a big relief to me,” Heather said. She had pneumonia, scarred lungs, and swollen kidneys when she checked into detox. “I wanted to get off the roller coaster I’d been on. I might have continued until I lost my job or died if my family hadn’t stepped in.”
“The doctors said I should have died three years ago,” she added.
Dedicated to her recovery, Heather surrounded herself with supportive people. She met Allan Rosenthal, co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, and married him. They divorced in September 1986. That same month, she was hit by a car, severely injuring her legs.
After detox, divorce, and surgery, Heather resumed her career with minor TV roles and starred in Canadian films like Red Blooded American Girl (1990) and Cyclone (1987).
Heather started fresh in the 1990s, marrying entertainment attorney Skip Brittenham in 1992. She had her only biological child, India Rose, in June 2000, and became a stepmother to his two daughters, Kristina and Shauna.
“I decided to give it up and write for a while,” she told Reuters, “because 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.”
One of Heather’s last acting credits was in the 2017 film Girltrash: All Night Long. Focusing on writing, she stepped away from acting due to frequent privacy violations by stalkers.
“I was being really harassed. One day, I saw someone climb the fence with a knife. That was it; I had two small kids who needed me. But now that I’m older, people might not bother me as much.”
Heather is now an activist, serving on boards of the Amazon Conservation Team and the Rape Foundation. She proudly calls herself a feminist.
“When I was younger, I followed people’s instructions, but as I grew older, I refused to compromise,” she said. “I wanted independence and control. Having people see your body is not inherently bad. I don’t believe I deceived myself. Being a feminist, in my opinion, does not entail body shame.”
Though Heather Thomas didn’t return to acting as expected, we’re glad she got the support she needed and is on a lifelong healing journey.
We loved watching her as Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with Lee Majors, one of the many amazing shows from the 1980s!
What do you think about Heather Thomas and her recovery? Let us know!