The sultry Heather Thomas of ‘The Fall Guy’ struggled with addiction – but look at her now, at 66

Known for her starring role opposite Lee Majors in The Fall Guy, Heather Thomas–who turned 66 on September 8–was poised for a hugely success Hollywood career.

But when the actor’s mother showed up on set after the show’s finale was filmed, the gorgeous blonde rushed to hospital, believing that her father had an emergency.

The family and friends who greeted her at the Santa Monica hospital let her know that her dad, Leon, was fine, and that it was her who had their concerns.

This was just the beginning of a new journey for the then 28-year-old woman, whose personal life and career completely transformed after that visit to the hospital.

Keep reading to find out what happened to the former pinup girl of the 1980s!

Gifted with the talent and natural movie star beauty that rivalled Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear, Heather Thomas did what she was born to do.

Playing Jody Banks, a stuntwoman-bounty hunter on the popular action show, Thomas was adored by the male population who viewed her as a sex symbol, a title which she admits to having mixed feelings.

“There’s obligatory condescension that goes with that,” Thomas told People. “You fill that archetype, the blonde bimbo. But at that point, I was just having fun.”

Unfortunately, she was having too much fun with the inclusion of drugs, a habit that started before her role as Jody Banks.

Her substance use dates to the sixth grade when she started using drugs to maintain steady top grades. Thomas said, “I was taking acid and making straight A’s. I just thought it was mind expanding.”

As her mind evolved from child to adult, so did the drugs she consumed.

At UCLA Thomas started using cocaine and in 1981, one year into her role on The Fall Guy, her drug problems escalated.

Also, feeling like she had to live up with her sex symbol title, the 5-foot-7 Thomas became obsessed with weight, and started taking Lasix, a diuretic that can cause severe lethargy.

To counteract the lethargy, she took more cocaine for a burst of energy.

“At first I was in a honeymoon stage with the drug. I felt that I was getting a lot for my money. It enabled me to stay up all night and then work all the next day,” she said, claiming that she never used cocaine on set. “Cocaine is not approved of on sets. It’s not clubby to do it anymore. It is just a private hell.”

Contrary to her claims, a source close to the actor told People that her drug use was derailing her career. “Word was out on Heather,” the source said. “People knew she had a problem.”

Thomas dropped from 125 to 105 pounds and was falling asleep between takes. Thomas admitted, “Sometimes I was in a minicoma.”

And then she passed out in front of Majors, who called her manager, who called her mother.

When the series finale of The Fall Guy wrapped, her mom, Gladdy Ryder–a former special education teacher–appeared on the set and told her daughter that her father was in hospital.

Rushing to St. John’s Hospital, the author of “Trophies” was greeted by family and friends who were ready to see her admitted into the hospital’s three-week drug program.

Heather Thomas at Farm Aid 2 in Austin, Texas, July 4, 1986. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

“It was a big relief to me,” Thomas said of that day, adding that when she checked into detox, she had pneumonia, scarred lungs and inflamed kidneys. “I’d been on a roller coaster and I wanted to get off. If my family hadn’t intervened, I probably would have gone on my merry way until I lost my job or I died.”

She added, “…The doctors said I should have been dead three years ago.”

Committed to recovery, Thomas surrounded herself with like-minded people who would benefit her goals of being drug-free. That was when Thomas, 28 at the time, met and married Allan Rosenthal, the co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, whom she divorced in September 1986.

The same month, she suffered serious injuries to both legs when she was struck by a car while crossing the street.

After detox, divorce and surgery repair major damage in one of her legs, Thomas returned to work with smaller roles in TV series. She can also be seen in films like in Cyclone in 1987 and the 1990 Canadian film Red Blooded American Girl with Christopher Plummer.

With her troubles behind her, Thomas started new in the 1990s and while trying to revive her career, she married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham in 1992. Taking on the new role as the stepmother to his two daughters, Kristina and Shauna, Thomas also gave birth to her only biological child, daughter India Rose who was born in June 2000.

“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 for a while,” she told Reuters.

In 2017, Heather made a brief comeback in the movie Girltrash: All Night Long, one of her 26 acting credits in her career.

Focused mostly on writing, the Zapped! actor said it wasn’t a lack of roles that drove her from acting, but the stalkers who persistently breached her privacy.

“I was getting so stalked. I had one guy climb over the fence with a knife one time. I had these two little girls and they desperately needed raising so that was that. But I think now I have gotten so old that people won’t bother me much.”

Thomas is also now involved as an activist and formerly served on the board for the Rape Foundation and Amazon Conservation Team.  

Identifying as a feminist–a duplicitous title for a former sex symbol–Thomas explained the power of both.

“When I was young, I did what people told me to do but when I was older, I didn’t compromise myself. I wanted power and freedom. This gave me a house and the notoriety to get into the door. There is nothing horrible in letting people see your body. I don’t think I betrayed myself. I don’t think being a feminist means you should be ashamed of your body,” she said.

It’s really sad that Heather Thomas was unable to revive her career in acting again but we’re happy that she got the help she needed and is now in a lifelong journey of recovery.

There are so many wonderful shows of the 1980s and we loved seeing her in the role of Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with the Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors!

We’d love to hear what you have to say about Thomas and her recovery!

Known for her starring role opposite Lee Majors in The Fall Guy, Heather Thomas–who turned 66 on September 8–was poised for a hugely success Hollywood career.

But when the actor’s mother showed up on set after the show’s finale was filmed, the gorgeous blonde rushed to hospital, believing that her father had an emergency.

The family and friends who greeted her at the Santa Monica hospital let her know that her dad, Leon, was fine, and that it was her who had their concerns.

At only 14 the girl hosted an NBC series called Talking with a Giant, a show where she and four other teens interviewed celebrities.

Wanting to take her career to the next level–as an actor, director and writer–Thomas, now 66, then studied film and theater at UCLA, and the year before she graduated, she appeared in the short-lived comedy series, Co-Ed Fever (1979).

Heather Locklear and Heather ThomasPosted by Back to 80s on Saturday, June 5, 2021

In 1980, the Connecticut-born actor won her first leading role in the TV series, The Fall Guy, playing the sidekick to Lee Majors, who in the 1970s, gained global recognition for his performance as Steven Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man.

Playing Jody Banks, a stuntwoman-bounty hunter on the popular action show, Thomas was adored by the male population who viewed her as a sex symbol, a title which she admits to having mixed feelings.

“There’s obligatory condescension that goes with that,” Thomas told People. “You fill that archetype, the blonde bimbo. But at that point, I was just having fun.”

Unfortunately, she was having too much fun with the inclusion of drugs, a habit that started before her role as Jody Banks.

Her substance use dates to the sixth grade when she started using drugs to maintain steady top grades. Thomas said, “I was taking acid and making straight A’s. I just thought it was mind expanding.”

Actress Heather Thomas poses for a portrait in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)

As her mind evolved from child to adult, so did the drugs she consumed.

At UCLA Thomas started using cocaine and in 1981, one year into her role on The Fall Guy, her drug problems escalated.

Also, feeling like she had to live up with her sex symbol title, the 5-foot-7 Thomas became obsessed with weight, and started taking Lasix, a diuretic that can cause severe lethargy.

To counteract the lethargy, she took more cocaine for a burst of energy.

“At first I was in a honeymoon stage with the drug. I felt that I was getting a lot for my money. It enabled me to stay up all night and then work all the next day,” she said, claiming that she never used cocaine on set. “Cocaine is not approved of on sets. It’s not clubby to do it anymore. It is just a private hell.”

Contrary to her claims, a source close to the actor told People that her drug use was derailing her career. “Word was out on Heather,” the source said. “People knew she had a problem.”

Thomas dropped from 125 to 105 pounds and was falling asleep between takes. Thomas admitted, “Sometimes I was in a minicoma.”

And then she passed out in front of Majors, who called her manager, who called her mother.

When the series finale of The Fall Guy wrapped, her mom, Gladdy Ryder–a former special education teacher–appeared on the set and told her daughter that her father was in hospital.

Rushing to St. John’s Hospital, the author of “Trophies” was greeted by family and friends who were ready to see her admitted into the hospital’s three-week drug program.

Heather Thomas at Farm Aid 2 in Austin, Texas, July 4, 1986. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

“It was a big relief to me,” Thomas said of that day, adding that when she checked into detox, she had pneumonia, scarred lungs and inflamed kidneys. “I’d been on a roller coaster and I wanted to get off. If my family hadn’t intervened, I probably would have gone on my merry way until I lost my job or I died.”

She added, “…The doctors said I should have been dead three years ago.”

Committed to recovery, Thomas surrounded herself with like-minded people who would benefit her goals of being drug-free. That was when Thomas, 28 at the time, met and married Allan Rosenthal, the co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, whom she divorced in September 1986.

The same month, she suffered serious injuries to both legs when she was struck by a car while crossing the street.

Shutterstock

After detox, divorce and surgery repair major damage in one of her legs, Thomas returned to work with smaller roles in TV series. She can also be seen in films like in Cyclone in 1987 and the 1990 Canadian film Red Blooded American Girl with Christopher Plummer.

With her troubles behind her, Thomas started new in the 1990s and while trying to revive her career, she married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham in 1992. Taking on the new role as the stepmother to his two daughters, Kristina and Shauna, Thomas also gave birth to her only biological child, daughter India Rose who was born in June 2000.

“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 for a while,” she told Reuters.

In 2017, Heather made a brief comeback in the movie Girltrash: All Night Long, one of her 26 acting credits in her career.

Focused mostly on writing, the Zapped! actor said it wasn’t a lack of roles that drove her from acting, but the stalkers who persistently breached her privacy.

“I was getting so stalked. I had one guy climb over the fence with a knife one time. I had these two little girls and they desperately needed raising so that was that. But I think now I have gotten so old that people won’t bother me much.”

Thomas is also now involved as an activist and formerly served on the board for the Rape Foundation and Amazon Conservation Team.  

Identifying as a feminist–a duplicitous title for a former sex symbol–Thomas explained the power of both.

“When I was young, I did what people told me to do but when I was older, I didn’t compromise myself. I wanted power and freedom. This gave me a house and the notoriety to get into the door. There is nothing horrible in letting people see your body. I don’t think I betrayed myself. I don’t think being a feminist means you should be ashamed of your body,” she said.

It’s really sad that Heather Thomas was unable to revive her career in acting again but we’re happy that she got the help she needed and is now in a lifelong journey of recovery.

There are so many wonderful shows of the 1980s and we loved seeing her in the role of Jody Banks in The Fall Guy with the Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors!

We’d love to hear what you have to say about Thomas and her recovery!

https://51dc3a7be9c0ae4187f73e1f0894eb7b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

If you just took a walk down memory lane, step back in time again and read about the iconic model Twiggy – and press here to see how she looks today, at 73.

Dаd With 240 Таttооs Fасеs Васklаsh Аs Реорlе Тhink Не Is А Ноrriblе Fаthеr – Тhеn Нis Wifе Rеvеаls Тhе Тruth

Don’t judge a book by its cover is an old saying, but it never hurts to be reminded of it.

If a parent does not fit the usual mold of a parent, judging them simply on their appearance might be very unjust.

The tattoos on his face led others to accuse him of being a horrible father. His wife then revealed some unexpected information, which sh.ocked everyone. Read on to find out more…

One of the pillars of individuality is self-expression. Since they allow people to express themselves visually, tattoos are a fantastic way of self-expression.

Richard Huff, 51, has over 240 tattoos on his body and utilizes them as a means of self-expression.

The ink junkie is raising five kids with his wife. To the dismay of the internet at large, his wife routinely posts on social media with him and his kids in it.

The 51-year-old Huff wants people to know that his family is “no different” from any other. But he has admitted that complete strangers regularly ridicule him online because of his appearance.

He described his beginnings. “It became an addiction, I started with my legs and worked my way up,” Huff said.

He said that 85 percent of his body was now covered in tattoos. Among his tattoos are the lips of his daughter and their names.

“I want to be 100% covered in tattoos probably within the next four years,” shаrеd Richard. “I don’t know if it’s the pain or the artwork that you put on you, but it just becomes fascinating when you’re able to do this.”

He claimed that having so many tattoos had its own difficulties. He admitted that the kids at his kids’ school thought he was scary.

In her own words, his daughter has said, “They say, ’ah it’s a bit scary’ and I say ’no, my dad is not scary, he is good with tattoos.’”

Marita, Richard’s wife, admitted that she, too, was terrified of him. She admitted, “I did judge Richard based on his looks at first but as I got to know him a little bit, he is actually a big-hearted person.”

She frequently writes in her blog posts about how much her husband adores her. She continuously praises his qualities, calling him a devoted husband and loving father.

Marita has revealed to others that Richard is much more than a true father to his three children from previous marriages.

Richard said when questioned about his neighbourhood participation, “I participate in the PTA, I go to all my kids’ functions.”

Despite the fact that his kindness is well known, many still criticise him. One user commented on his facial tattoos and said, “I’m not against tattoos, but I mean honestly, does he really need tattoos on his face likе that?”

However, Richard is not the only one who has supporters. “Everyone keeps talking about his face tattoo. He likеs it. He got it. He’s a good father. Let him be.”

Richard responded to the critique by saying, “If somebody can make negative comments likе that, there’s something wrong with them themselves that they would have to judge somebody else.” Adding, “This is what we did and we’re happy. We’ve been together six years our kids are happy and to us, that’s all that matters.”

Richard goes on to remark that no matter how much his family despises him or how much he despises them, he still loves them.. “Having tattoos does not scare my children, it does not make me a bad father, it makes my kids get a different perspective on life,” he said.

Some people find it hard to believe this is the same person after seeing him without all the tattoos!

Richard Huff appears to be a nice husband and father who is greatly loved by his family.

You can’t judge a book by its cover, and he’s living proof of that!

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