Heather Michele O'Rourke (December 27, 1975 - February 1, 1988) was an American child actress who starred in the Poltergeist movie trilogy.

Heather O'Rourke was discovered in 1980 by Steven Spielberg while she was eating lunch at the MGM studios commissary. Spielberg was looking for someone to play the part of 5 year old "Carol Anne" in his upcoming production of Poltergeist. He originally thought that she was too young for the part (she was four at the time) but after an interview and a "scream test", cast her in the role.

Poltergeist was released in June 1982, and Heather's line: "They're he-eere!" entered American pop culture.

In 1986, Poltergeist II was released, and once again, O'Rourke coined another pop-culture phrase, when she said "They're ba-aaack!"

Her success in these films led to television work, and she was briefly a regular on the sitcom Happy Days playing the daughter of Fonzie's girlfriend.

O'Rourke began filming Poltergeist III in 1987, and the movie was set to be released in 1988.

In February of 1988, a few weeks before the scheduled final filming, Heather died of complications after emergency surgery for an acute bowel obstruction. She was only 12 years old.

External links

• Heather O'Rourke http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001576/ at the Internet Movie Database
• www.heatherorourke.co.uk http://www.heatherorourke.co.uk/
• Heather O'Rourke~ A Little Angel. http://www.geocities.com/heatherorourke_alittleangel/