Heather O'Rourke as Carol Anne
Description:Though produced and co-written by Steven Speilberg, Poltergeist was directed by Tobe Hooper. It's a child's nightmare as unseen entities enter a tract home through the TV and inspire grosser phenomena. Along the supernatural path the daughter is trapped in another dimension, the son is attacked by a tree, and coffins and corpses pop up from the ground to terrorize the housewife. Edge of the seat movie comes complete with a monstrous demon from beyond and glaring white lights. Simply put, it's a good, well acted, spooky movie.
Biography for Heather O'Rourke
Birth name
Heather Michele O'Rourke
Date of birth
27 December 1975
San Diego, California, USA
Date of death
1 February 1988
San Diego, California, USA.
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Trivia
Blonde child actress in the "Poltergeist" movies. Began acting at age 5.
President of her class in the 5th grade.
Her mother claimed a wrong diagnosis was responsible for her death.
Interred at Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, USA, New Mausoleum, outside along the bottom.
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Her discovery was right out of a fairy tale. She was eating lunch at the MGM commisarary with her sister, Tammy, and mother when Steven Spielberg approached their table. He was looking for a child and was not having much luck until he spotted Heather. Heather was more interested in lunch than the stranger who was talking to them.
Heather initially failed the screen test for Poltergeist (1981) when she laughed instead of being afriad of a stuffed animal. Steven thought she was just too young. He wanted a six-year-old (Cinefantasque-July 1988).
But he saw something in her and called her back asking her to bring a scary storybook. He asked her to scream, and she screamed and screamed until she started to cry and couldn't do it anymore (Cinefantasque-July 1988). She had the part after the second screen test. Incidently, it was Drew Barrymore who Steven was orginally considering for the part.
During all the horrors that proceeded while filming Poltergeist, the only scene that really scared her was the one in which she had to hold onto the headboard while the wind machine blew her toys into the closet behind her. She fell apart, and Steven stopped everything, put her in his arms, and said that she would not have to do that scene again (Cinefantasque, July 1988).
Over the next few years, Heather became a familliar face on T.V. and at the movies. She made guest appearances on Happy Days 1982-83 (Heather Pfier), Chips-1982(Lindsey), Fantasy Island (character unknown), the T.V. movie Massarati and the Brain-1984 (Skye Henry), Rocky Road-1984 (character unknown), Surviving-1985 (Sarah Brogan)--this quite possibly was the most exciting aspect of her career; the role was major and people got to see her in a role outside the Poltergeist movies. Other roles include: Our House-1986 (Dana, a blind girl), The New Leave it to Beaver T.V. Series-1986 (Heather, a really nasty character), and, of course, Poltegeist II and III (again, as Carol Anne).
In real life, Heather loved to go shopping, but, according to her mother, Kathy, (interview on A Current Affair) shopping with her was a tremendous effort. Heather had to have everything match from shoes to earings. Heather also loved to make and eat sweets, and was the student body leader of her school. For a pet, she had a St. Bernard. Her homelife did not, ironically, include the viewing of certain films; in her words, "I never watch horror films as a rule ( A Current Affair interview, footage taken before death)." Heather would also make home movies and lean more toward directing than acting (A Current Affair).
Fellow cast members described Heather as having a calming influence on the set (Cinefantasque, July 1988). They also described cast meetings with her: everyone would be quickly leafing through the script, while Heather was sitting calmly. Being able to memorize 60 pages of script an hour, she would have already memorized the entire script.
During the filming of Poltergeist III, Heather suffered flu-like symptoms. She was taken to see a specialist, but still no one caught the intestnal blockage that would eventually claim her life.
On the night of January 30, 1988 she woke up and crawled into bed with her parents (Globe Magazine, Feb. 16, 1988) complaining that she didn't feel well. She got up the next day, trying to eat some toast, saying that she was going to school. She then fainted, her fingers turning blue. She was flown to the Emergency Room, but it was too late. Heather died on the operating table at 2:43 P.M. on Monday, Feb. 1, 1988.
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Links:
Poltergeist III (1988) .... Carol Anne Freeling
... aka Poltergeist III: The Final Chapter (1988) (Australia)
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) .... Carol Anne Freeling
... aka Poltergeist II (1986) (USA: short title)
Surviving (1985) (TV) .... Sarah Brogan
... aka Surviving: A Family In Crisis (1985) (TV)
... aka Tragedy (1993) (TV) (USA: video title)
Terror in the Aisles (1984) (archive footage) .... Carol Ann Freeling (segment "Polterguiest")
... aka Time for Terror (1984) (Europe: English title: video title)
Believe You Can... And You Can! (1983) (TV) .... Herself
Making of 'Poltergeist', The (1982) (TV) (uncredited) .... Herself
Massarati and the Brain (1982) (TV) .... Skye Henry
Poltergeist (1982) .... Carol Anne Freeling
"Happy Days" (1974) TV Series .... Heather Pfister (1982-1983)
... aka "Happy Days Again" (1974) (USA: syndication title)
