This is from Heather, it is a Hello Kitty watch
President of her class in the 5th grade.
Her mother claimed a wrong diagnosis was responsible for her death.
During all the horrors that proceeded while filming Poltergeist (Fenómenos extraños)(1982), only one scene really scared her: that in which she had to hold onto the headboard, while a wind machine blew toys into the closet behind her. She fell apart;Steven Spielberg stopped everything, put her in his arms, and said that she would not have to do that scene again. (Cinefantasque, July 1988)
In real life, she loved to go shopping. But according to her mother Kathy, shopping with Heather was a tremendous effort. The girl had to have everything match, from shoes to earrings. She also loved to make and eat sweets, and was the student-body president at her school. For a pet, she had a St. Bernard. Her home life did not, ironically, include the viewing of certain films...particularly not horror films.
Fellow cast members described Heather as having a calming influence on the set. 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 (1988), she suffered flu-like symptoms. The symptoms were a result of congenital intestinal stenosis (blockage), which ultimately claimed her life.
She died while on hiatus from filming Poltergeist III (1988), her final movie, which is dedicated to her memory. She was replaced with a blonde stand-in.
Performed from age 3 in numerous commercials before her Poltergeist (Fenómenos extraños) (1982) role, most notably for Mattel and McDonalds. She started modeling in 1979 for Mattel "Tuff Stuff" Number Blocks.
As a gift from the crew, she got to keep the goldfish from Poltergeist (Fenómenos extraños) (1982).
She grew very close to director Gary Sherman while filming Poltergeist III (1988), and was very proud of the fact that she performed all her own stuntwork for this movie.
Her last words were "I love you" spoken to her mother.
Never took acting classes.
Acted in her middle school Library/Literature Club's production of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" in her nightgown with her favorite teddy bear in December of 1987.
Could read at age 5.
Never refused an autograph.
Rests in a mausoleum next to Truman Capote and Mel Tormé.
Tried out for the role of Vicki on Un robot en casa (1985).
Born at 12:28 AM Pacific Standard Time.
Was a fraternal twin to an unborn baby brother.
Younger sister of actress Tammy O'Rourke.
Ranked #65 on VH1's '100 Greatest Kid Actors' special.
Her line, "They're here", ranked #69 on the 'AFI'S TOP 100 Movie Quotes' special which aired on CBS. She also holds the distinction of being the youngest (age 5 at the time) actor/actress to utter the line that made the list.
Was a straight-A student throughout her entire school career.
Her favorite movie of all time was Disney's Dumbo (1941), and her favorite movie she appeared in was the original Poltergeist (Fenómenos extraños) (1982).
Her favorite TV shows were Apartamento para tres (1977) and El show de Benny Hill(1969).
Some of her lesser known creative talents were calligraphy, drawing, baking, singing, and dancing.
Was an avid reader; her former 7th Grade English teacher honors this passion of hers by making all her students observe what she calls "Heather O'Rourke Love of Reading Week"; the last book she was reading was "Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl".
Astonished Steven Spielberg in his office during her initial interview with her ability to read the Poltergeist (Fenómenos extraños) (1982) script aloud.
Planned to attend college at UCLA and major in filmmaking.
Of Danish-Irish descent and heritage
Mentioned in Denis Leary's "Downtrodden Song", the finale to his one-man show "No Cure For Cancer", where he names a bunch of famous people who died. He calls her "The chick from the Poltergeist movies".
Appeared on the doll box for Mattel's "My First Barbie" in 1980.
Heather's Poltergeist III (1988) co-star Tom Skerritt was one of her pallbearers at her funeral.
Is buried in the same cemetery as her Poltergeist (Fenómenos extraños) (1982) co-star, Dominique Dunne.
Personal Quotes (8)
I hope people enjoy what I do. That would make me happy because I'd be bringing others pleasure while doing something I like.
I never watch horror movies as a rule.
Why do people want my autograph? It's just my name I'm writing.
I'm really not afraid of spooky things. When I have to look really frightened, I concentrate on scary things like losing my kittens or something like that.
I want to continue acting, but I want to be a director. I'd been thinking about it for a while. A couple of years ago, I decided it would be a different experience to work behind the camera. And I'd be able to work on scripts. But I like acting a lot. It's fun. You meet a lot of people.
[on the first two Poltergeist movies]: The first one I saw 12 times. The second one I only saw twice because I didn't think it was too great. I just thought it was too boring. You could fall asleep. It didn't excite me, it didn't even scare me. I don't think it would scare anyone. The first one really kept you going. It was exciting. Well, after you see it a lot of times, it isn't so much. But the first time you see it, it really jumps you.
I hope to do a different character some day. I'm tired of this one, kind of. If there is a sequel, a 'Poltergeist IV,' I hope it's the last.
My parents put everything in a trust fund for me. I won't get it until I'm 18, so I'll use it for college.
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