The Story
Her discovery was right out of a fairy tale. She was eating lunch in the MGM commisary with her sister (Tammy) and mother when Steven Spielberg approached their table. He was looking for a child and was not having much luck, he spotted Heather and approached there table. Heather was more interested in lunch than in the stranger who was talking to them. Heather initially failed the screen test for Poltergiest I (1981) when laughed instead of being afraid at a stuffed animal. Steven thought she was just too young. Heather was 5. He wanted a six year old.(Cinefantasque-July 1988) 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 couldnt do it anymore.(Cinefantasque-1988) She had the part after the second screen test. Incidently, it was Drew Barrymore who Steven was originally considering for the part. During all the horrors that proceeded during the filming of Poltergeist, the only one scene that really scared her was the scene in her bedroom where she had to hold on to the headrest while the wind blew, toys flew about and the closet opened up behind her. She fell apart and Steven stopped everything, put her in his arms, and said she did not have to do the scene again.( Cinefantasque July 1988) Over the next few years, Heather became a familiar face on t.v. and at the movies. She made guest appeariences in Happy Days -1982(Heather Pfzier), Chips-1982 (Loren), Fantasy Island (character unknown), tv movie - Massarati and The Brain 1984(character unknown), Rocky Road-1984 (character uknown, she played a texan's daughter) Webster-1983, tv movie-Surviving-1985 (this was quite possibly the most exciting aspect of her career, the role was major and we got to see her in a role outside of Poltergiest), Our House-1986 (Dana, she was a blind girl), New Leave it to Beaver-1986 (Heather, she had a real nasty character in this one.) and of course Poltergiest I, II, III (Carol Anne) In real life, Heather loved to go shopping, but according to her mother Kathy (interview on Current Affair), shopping with her was a tremendous effort. Heather had to have everything match, from shoes to earrings. Heather loved to make and eat sweets. For a pet, she had a St. Bernhard. She was the student body leader of her school. (Current Affair interview) And in her words "I never watch horror films as a rule. (Current Affair interview, footage taken before death). Heather would also make home movies and she was leaning more toward directing than acting. (Current Affair) Cast mates described Heather as having a calming influence in the set 
(Cinefantastique, July 1988). They also described cast meetings with her, everyone would be quickly leafing through the the script, while Heather was sitting calmly. Being able to memorize 60 pages a script in an hour (Odessa American newspaper article, Feb 2, 1988), she had already memorized the script. During the filming of Poltergieist III, Heather suffered flu like symptoms.
They took her to a specialist but they still did not catch the intestinal blockage that would eventually claim her life. On the night of January 30, she woke up and crawled into bed with parents,)(Globe Magazine, Feb. 16, 1988) complaining that she didnt feel well. She got up the next day, tried to eat some toast, saying that she was going to school. She then fainted. Her fingers turning blue. They flew her in to the emergency room, but it was too late, she died on the operating table at 2:43 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1st, 1988. We miss you Heather O'Rourke .
-- Written completely by Artcurus
