THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502100064
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
WHEN SHE finished playing the question-and-answer game with the TV press, Heather Locklear recently swept out of the the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif., and into her black stretch limo waiting at the curb.
But not before she ran a gantlet of autograph seekers and paparazzi.
Locklear posed. ``Look this way, Heather!'' She scribbled her name on 8-by-10 glossies.
And she answered questions tossed her way by a handful of Heatherites.
``What size dress you wear?''
``Size four. OK. Size six.''
``Are you pregnant, Heather?''
``No. Never have been.''
``How many more years will you be with `Melrose Place'?''
``My contract is up in 1996.''
She looked and acted every inch a star - a TV star. Spend a few minutes with Locklear and you get the impression that while her cup is overflowing - she's the hottest thing on ``Melrose Place,'' her face has launched a thousand magazine covers and she is a new bride - the actress wants a bigger cup.
Deep down inside, Heather Locklear longs to be a movie star. Big ``s.'' But, golly gee, nobody is asking her to be the next Sharon Stone.
How many offers to do films has she had in the last year?
``I guess . . . none.''
Not even an invitation to audition?
``Some auditions.''
Hollywood is writing off Locklear as merely a TV star. That's star with a small ``s.'' Hollywood is saying, ``You can play a campy little bitch on TV, but we're not sure you can fill up a big movie screen.''
``People in the business have put me into a little slot,'' she said with a hint of a pout.
Locklear took the role of trailer trash Priscilla Hatcher in the ABC miniseries ``Texas Justice'' to show producers and directors that there is more to her than the maliciousness and short skirts she exhibits on ``Melrose Place.'' (``Texas Justice'' airs Sunday and Monday nights at 9.)
``I knew the miniseries wasn't going to be a piece of cake. It would be a lot of work. But I did it to wipe the sneers off people's faces.''
Locklear is no Meryl Streep, but in ``Texas Justice'' she has found a role that fits her as well as Amanda's designer suits. She wears an outrageous wardrobe, piles of hair and jewelry. It's the four-hour saga of Fort Worth businessman T. Cullen Davis, who is charged with shooting his wife, played by Locklear, and killing her 12-year-old daughter.
Peter Strauss co-stars as Davis with Dennis Franz of ``NYPD Blue'' in a supporting role as attorney Richard ``Racehorse'' Haynes.
``It was a chance to play a character with hair,'' said Franz. Strauss said he landed the role in the ABC miniseries because Richard Chamberlain was busy elsewhere. They are fun guys.
Hair is the secret to playing a trashy vamp convincingly, said Locklear. ``It probably took an hour and a half before we filmed to get into the hair. It's my hair with falls down the back. I had long hair and short hair. Different hair.''
Her clothes are as outrageous as her hair - the wardrobe she often slips out of when nuzzling with Strauss. Be warned that ``Texas Justice'' rambles on a bit and the ending will likely leave you frustrated. It's never proved in a court of law who pulled the trigger.
But who's complaining? Seeing Locklear show off the derringer in her garter belt is worth enduring some humdrum melodrama. ``I didn't try to play her bad. I played her as a woman who liked to have a really good time,'' she said.
Locklear is today's hot tomato, and she knows the flames will cool soon. That's how it goes in show biz. You're hot and then you're not.
``If I get any kind of an attitude, I'm in big trouble with my parents. They support me and keep my feet on the ground.''
Her parents also drop in a lot.
Said Locklear, ``There have been a couple of times when I had to say to my dad, `Please wait to come over. I'm trying to get to know my husband better.' Dad got the hint.'' Locklear recently married Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora.
Life is good. Life is cool. Life is hair and clothes and magazine covers and fans panting for her autograph. Life is almost perfect for Heather Locklear, the Valley Girl who is TV's reigning queen.
Now if only the movie offers would start rolling in. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ABC
Heather Locklear and her hair star in the miniseries ``Texas
Justice,'' starting at 9 tonight on ABC.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY TELEVISION by CNB