Heather O'Rourke

Background

Heather Michele O’Rourke was born in San Diego, California, on December 27, 1975, to Kathleen and Michael O’Rourke. Her father was a carpenter, and her mother was a seamstress. Tammy O’Rourke, her older sister, is also an actress. Her parents split in 1981, and O’Rourke’s mother married part-time truck driver Jim Peele in 1984 while living in a trailer park in Anaheim, California. Her accomplishment enabled the family to buy a house in Big Bear Lake, California.

O’Rourke was exposed to American cinematic pop culture before she was in the first grade. She was waiting for her mother alone in the M.G.M. Commissary when a stranger approached her and asked her name. The guy identified himself as Steven Spielberg when her mother returned. O’Rouke became an overnight celebrity after landing a movie position and was effortlessly recognized at her favorite theme park, Disneyland, and around California. O’Rourke became a familiar face on television in the years that followed, such as “Happy Days” (1982 to 1983), “Webster” (1983 to 1984), and “The New Leave It to Beaver” (1986 to 1987). In those three shows, she had recurring roles. “Poltergeist II: The Other Side,” the widely awaited sequel to her first picture, “Poltergeist” (1982), was released in theaters in 1986, and it was her captivating performance in this film that secured her place in Hollywood history.

O’Rourke developed flu-like symptoms in January 1987, with swelling in her legs and feet. She got rushed to Kaiser Hospital, where doctors confirmed she had the flu. Still, when her symptoms persisted, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic bowel inflammation. Throughout the filming of her next project, “Poltergeist III” (1988), she was on medicine, and her cheeks were puffy in several shots. O’Rourke remained healthy until Super Bowl Sunday, January 31, 1988. Her mother noticed her fingers were blue and her hands cold the following morning. Her mother had just finished calling the doctor and was about to put her clothes on when O’Rourke passed out on the kitchen floor. O’Rourke insisted she was fine when the paramedics arrived. O’Rourke experienced cardiac arrest in the ambulance and died on the operating table at 2:43 p.m., at age 12.