Heather O’Rourke’s life turned out to be a terrible tragedy. The little girl had already become a celebrity as a kid, but she died at the age of 12 by extraordinary circumstances.
Heather Michele O’Rourke was born in Santee, San Diego, California on December 27, 1975. Kathleen, her mom, was a seamstress, and Michael O’Rourke, her dad, was a construction worker.
There are several anecdotes in Hollywood about actors and actresses who were discovered. Some became renowned after years of modeling or doing advertisements. Others attended theater and acting schools before making their way to Hollywood. Some, however, were extremely fortunate, such as the great Michael Landon, who was found while working at a gas station.
Heather O’Rourke experienced something similar. She was, though, much younger. Even though it was a one-of-a-kind narrative, it was a timeless masterpiece.
Tammy, her elder sister, had landed a job as a dancer in the film Pennies From Heaven. Heather and her mom were enjoying lunch at the MGM Commissary while waiting for Tammy, and it altered her life forever.
Steven Spielberg was set to start work on a new horror picture at the moment. He was seeking for a four-year-old actress to feature in his film, Poltergeist.
Some people believe in fate, while others do not. But this time, it was a too-good-to-be-true coincidence.
When Spielberg observed Heather O’Rourke waiting for her mom, he felt he had discovered his star. She was invited inside his office, yet she refused since she wasn’t permitted to chat to strangers. Heather’s acting talents were put to the test when her mom arrived.
She went to his office, and he wanted her to be terrified of this pink fish, and this purple pig, and all that, and she thought it was hilarious, and she left, Heather O’Rourke described her first encounter with Steven Spielberg. And he said she should come back the next day.
When Heather and her mom returned for the second day of casting, they spotted a collection of posters in Spielberg’s office corridor. They realized he was a well-known filmmaker and producer at that moment.
Spielberg recognized something in her, and on the second day, Heather brought a frightening storybook with her. He told her to scream a lot, and she did shout till she burst into tears.
The next day at the studio, Spielberg told Heather O’Rourke that he couldn’t allow her to miss the part.
Steven Spielberg was considering another little girl for the part. Drew Barrymore was the same age as Heather, yet she did not receive the role. Spielberg, on the other hand, admired Drew Barrymore and opted to cast her in the 1982 picture E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Heather O’Rourke has been cast in Poltergeist. The now-legendary horror film tells the story of a family with 3 kids who move into a new house that is already occupied by spirits. Carol Anne Freeling, the youngest kid, could hear the ghosts via the television and gets taken into a doorway to another realm in the film.
Carol Anne Freeling, played by O’Rourke, gave one of the most iconic movie lines ever stated in a horror film: “They’re here.”
Heather spent a lot of time on the set with her cast colleagues, especially actor Oliver Robbins, who played her brother, Robbie.
Heather O’Rourke shot to fame overnight. The film was a smash blockbuster, and Heather received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
O’Rourke went on to participate in a number of other productions, including 12 episodes of the television sitcom Happy Days. Heather’s family relocated from a trailer park to a three-bedroom house in Big Bear, California, as a result of her huge popularity.
Although kids can become huge stars in show industry, it is critical to remember that they are just that: kids.
Heather, like any other youngster, lived in Big Bear with her family.
Heather told in 1986, when she was in fifth grade, that her classmates at Big Bear Elementary didn’t care that she was a movie star.
Adult admirers, on the other hand, wished her to say the famous line “They’re here” when she was spotted on the street.
O’Rourke repeated her part in the sequel Poltergeist II in 1986, at the age of 12, with the phrase “They’re back.”
Heather reprised her role as Carol Anne Freeling in Poltergeist III, which was released in 1988. But, by the time the film was released in theaters, Heather O’Rourke had died at the age of 12.
The industry was stunned by O’Rourke’s unexpected death, which was first accompanied by highly strange reasons.
Heather’s initial symptoms of sickness, as per her mom, Kathleen, emerged in January 1987. Kathleen decided to take the young actress to a Kaiser facility in San Diego since she was feeling nauseous.
Heather O’Rourke, on the other hand, felt dreadful, and her feet started to swell. She was admitted to the hospital for several days to undergo examinations. They quickly determined that the girl had a parasite called Giardia, and she felt better after receiving treatment.
Later that year, in June, O’Rourke was scheduled to begin filming Poltergeist III in Chicago. Kathleen felt herself an “overprotective mom,” so she brought her kid back to the Kaiser clinic for a check-up.
Heather, it turned out, was not in good health.
After giving her this chalky, white barium stuff to swallow, they took an X-ray, Kathleen recounted. And they discovered that the parasite cleaned away, but there was still some form of irritation. They diagnosed Crohn’s disease and placed her on cortisone and sulfa.
Heather was able to film Poltergeist III without experiencing any symptoms, and by September 1987, she was back to normal. So they decided to celebrate the film’s completion – and the young girl’s good health – by traveling to Disney World in Florida and then returning to Los Angeles.
Heather appeared to be doing well. They’d relocated to a new spacious, two-bedroom apartment in Lakeside, California, and life carried on as usual.
Heather O’Rourke awoke her mom on January 31, 1988. She stayed home from school because she was vomiting. Heather informed her mom that she would be unable to swallow her breakfast the next day.
Then the mom noticed her fingers and toes were blue, and she began to breathe heavily and quickly. Her stomach was enlarged as well. When the mom contacted their local doctor’s office, he responded, ‘Bring her right in.’ She collapsed on the floor around 20 seconds later. That’s when she dialed 911, Kathleen recounted.
She was experiencing septic shock. Kathleen was still aware when paramedics came, and on the way to the ambulance, she informed her daughter that she loved her.
Heather O’Rourke went into cardiac arrest as the ambulance was driving her to the hospital. Despite the paramedics’ best efforts, she could not be revived.
She died as surgeons were doing the procedure. She was just twelve years old. The funeral was conducted in Los Angeles on February 5, 1988.
The reason for her death was revealed as intestinal stenosis, a serious intestine blockage that Heather O’Rourke had from birth. The blockage created an infection, which led to septic shock.
The news of Heather’s death shocked Hollywood, and some even speculated that it was a Hollywood curse. After Dominique Dunne, who played the eldest daughter Dana in the first film, died in 1982, she became the second actress from the Poltergeist series to die.
Of all the things she was proud of, being chosen president of her fifth-grade class at Big Bear Elementary School was her biggest accomplishment, her former manager, Mike Meyer, stated immediately after O’Rourke’s death.
However, once Heather died, things took a different direction. Kathleen O’Rourke sued the Kaiser Foundation Hospital and the Southern California Permanente Medical Group for wrongful death. She claimed that Heather was misdiagnosed when she was told about Chron’s illness.
