Heather Thomas, who became a household name thanks to her iconic role as Jody Banks in The Fall Guy, recently marked her 66th birthday on September 8. Once a rising star in Hollywood, her life took a dramatic turn after a frightening hospital visit following the conclusion of the hit show.
The pivotal moment came when Heather’s mother unexpectedly arrived on set, prompting her to rush to a hospital in Santa Monica, worried about her father. However, upon her arrival, her family reassured her that her father was perfectly fine. It wasn’t him they were concerned about—it was Heather’s health. This surprising revelation marked the start of a major transformation in both her personal and professional life.
At the time, Heather was just 28 years old, with a promising future ahead. She had the looks, talent, and charisma to make it big in Hollywood, often compared to the likes of Farrah Fawcett and Heather Locklear. Her journey into entertainment began early, hosting the NBC series Talking with a Giant when she was just 14, where she interviewed celebrities alongside her peers. With her eye on acting, directing, and writing, she pursued studies in film and theater at UCLA, all while landing small roles, including in the short-lived show Co-Ed Fever in 1979.
Her breakout moment came in 1980 when she was cast in The Fall Guy as Jody Banks, a stuntwoman and bounty hunter. The role catapulted her to fame, making her a fan favorite, particularly among male audiences who often labeled her a sex symbol. While the attention was flattering, Heather had complex feelings about it. She once shared, “There’s a certain level of condescension that comes with being put in that box—the blonde bombshell. But at the time, I was just enjoying myself.”
However, beneath the glitz and glamour, Heather was grappling with personal struggles, including a growing drug habit. Surprisingly, her drug use began long before she found fame on The Fall Guy. She admitted that, in her sixth grade, she started experimenting with drugs like LSD in an effort to cope with the pressure of maintaining perfect grades. “I was taking acid and making straight A’s,” she confessed, believing the substances helped her unlock her potential and expand her mind.
As Heather Thomas transitioned from her teenage years into adulthood, her drug use evolved along with her. While studying at UCLA, she began experimenting with cocaine, and by 1981, only a year into her role on The Fall Guy, her addiction had significantly worsened.
The pressure to maintain her image as a sex symbol took a toll on the 5-foot-7 actress, leading to an unhealthy obsession with her appearance. She turned to Lasix, a diuretic that drained her energy and left her feeling fatigued. To counter the exhaustion, she relied on cocaine for an energy boost.
“I thought I was getting the most out of it,” Thomas admitted, describing how the drug allowed her to stay up all night and continue working the next day. Although she claimed to have never used cocaine while on set, she acknowledged, “Cocaine is not something that’s accepted on sets. It’s not something that’s trendy anymore. It’s just a personal nightmare.”
However, a source close to the actress contradicted her statement, revealing that her drug use had become an open secret within the industry. “People knew she had an issue,” the insider told People, suggesting it was beginning to harm her career.
As her weight plummeted from 125 to 105 pounds, Thomas frequently found herself nodding off between takes. She confessed, “Sometimes I would fall into a kind of mini-coma.” The situation reached a breaking point when she fainted in front of her co-star Lee Majors, prompting him to reach out to her manager, who contacted Thomas’ mother.
After filming the last episode of The Fall Guy, Thomas was met by her mother, Gladdy Ryder, a former special education teacher, who informed her that her father had been hospitalized. Rushing to St. John’s Hospital, Thomas was surrounded by family and friends, all offering their support as she prepared to enter a three-week drug rehabilitation program.
“It was such a relief,” Thomas reflected on that moment, noting that when she entered detox, she was battling pneumonia, damaged lungs, and inflamed kidneys. “I had been on a roller coaster, and I just wanted to get off. If my family hadn’t stepped in, I would have kept going down that path until I either lost my job or my life.”
She continued, “The doctors told me I should have died three years ago.”
Determined to turn her life around, Thomas focused on surrounding herself with people who shared her goal of sobriety. At 28, she met Allan Rosenthal, the co-founder of Cocaine Anonymous, and the two got married. However, they divorced in September 1986.
That same month, she suffered severe injuries to both legs after being hit by a car while crossing the street.
After completing detox, enduring a divorce, and undergoing surgery to repair damage to her leg, Heather Thomas returned to acting with smaller roles in TV series and films like Cyclone (1987) and Red Blooded American Girl (1990).
In the 1990s, she married entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham and became a stepmother to his daughters, while also having her own daughter, India Rose, in 2000. Reflecting on her past, she shared, “I decided to give it up and write for a while,” after facing intense media scrutiny and personal challenges.
Though Thomas briefly returned to acting in Girltrash: All Night Long (2017), she primarily shifted to writing, citing the harassment she experienced from stalkers as a key reason for stepping away. She also became an activist, supporting causes like the Rape Foundation and Amazon Conservation Team.
As a feminist, Thomas embraced both her past as a sex symbol and her desire for empowerment, explaining, “Being a sex symbol gave me a house and the notoriety to get in the door. There’s nothing wrong with letting people see your body.”
Though her acting career didn’t fully revive, Thomas is now thriving in her personal life and activism, and we’re glad to see her on a positive path.
