Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961 in Westwood, California, United States) is an American actress. Heather is the daughter of Bill and Diane Locklear. She is the youngest of four children. She has two sisters, Laurie and Colleen, and a brother, Mark. Her father was a dean of the School of Engineering at UCLA. Heather attended UCLA until she quit to pursue acting. She has African and Lumbee Native American roots on her father's side, but her ancestry is mostly Scottish.

While attending UCLA, Heather Locklear began modeling and working in commercials for the school store. In 1979, Locklear landed her first TV role in a TV movie and then on an episode of CHiPs a year later. She landed a few more bit parts in shows like Eight Is Enough and The Fall Guy, before Aaron Spelling cast her in his new TV series Dynasty. When the series premiered in 1981, Locklear was a hit. Spelling immediately cast her opposite William Shatner in the cop show T.J. Hooker. The show's 1982 premiere sent Locklear into the Hollywood stratosphere. Throughout the 1980's she continued to work on these two shows and in numerous movies and television specials. In the 1990's (after a failed comedy sitcom Going Places), Locklear won the role that is probably her best known: the vixen Amanda Woodward on the series Melrose Place from 1993 to 1999. Locklear also won First Americans in the Arts: Best Actress in a TV series for her role on Melrose Place. After her run on the show, she was immediately on another TV sitcom, Spin City, opposite Michael J. Fox. Locklear also served for 6 years as the spokesperson for the Health and Tennis Corporation of America. Locklear starred in the Airport drama LAX, which ran from 2004 to 2005.

Heather was married to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee from 1986-1993. After Lee and Locklear's divorce, she married Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora on December 17, 1994 in Paris. On October 4, 1997 she gave birth to her first child Ava Elizabeth.