Popular ‘80s actress Heather Thomas said she left Hollywood after “scary” encounters with stalkers.
She opened up about the dark side of fame following her success on “The Fall Guy” during the March 17 episode of the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast with Steve Kmetko.
“I was just getting so many stalkers,” Thomas said, before noting that it was “really bad.”
She told Kmetko she was dealing with at least two stalkers each week, and it all became too much. “I had tons of restraining orders. I had two little girls, and a guy’s jumping our gate with a giant buck knife,” she said.
“In those days, I don’t know if this is true now, but people would fixate. You could be in a soap commercial, and they would fixate on you. And there weren’t a lot of stalker laws, ” she said.
Thomas explained that she endured a series of disturbing situations involving stalkers before she decided to leave Hollywood behind in the ’90s.
“Someone sent me a box of bullets, and people would send me funeral wreaths they stole from a graveyard,” she said.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 30: Heather Thomas attends the Los Angeles premiere of Universal Pictures “The Fall Guy” at Dolby Theatre on April 30, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/WireImage) Getty Images
The actress admitted she even felt unsafe in her own home.
“I always had a bodyguard in the house because that’s where I didn’t want to come home to a dark house,” she said. Thomas recalled a violent exchange that left her feeling scared for her safety.
“I had one guy — one night — cut my screen in my bedroom and got in, and I shot him,” she said. She went on to explain she had rock salt and bird shot in her firearm. Thomas is still unsure if the intruder ever went to jail. (RELATED: Disturbing Video Shows Tennis Star Emma Raducanu Sobbing After Seeing Alleged Stalker In Crowd)
US actress and author Heather Thomas attends the premiere of “The Fall Guy” at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 30, 2024. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
Thomas was on “The Fall Guy” from 1981 until the series ended in 1986. She continued acting in a few other roles including “Red Blooded American Girl” and “Against the Law” but left the spotlight in the ’90s. She has been cast in a few roles in recent years, starring in the 2024 films “The Fall Guy” and “The Ghost Trap.”
