'80s star Heather Thomas left Hollywood after stalkers forced her out of the limelight
Heather Thomas experienced the dark side of Hollywood after her time on "The Fall Guy."
Thomas revealed on the "Still Here Hollywood" podcast that after her time on the hit show, she was bombarded with scary situations involving stalkers.
Thomas was on "The Fall Guy" from 1981 until the series concluded in 1986. She took on a few other roles after the show ended, such as "Red Blooded American Girl" and "Against The Law," but she decided to leave Hollywood behind in the '90s.
"I was just getting so many stalkers," she said before explaining that it was "really bad." It got to the point where Thomas was dealing with two stalkers a week, she told podcast host Steve Kmetko.
"I had one guy one night cut my screen in my bedroom and got in, and I shot him."
"I had tons of restraining orders. I had two little girls, and a guy was jumping our gate with a giant buck knife. 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. There weren't a lot of stalker laws, and I just needed to be home anyway," Thomas said.
She described her experience as being "scary" and even received some threatening items in the mail.
"Someone sent me a box of bullets, and people would send me funeral wreaths they stole from a graveyard," the actress shared.
Thomas continued, "I always had a bodyguard in the house because that's where I didn't want to come home to a dark house."
She explained that things turned violent when a man attempted to break into her bedroom.
"I had one guy one night cut my screen in my bedroom and got in, and I shot him," she said while clarifying that she had rock salt in her firearm. Thomas is still unsure if the intruder ever went to jail.
Thomas said that she has not been open about her stalkers in the past because she did not want to be labeled as "the lady that was stalked."
During the podcast episode, Thomas also discussed being sexualized in Hollywood.
"I think there's a certain amount of disassociation," she said of the industry. "It was really my business. It would be like a woman who sold bathing suits. It was the way I sold things."
Thomas said she was "happy" with her body because she "worked hard" for it.
When Thomas made her debut in Hollywood, she was a student at UCLA and wanted to focus on writing and directing, but she quickly learned it was "rough" for women.
She ultimately chose to be on-camera as opposed to being behind-the-scenes because of the paycheck. Thomas said she was "making so much money" that she chose the path of "least resistance."
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Los Angeles Times
38 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
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Protesters were chanting slogans Alyssa Wallack had never heard at USC, shouting so loudly that she thought demonstrators were inside the lecture hall where she was attending class. 'Globalize the intifada!' she recalled hearing. 'From the river to the sea...,' they yelled. It was Oct. 17, 2023 — 10 days after Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took hundreds as hostages. Wallack, who is Jewish, said she had to 'escape.' 'I freaked out, and I ran out of class and started sobbing,' said Wallack, 23, who served as student board president of USC Chabad. 'It felt like everyone was against me, which I know is not so accurate. But I just remember sitting in my class, not able to learn. ...Were some of the people who I thought were my friends part of these protests, chanting things that were not only offensive but also antisemitic?' In the months ahead, Wallack said, she didn't feel safe on campus. She wasn't alone. Other Jewish students at the University of Southern California said that after the Hamas attack — and the war it triggered — they, too, felt unsafe amid pro-Palestinian protests. At UCLA, where a large encampment sparked a violent confrontation that led to dozens of arrests, Jewish students expressed similar sentiments. As the academic year draws to a close — USC's commencement was last month, UCLA's is in mid-June — The Times interviewed 12 Jewish students and professors at the universities who reflected on their campus experiences since Oct. 7. They wrestled with two questions: Did you feel safer this school year? And did Donald Trump's campaign against antisemitism have anything to do with it? The complexity of their answers was, for some, rooted in Trump's aggressive move in a Jan. 29 executive order 'to combat the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses' and 'investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.' His actions — coming amid a surge in violence targeting American Jews, from Colorado to Washington D.C. — have included attempts to deport college students who've espoused pro-Palestinian views. Trump's offensive — aimed at mainly elite universities, which he claims have enabled antisemitism — has roiled academia, with billions of dollars of federal funds threatened or withheld. USC and UCLA are among the schools under investigation by a Department of Justice 'task force to combat antisemitism.' Yet, some students and professors said Trump is using antisemitism as a cudgel to achieve his political objectives and exert his influence over higher education. A few doubted the president's sincerity and questioned whether his tactics would, in the long run, leave American Jews better off. David N. Myers, a professor of Jewish history at UCLA, said that slashing federal funding for universities because of their response to campus antisemitism points to the 'very cynical and completely misguided nature of this campaign.' 'It's not about antisemitism,' he said. 'It's about enfeebling and dismantling the university, in which Jews actually have a very huge stake. ...I think many, many, many people or groups will suffer, including Jews.' Following the start of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year, both USC and the University of California implemented new, stricter protest rules or began enforcing existing ones, such as their bans on encampments. At UCLA, protesters cannot wear masks or block paths, and demonstration areas are restricted. USC, a private university, has closed campus gates and requires identification to enter. A relatively calm academic year at UCLA and USC followed. Yet jarring recollections endure. UCLA junior Gal Cohavy, 20, recalled two encounters last spring: One friend was physically threatened, and another struck in the head with a water bottle. Other actions were, he said, alarming: 'Walking around campus with a kippah on, I saw a swastika.' Cohavy began carrying pepper spray. Many Jews have taken issue with Israel's war in Gaza and the country's treatment of Palestinians, and protested the Jewish state's actions alongside like-minded activists. Some have also spoken out against Islamophobia, and pointed out that Trump has taken no action in response to reported increases in anti-Muslim harassment or discrimination. Myers said he didn't feel unsafe last year — what he felt was uncomfortable. That's because he believed it was necessary to condemn both the Oct. 7 attack and 'the excess of Israel's response in Gaza.' 'There is a distinct feeling for me of not fitting into either of the two most prominent camps,' he said. 'I felt some sense of aloneness.' Asked if he still felt that way, Myers paused. 'Yeah, to some extent.' Nearly all of the Jewish people interviewed for this story expressed pro-Israel views, to varying degrees. Although most said they felt safer this year, nearly every discussion was laced with caveats — a reflection, perhaps, of how personal the issue has become. And traumatic. 'It wasn't just unsafe — it was traumatizing,' said USC professor Hagit Arieli-Chai, who teaches modern Hebrew. Encountering protesters and their anti-Israel signs and slogans last spring, she said, forced her to confront 'hatred ... in unequivocal ways.' Arieli-Chai, who said one of her cousins was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, tried to avoid campus, going there only to teach. Some said they attributed an improved sense of campus safety to tightened university protest polices, or other factors — and not Trump. Others praised the president. And yet another group said it's hard to pinpoint reasons. 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Lurie said that when police approached the building to arrest those blocking the entrance, they 'ran and kind of scattered.' The protesters' faces were covered, he said, making it impossible to identify them via recordings. But some at UCLA said the changes have been dramatic — for the better. Sharon Nazarian, founder of the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA, noted a peaceful UCLA Hillel vigil and walk through campus to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack would have been 'unfathomable the previous academic year.' 'That,' she said, 'is a sea change for me.' A few USC students praised university leadership for protecting Jewish students. Ben Sheyman, 22, grew up in San Francisco, but his life as a Jew was partly shaped by his immigrant parents' experience in their home countries: Ukraine and Belarus — places where Jews were persecuted. When his family came to the U.S., it was supposed to be different. 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A business fellowship awaited.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
St. Paul fire inspector kidnapped, attempted to sexually assault teen: Charges
The Brief A 73-year-old man is charged with attempted criminal sexual conduct after allegedly trying to sexually assault a 13-year-old. Investigators say the girl missed her school bus, and thought the 73-year-old was a security officer. Court documents show that instead of giving her a ride to school, he took her to his apartment. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - It was a terrifying morning for a 13-year-old girl who was just trying to make it to school. Last month, after missing the bus, the girl ended up in a car with a man who is now charged with allegedly trying to sexually assault her. The City of St. Paul says that the man is a 73-year-old DSI Fire Inspector with The City. What we know Court documents say on May 21, a 13-year-old girl missed her school bus, and walked blocks to try to get to school. It was raining, and the girl stopped on Phalen Boulevard in St. Paul to go to a medical clinic to ask for help getting to school. That's where she encountered 73-year-old James Allen Thomas sitting in a gray SUV, near the entrance of the clinic. Thomas asked if the 13-year-old needed help. Court documents say she was shivering when she said yes, and through her iPad, she communicated that she needed a ride to middle school. Because of his uniform, she thought he was a security officer. Documents show Thomas turned off both his cell phones after leaving the clinic. Investigators say instead of taking the 13-year-old to school, Thomas drove her to his apartment on the 1100 block of Agate Street. Court documents say the girl noticed a foul smell and saw beer cans. He motioned for her to go to the bedroom, where Thomas attempted to sexually assault the girl. He then allegedly offered the girl $50 twice to do sexual acts with him, and she said no both times. Investigators say, afterward, Thomas grabbed the 13-year-old's iPad and asked if it had the location finder on. She said she didn't know and needed to get to school. Thomas then took the girl back to his car and started driving, court documents say. While driving, Thomas asked the girl several questions, including what her address was, to which she gave her school address. Thomas then took the girl to her middle school. Court documents say when the girl got out of Thomas' SUV she approached a school staff member and hugged them tightly and was shaking, visibly upset, that staff member told investigators. Thomas got out of the vehicle and told the staff member he was a "Sergeant with the St. Paul Fire Department." What they're saying The St. Paul Fire Department tells FOX 9 they don't have the ranking of sergeant or an employee named James Allen Thomas. The City of St. Paul says Thomas is a DSI Fire Safety Inspector II with the city. Documents show Thomas was arrested Thursday, admitting to seeing the 13-year-old in the clinic parking lot off Phalen Boulevard and giving her a ride to school. But he denied it took him 45 minutes to travel 6.5 miles to the girl's school. What's next The documents also say Thomas also denies trying to have sexual contact with the 13-year-old. He added that the girl looked about 10-years-old and seemed scared while she was with him. Thomas posted bail, and he is charged with kidnapping, second-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct and soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Dundalk man faces felony charges after road rage incident, police say
A Dundalk man was arrested on firearm and felony drug charges Thursday after an alleged road rage incident on Interstate 695, according to Maryland State Police. The investigation into Travis Dontray Thomas began as a review of the roadway incident, which took place on the Outer Loop before Interstate 95, according to a news release. After identifying Thomas as a suspect, troopers said they found the 26-year-old at his job in Harford County, where they recovered a firearm and 12 individually packaged bags of suspected cocaine from his backpack. Another search at Thomas' home turned up additional firearms and suspected cocaine, police said. Court records show Thomas has been charged in both Baltimore and Harford counties. In Baltimore County, where the alleged road rage incident took place, Thomas was charged with first- and second-degree assault, as well as a firearm misdemeanor. In Harford County, where he was arrested, Thomas faces handgun and drug charges, including a drug trafficking felony. Thomas is being held at a detention facility in Harford County, according to public records. As of Friday afternoon, he did not have an attorney listed as representing him in either county. Have a news tip? Contact Luke Parker at lparker@ 410-725-6214, on X as @lparkernews, or on Signal as @parkerluke.34.
