Heather O'Rourke

She was only 12 years old. Anne Ramsey (September 1, 1929 - August 11, 1988) was an American actress who is most recognized for two roles: as Mama Fratelli in Steven Spielberg's The Goonies; and as the mother of Danny DeVito's character in her Academy Award nominated performance in Throw Momma From the Train. In February of 1988, a few weeks before the scheduled final filming, Heather died of complications after emergency surgery for an acute bowel obstruction. O'Rourke began filming Poltergeist III in 1987, and the movie was set to be released in 1988. Her success in these films led to television work, and she was briefly a regular on the sitcom Happy Days playing the daughter of Fonzie's girlfriend.

In 1986, Poltergeist II was released, and once again, O'Rourke coined another pop-culture phrase, when she said "They're ba-aaack!". Poltergeist was released in June 1982, and Heather's line: "They're he-eere!" entered American pop culture. He originally thought that she was too young for the part (she was four at the time) but after an interview and a "scream test", cast her in the role. Spielberg was looking for someone to play the part of 5 year old "Carol Anne" in his upcoming production of Poltergeist.

Heather O'Rourke was discovered in 1980 by Steven Spielberg while she was eating lunch at the MGM studios commissary. Heather Michele O'Rourke (December 27, 1975 - February 1, 1988) was an American child actress who starred in the Poltergeist movie trilogy.