Locklear was born in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, the daughter of William Robert Locklear and Diane (née Tinsley). She was raised in Thousand Oaks, California and graduated from Newbury Park High School. Locklear is the youngest of four children. She is also of part Lumbee (Native American) descent.
Heather attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and pledged Chi Omega and Delta Delta Delta, but was never initiated into either sorority. While at UCLA, Locklear began modeling and working in commercials for the school store. She made her earliest screen appearances in the early 1980s with small roles in episodes of CHiPs, 240-Robert, and Eight Is Enough, before beginning a long-term collaboration with Aaron Spelling. Spelling cast her in the role of Sammy Jo Dean during the second season of his TV series Dynasty, and the following year he cast her in the cop show T.J. Hooker with William Shatner. Until the mid 1980s, Locklear appeared as a series regular on T.J. Hooker, while making semi-regular appearances on Dynasty. She was a full-time cast member on Dynasty from 1985 until its cancellation in 1989. In 1991, the cast of Dynasty (including Locklear) reconvened for the four-hour mini-series Dynasty: The Reunion.
