View Full Version : What The Cast Of Melrose Place Is Doing Now


TMC
01-09-2023, 05:32 PM
https://www.nickiswift.com/1160343/what-the-cast-of-melrose-place-is-doing-now/

BY BRENT FURDYK/JAN. 8, 2023 2:28 PM EST

Arguably one of the most popular primetime soaps of the 1990s, "Melrose Place" made its debut in January 1993. Ostensibly a spinoff of "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Melrose Place" initially follows the lives of eight young Angelenos living in the titular L.A. apartment complex as they strive to establish themselves in their respective careers: Jane Andrews (Josie Bissett), Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro), Matt Fielding (Doug Savant), Jake Hanson (Grant Show, reprising the character first introduced on "90210"), Sandy Louise Harling (Amy Locane), Billy Campbell (Andrew Shue), Alison Parker (Courtney Thorne-Smith). and Rhonda Blair (Vanessa Williams).

Midway through the first season, a new character is introduced that ended up taking the show in a soapier and more over-the-top direction: Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward, an advertising exec whose ambition is matched only by the size of her outfits' shoulder pads. Once Locklear became established as the show's villain — following the template set by the likes of "Dallas" baddie J.R. Ewing and Alexis Carrington on "Dynasty" — the series' popularity exploded (https://www.nickiswift.com/937373/secrets-of-the-cast-of-melrose-place/). "It started out as eight kids trying to make it," Thorne-Smith explained during a 2020 cast reunion, as reported by Page Six (https://pagesix.com/2020/04/29/heather-locklear-calls-her-melrose-place-character-a-bitch/). "Nobody cared, nobody watched it ... and then Heather came on and suddenly we had a villain, and it just took off."

The show ultimately ran for seven seasons, concluding in 1999 (but later spawning a low-rated, short-lived 2009 reboot featuring a whole new main cast). Read on to find out what the original cast of "Melrose Place" is doing now.