Heather Tom

Birthday: 4 November 1975, Hinsdale, Illinois, USA

Height: 170 cm

Five-time Emmy Award winning actress Heather Tom (Victoria Newman on the The Young and the Restless (1973)) is one of the most talented and promising young actresses working in Hollywood today. She possesses beauty, brains, talent and a passion for acting.When Heather was only 16, she won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of the tempestuous, troubled and oft-married Victoria Newman. Last year Heather became the most nominated actress in her category, receiving her 8th consecutive Emmy nomination. Heather has won the Emmy award twice (1993, 1999). The title was especially sweet because her brother David Tom (Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless (1973)) also received his first nomination. In 1997, Heather won Best Younger Leading Actress at the Soap Opera Digest Awards. With her best friend Chad Allen (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993)), Heather has moved into the role of theatrical producer, successfully producing a revival of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues as well as appearing in the play as Daisy. The revival was so well received that it has won 5 Dramalogue Awards. Quite an accomplishment for a fledgling producer! Recently, Heather produced and starred in Gila, a play by Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God (1986)) and starring Phyllis Freilich, which received rave reviews. For this role, Heather had to be fluent in sign language. Her talent overwhelmed audiences once again, earning Heather a Robbie Theatre L.A. Award nomination for Best Actress. Heather's love for acting and theatre is life long. A commercial actress at the age of two, Heather was dancing with the Seattle Pacific Ballet at age 10. By the time she was 13, Heather and her actor-siblings Nicholle Tom (The Nanny (1993)) and David were ready to break into Hollywood. They made a temporary, trial-run move to Los Angeles, found work immediately and turned an out-of-town tryout into a long-running hit. Her natural talent and ability got her started; her hard work, determination and intelligence keep her working. As a young actress, Heather took acting classes at the Young Actor's Space, paying for each weekly session with the money she earned working at a local cookie shop. A focused, dedicated and giving performer, Heather landed guest appearances on many hot shows, including Kids Incorporated (1984) and Who's the Boss? (1984) She has co-starred in two movies of the week, ABC-TV's She'll Take Romance (1990) and CBS-TV's Deadly Whispers (1995) and has starred in the feature films Lessie's Rainbow and Lookin Good. For Heather, acting is more than playing a part. As she describes it, "the feeling of losing the audience for a moment and truly becoming connected with the scene and the character is absolutely incredible." Recognizing that she is fortunate to be not only a beautiful and talented actress but also a working actress, Heather is devoted to helping people who do not have the opportunities or options that she has. Recently Heather was named Regional Ambassador for Childhelp USA, a national non-profit organization that assists abused children. Heather also works very closely with several AIDS service organizations such as Caring for Babies with AIDS, Project Angelfood, Tuesday's Child and AIDS Project Los Angeles. She has volunteered in the kitchen at Project Angelfood helping to prepare meals for those who are disabled by AIDS many times as well as appearing and working at fund-raisers for many organizations. Her acting career and charity works are only two of Heather's passions. Politics could easily tie for first or second place in her affections. Heather loves to discuss politics, but she does more than "talk the talk". In the Congressional elections, Heather worked very closely with Congressman Loretta Sanchez' campaign as well as with "Rock the Vote" to help get out the younger voters. Heather also spends hours reading plays, scripts and classical literature. She is also an avid art collector who has amassed an impressive collection of sculpture, painting and prints. Theatre is where Heather's heart is and, as her career progresses, she has her sights set on Broadway. While she awaits her chance to trod the boards of "the great white way", Heather and Chad Allen tour the country sharing the gift of their talent and experience by teaching young, aspiring actors improvisation, scene study and on-camera work. Intelligent, educated, talented, ambitious, determined and caring. Look out Broadway, get ready for Heather Tom! Hide