READER PANEL

PROFILE

Heather Tom

ON SOAP OPERA DIGEST AND WEEKLY ONLINE

SOAP STAR STATS

Heather Tom (Katie, B&B)

Heather Tom (Katie, B&B)

— JPI

Vital Statistics

Birthday:: November 4
Marital Status:: Single

The 411

Born in Hinsdale, IL, Heather Tom became a commercial actress at the age of 2, and was dancing with the Pacific Northwest Ballet by age 10. She was a member of the Seattle Children's Theatre and studied piano at the Academy of Music and Dance. She also studied at the famed Strasberg Institute with coach Margrit Pollak, and took lessons with Diane Hardin at the Young Actors Space.

At 13, Heather and her actor-siblings made the move with mother Marie to Hollywood. Tom joined the cast of Y&R as Victoria Newman in February 1991, when she was 15. She departed in April 1997, but returned later that year. With eight Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Younger Actress, Tom took home the award twice, in 1993 and 1999. Her nomination in 2000 marked the first time a brother and sister were nominated in the same year (David Tom won for Outstanding Younger Actor for his role as Billy Abbott on Y&R). Tom has received three Soap Opera Digest Award nominations, and won the honor in 1997 for Outstanding Younger Lead Actress. The actress also received three nominations for the Young Artist award.

Tom exited Y&R for the second time in November 2003. A month later, she resurfaced as Kelly Cramer on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. She left OLTL in December 2006, but not before earning two more Daytime Emmy nominations in 2005 and 2007.

An accomplished stage actress, Tom's stage credits include a lead role in Pinocchio II for Center Stage USA. She also starred in the Los Angeles premiere of The Glass Menagerie. Tom's stage credits also include starring roles in Out of Gas on Lover's Leap and Vanities at the Creative Outlet Theater in Los Angeles, a company which she co-founded. She produced both productions, as well as Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World. With friend Chad Allen (DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN), Heather produced a revival of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues as well as appearing in the play as "Daisy." The revival won five Dramalogue Awards. Tom also produced the play Talking With, in which she co-starred with 10 daytime leading ladies, including former Y&R co-stars Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) and Tonya Lee Williams (Olivia).

Et Cetera

Tom stands at 5-foot-7, and has brown hair and blue eyes. She comes from a show business family: sister Nicholle was a regular on THE NANNY; brother David plays Paul on OLTL, 2004-present, and played Billy on Y&R from 1998-2002. As a young actress, Tom took acting classes at the Young Actors Space, paying for sessions with the money she earned working at a local cookie shop. Tom produced and starred in Gila, a play by Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God). For this role, she became fluent in sign language, and earned a Robbie Theatre L.A. Award nomination for Best Actress. A political activist, Tom is a frequent contributor on MSNBC's SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY and was a frequent guest on POLITICALLY INCORRECT. In congressional elections, Tom worked closely with Congressman Loretta Sanchez's campaign as well as with "Rock the Vote" to help get out younger voters. As for charity work, she was named Regional Ambassador for Childhelp USA, a national non-profit organization that assists abused children. Tom also works very closely with Caring for Babies with AIDS, Project Angelfood, Tuesday's Child and AIDS Project Los Angeles.

Career Highlights

Other Soap Roles
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (Victoria, 1991- April 1997, Oct. 1997 - 2003)
TV Roles
DEADLY WHISPERS (1995)
DIAGNOSIS MURDER (cameo, "Death In Daytime," 1995)
SHE'LL TAKE ROMANCE (1990)
WHO'S THE BOSS? (guest star, 1989)
TRIAL BY JURY (guest star, 1987)
DIVORCE COURT (guest star, 1986)
KIDS INCORPORATED (guest star, 1984)
Film Roles
Lookin' Good (1992)

Memorable Quotes

"As we moved from city to city, we'd sleep on YMCA floors or in the gym. It was so much fun."—Soap Opera Digest, 2/4/92

"What really bothered me wasn't the blatant racists ... that, to me, is not as scary as all the closet racists. I'd get letters saying, 'I'm not racist, but I don't think black people and white people should get together.' Well, then, you are racist. Hello!"—Digest, 1/12/99

"We should absolutely let people know that no one looks like [supermodels] in real life. The models don't even look like that. It's all smoke and mirrors in most of the magazines."—Digest, 5/21/02