Joey Heatherton

A stage performer since childhood, Joey Heatherton is the daughter of entertainer Ray Heatherton, familiar to Manhattan baby boomers as TV's "Merry Mailman." Joey studied ballet with George Balanchine, then jazz dancing and acting. Among her early credits was the Broadway production of The Sound of Music. She was "Introduced" in 1963's Twilight of Honor, though the film hardly constituted her first appearance before the cameras. Few beyond Heatherton's most fervent fans can remember much about her film work (there may be a cult following out there for 1977's The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington). She is more famous for her wriggly, energetic dancing on TV shows like Hullabaloo, and as a tireless trouper in Bob Hope's Vietnam tours of the 1960s and 1970s. Joey Heatherton is best known these days for her TV commercial appearances -- not to mention Catherine O'Hara's "Lola Heatherton" parody on Second City TV.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide