'The Poltergeist's Heather O'Rourke Died Unexpectedly at the Age of 12 at the Height of Her Career

Even if you never saw Poltergeist or it was years before "your time," you have likely heard the iconic phrase uttered by Heather O'Rourke's character, "They're heeere." Heather played little Carol Anne in all three movies in the original franchise, and in each one, she was adorable and creepy at the same time. Outside of the films, the young actor died before Poltergeist III was released. So, what happened to Heather O'Rourke?

When Heather wasn't playing her iconic role in the horror trilogy, she was making waves on TV, which wasn't really a thing during the 80's as much as it is now. Still, she managed to bridge the gap between movie and TV star. Her career might have taken off into her teen years and adulthood if she hadn't died unexpectedly when she was just 12.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Heather died in 1988 of septic shock. At the time, the outlet reported that, after Heather had shown symptoms similar to those of the flu, she collapsed in her home. When she was taken to the hospital, she suffered cardiac arrest. Paramedics got her heart to restart, and she underwent surgery due to intestinal stenosis, or obstruction of the bowels.

After surgery, Heather went into cardiac arrest again. After doctors performed CPR on Heather for 30 minutes, she was pronounced dead. Following Heather's death, her mother, Kathleen O'Rourke, filed a wrongful death suit against doctors who treated Heather throughout her childhood. In May 1988, months after Heather's death, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kathleen alleged that if Heather's doctors had properly diagnosed her earlier, she would have been treated for a bowel obstruction rather than intestinal inflammation.

Given the nature of The Poltergeist movies being from the horror genre and creepy in nature, including of course Carol Ann's iconic lines in each film, there is a theory among some horror buffs that there is a Poltergeist curse. It involves the deaths of some of the main actors in the films, especially since Heather's own death was brought on so suddenly.

Oliver Robins, the actor who played Carol Anne's brother Robbie, was reportedly almost choked to death by a mechanical clown on the set of one of the movies. Dominique Dunne, who played eldest child Dana in the first movie, was killed by her boyfriend after the release of the first movie. The so-called curse rumor came about because of the string of accidents and deaths related to the movie, but, of course, there's no actual evidence of the Poltergeist curse being legitimate.

On the flip side, when the documentary Heather O'Rourke: She Was Here, about Heather and the movie, was made, filmmaker Nick Bailey told GMToday that he felt Heather with him while making the film about her life with a focus on the good parts rather than the dark theories.

"In front of the house was a metal flamingo," Nick said, of stopping at a house that Heather once lived in. "Heather loved flamingos. She collected them. For that randomly to be sitting in front of the house that she used to live in, those owners probably have no idea." He added, "We really felt Heather's presence the whole way. Everything just came together."