HEATHER LOCKLEAR Forget the glamour girl of Dynasty and Melrose, and discover the day-to-day and down-to-earth Heather.

Cover Dos Heather Locklear was photographed by Walter Chin. Get Heather's hair Stylist Didier Malige for Frédéric Fekkai Beauté began by spritzing Locklear's hair with volumizing spray (try L'Oréal Body Vive Add-in Body). After setting her hair in four large rollers, Malige teased it for more volume. Get Heather's makeup Denise Markey for Club Monaco Cosmetics applied a blond brow powder (try L'Oréal Brow Colourist in Ash Blond). She then swept a plummy brown shadow over the lids. Markey finished with a cherub lip gloss (try L'Oréal Rouge Pulp Liquid Lipcolour In Blushing). Get Heather's look Rose-print bustier dress by Dolce & Gabbana. Editor: Kelli Delaney Manicure: Gina Viviano for Cloutier

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SHE CLAWED HER WAY THROUGH CATFIGHTS ON DYNASTY, BEDDED POUNDS OF BEEFCAKE ON MELROSE PLACE AND CASTS A COMEDIC SPELL ON ABC'S SPIN CITY. BUT FORGET THE TV DRAMA: HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS IN HEATHER LOCKLEAR'S REAL WORLD WHEN SHE GETS TO BE A ROCK WIFE, MOMSHELL AND FASHION FAN.
BY WENDY JENSON PHOTOGRAPHS BY SANTA D'ORAZIO

In the middle of all the craziness that is fashion week in New York City, Heather Locklear pokes a toe of her four-inch-high Manolo Blahniks out the back door of her chauffeur-driven car. The paparazzi launch into a get-that-shot frenzy before her feet even hit the pavement. "Heather!" they yell with the urgency of someone shouting Fire! "Look here Heather, over here!"
     The actress' destination, a huge tent in Bryant Park, isn't far, but it's slow going as she makes her way inside for designer Michael Kors' fall 2000 collection. After the fashion show Heather mania picks up just where it left off. As Locklear, 38, walks through the park to a nearby restaurant, the world's most prepared fan approaches, clutching a glossy picture of her. "Will you sign this?" he asks. She does, cheerfully. "And pose for a photo with me?" She does this, too. Smile, flash! "Are you her, or do you just look like her?" a guy shouts from across the street. "I'm her!" she yells back, laughing.
     All this attention might make the average star testy, but not Locklear, who may well be the nicest person in Hollywood. Need further proof? For her birthday one year, her girlfriends played a practical joke on her by throwing her a party with a secret "tacky" theme. Instead of real gifts, they all brought the cheapest, ugliest presents they could find. One friend, for example, gave Locklear, a spokeswoman for LOreal, one of those free gifts with purchase you get when you spend $15 or more on makeup. "I hope you don't mind," she said as Locklear opened it, "but I took the lipstick. It was a really great color!" As they predicted, the gracious Locklear oohed and aahed over each unworthy item.
     When she arrives a few minutes late for her post-fashion-show lunch, the first thing she does is thank the waiter and the chef for keeping the kitchen open just for her. Over free-range chicken and fries - yes, she eats - she pronounces Kors' clothes "beautiful" and "glamorous" and then settles in for some girl talk about the models. "They're so tall! And thin! And beautiful! And young!" she says, as awestruck as any normal woman.

Even Locklear's New York City apartment, which she shares with her husband of almost six years, Bon Jovi lead guitarist Richie Sambora, and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Ava, is disconcertingly normal. A rental, it's definitely not the "champagne wishes and caviar dreams" palace you might expect of the former queen of nighttime soaps. And like any other working mom, Locklear treasures the time she spends at home with her family. Flash back to 11:30 this morning for a perfect example: Locklear glows as she stands in the sunny kitchen holding Ava, her very own Mini-Me (Ava has her mother's big eyes and long, dark-blond hair). The little girl contentedly chats away while playing with her mother's hair. Daddy Sambora moseys into the kitchen; he has just woken up, having taken the red-eye in from L.A. He walks up to Locklear and gives her a hug and a sweet kiss. If you're thinking rock stars might not make the best husbands, think again. Sambora is the type of guy who doesn't need a special occasion to send his wife flowers. He gave her long-stemmed roses on their first blind date, which was set up by a mutual friend at Heather's request, and he had a bouquet of pale pink buds waiting at the studio the day of her Glamour cover shoot.

"I missed you," says Sambora, 40, to Ava, as he begins feeding her an early lunch. Between bites of turkey burger, macaroni and cheese, and melon, Ava rubs her fathers chin, telling him he needs to shave. "May I have some more melon, please?" asks Ava, who seems young to be speaking in complete sentences.
     "If they'd be like her, I'd like to have a few more kids," Sambora says, nodding at his daughter. "Though after what Heather went through [35 hours of labor that ended in a cesarian], it's hard to believe she'd consider doing it again. The guy's part is so easy," he says with a wink. "All you have to do is point and shoot."
     Asked whether she'd be willing to go through it all again, Heather confesses, "This woman came up to me in the store to tell me how good Ava was. She said, 'My husband and I call our first one The Sucker because she suckered us into the second one, who wasn't so good.'" Heather pauses before adding, "Then again, my sister just visited, and I thought, It's so fun to have a sister!"

Still, all good things must come to an end: Melrose went off the air last year. But it wasn't long before Locklear got an offer she couldn't refuse: the opportunity to do comedy, playing campaign manager Caitlin Moore on Spin City. "She's always been funny," explains Jack Wagner, with whom Locklear cleared many a desk on Melrose. "Now she can do it in front of people." There was one catch, however: The show is filmed in New York. "I agreed to go for a year. I wanted to take it back as soon as I said it!" says the L.A.-based actress. "But then Caitlin is so smart, and she gets to wear really great clothes, so how could I say no?"
     Critics and viewers loved what they saw. So did ABC. When Spin City star Michael J. Fox announced that he was leaving the show at the end of this season for health-related reasons (he has Parkinson's disease), the producers wanted to keep Locklear locked in for a second season. The direction of Spin City's shift is still undecided, but this much we do know: The show will be shot in L.A. with Charlie Sheen as the new male lead.
     Given Locklear's TV track record, the new Spin City will surely be a hit. Besides, she has a secret weapon: a piece of broken plate. When she was first starting out, Locklear worked with a director who broke a plate on the first day of shooting; he gave each cast member a piece, claiming it would bring good luck. The other day, Locklear came across her piece in her closet. Do I really need to keep this? she asked herself. Her life flashed before her: the thriving career, the idyllic marriage, the healthy and happy baby. And she put that lucky charm right back where she found it.