“Melrose Place,” a spinoff of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” was based around a group of attractive young adults who lived in an apartment courtyard complex in West Hollywood (4616 Melrose Place). Introducing a revolving cast of new characters, “Melrose” utilized the traditional outrageous soap story lines such as cheating, immorality, divorce, multiple personalities, and violence.
TV Guide named “Melrose” as No, 51 on its list of “The New Classics.”
The show didn't garner large ratings on the fledging new Fox network – its highest ranking was No. 50 in 1993-94 – but it was extremely popular with the young, hip audience.
With the exception of Heather, who was already established, the other female actresses – Josie, Laura Leighton, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Daphne Zuniga – became stars. All of the women appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in May 1994.
Classic TV Beauties 1990s Countdown
JOSIE BISSETT as Jane Mancini in "Melrose Place"
Playing the sweet and trusting Jane on the hottest nighttime soap of the 1990s was the breakout role for the blue-eyed blonde beauty whose character endured a divorce from her cheating husband, squabbles with her conniving sister, and the discovered that she was adopted.
Perhaps she was a bit too naïve. Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear) said of Jane, “When they were handing out business sense, Jane was at the back of the line getting her nails done.”
The website www.Askmen.com described Josie's character as “angelic-faced Jane. Maybe somewhat codependent. Perhaps lacking career direction... homicidal at times. A little promiscuous. At heart a good apple. And a sexy one.”
Joise appeared in 177 episodes during the seven-season run (1992-97). Jane married (and later divorced) Doctor Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro), worked in a clothing boutique and became a clothing designer.
“We had a great time, but on our show, we had no [behind the scenes] drama,” Josie said of the after-hours activities of the actors compared to those on "90210.". “It was very, very professional. We would go to work, do our work, and go home. We had fun, but we were starting families, getting married...It was a job, a great job.”
Josie left the show after Season 5 after she suffered a miscarriage. “I left the show mainly because I was exhausted from the story lines,” she said. “I needed to stop and it was fortunate that it worked out so I could. What I learned was to listen to my body, follow my instincts.”
She returned to “Melrose” for Season 7, and Jane was the only female character to appear in both the series premiere and the series finale.
No relation to British actress Jacqueline Bissett, Josie was born Jolyn Christine Heutmaker in Seattle.
“I was a pretty good kid,” she said in a 2009 interview with the website www.examiner.com. “I was involved mainly in sports. My mom coached the team, so I didn't have a lot of time to get into trouble.
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“But I definitely did my fair share of sneaking out of the window and seeing my boyfriend.”
At age 12 she began modeling and appearing in TV commercials.
Josie said that while growing up, “My career was all I ever thought about, all I'd sleep, eat and drink.”
At age 16 she left home and moved to Japan to model.
“I had a pretty good head on my shoulders, even though I did leave home pretty young,” she said in the Examiner interview. “Part of me feels like I should've gone off to college like everybody else, but it wasn't my personality. I was very driven and no one was going to tell me 'No.'
“The fact that my parents let me leave at 17 to go to Japan blows my mind...not to say it was a bad parenting move. They must have had enough belief and trust in me that I would be OK,” she said
After a short stint in Japan, she returned home to Seattle but yearned to advance her career. In an article in Women's Own magazine, she said that she told her parents the “plan was to drive from Seattle with a friend and see what the business was like. I wasn't planning on moving there.”
She stayed in Hollywood because she continued to nab jobs, most notably a commercial for Calvin Klein's Obsession perfume.
Commercial work led to acting parts in TV shows, and in 1990 she earned the role of Crista Benson and appeared in 10 episodes in “Doogie Howser,” and then acted in 11 episodes of “The Hogan Family” a year later.
Josie made her film debut in Oliver Stone's 1991 “The Doors,” playing the wife of guitarist Robby Krieger. Starring roles in movies such as "I Posed for Playboy" and "Halfway House" led Josie to "Melrose."
Josie returned to prime time TV in 2008 as mom Kathleen Bowman on ABC's “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” The show was canceled in the fall of 2012
.Josie reprised her role as Jane Andrews in the new “Melrose Place” in 2009 as the new landlord of the apartment complex. She'd inherited the building since her sister Sydney had been murdered. Jane's boutique had been burned down but she was returning to the fashion world.
“Jane was a bit of a doormat back in the 90s, she's much stronger [in the new series],” Josie said in 2009.
Josie also started a new career as an author of children's books, penning “Tickle Monster” and three other books.
Although it has limited her acting opportunites, Josie moved from southern California back to her hometown of Seattle several years ago to remove the family from the fast-paced Hollywood lifestyle.
“When something doesn't feel right to me, I honor that and get out of the situation... Raising my kids in LA didn't feel something that was congruent to how I want to live my life and how I want to raise them,” she said.
“So I picked up and moved them to Seattle, with the consequences being not having the career I could have. If I have to choose taking smaller roles or working less, it's worth it because I don't want to raise my kids in LA.”
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