Anne Heche ‘Has Been Peacefully Taken Off Life Support,’ a Family Rep Says
Anne Heche, star of “Six Days, Seven Nights” and Emmy winner for the NBC soap opera “Another World,” has “been peacefully taken off life support,” a spokesperson for the family said in a brief statement Sunday night. Her desire to donate her organs is being fulfilled, as matches have been found. She was 53.
The announcement came nine days after Heche crashed her Mini Cooper into an L.A. apartment complex garage, sped away when residents tried to help and then crashed into a nearby home, setting off a destructive fire that required a dramatic rescue and landed the actress in the hospital with severe burns. No one else was hurt, though the homeowner was in the backyard and later said she had been mildly injured.
Late last week, TMZ reported that she was brain-dead, which is legally considered dead in California. A rep for Heche confirmed to TheWrap that she had no brain function.
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Toxicology reports showed no alcohol in her system, but the presence of cocaine and potentially fentanyl. Representative said in a statement on Aug. 11 that Heche sustained a “severe” anoxic brain injury — which means she suffered a total lack of oxygen to her brain — and was being kept on life support while they determine whether any of her organs can be donated.
Upon the announcement that Heche was brain dead, her son Homer posted a heartbreaking tribute to his mom, writing, “After six days of almost unbelievable emotional swings, I am left with a deep, wordless sadness. Hopefully my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom.”
Heche broke into acting when she was scouted for the soap opera “Another World” in which she played twins Marley and Vicky Hudson. Heche portrayed the identical twins’ very different personalities well enough to earn a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991.
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She later moved into film with a debut in 1993’s “Ambush of Ghosts” followed by roles in “Donnie Brasco” (1997) alongside Johnny Depp. Next came roles in “Volcano,” “Wag the Dog” and “Six Days Seven Nights.”
Heche, who famously dated DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000, recounted tales of abuse and other childhood trauma in several interviews over the years. She released a memoir in 2003 titled “Call Me Crazy,” and is open about her history of personal troubles and mental health challenges.
Her 2001 wedding to Coleman Laffoon led to a son, Homer, in 2002. The pair later split in 2009. She was married to actor James Tupper from 2007 to 2018, and the two had a son, Atlas, together.
