Francis W. Parker School. Photo: Mwillmott at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_W._Parker_School.JPG)
Francis W. Parker School. Photo: Mwillmott at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_W._Parker_School.JPG)
Anne Heche was an American actress, director, and screenwriter whose career ranged from daytime television and independent film to Broadway and network series. She became widely known for Another World, Six Days, Seven Nights, and a varied body of film and television work, and received a Daytime Emmy Award and other honors.
Background
Anne Celeste Heche was born on May 25, 1969, in Aurora, Ohio, the youngest of five children of Donald Joe Heche and Nancy Heche. The family moved among towns in Ohio before settling in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, area in 1977. Raised in a fundamentalist Christian household, Heche described a childhood marked by frequent moves and financial instability. Her father directed church choirs and changed professions and church affiliations; he died of AIDS-related complications in 1983, and her brother Nathan died in a car crash three months later. The surviving family moved to Chicago.
Heche attended Chicago's Francis W. Parker School and took part in its theater productions. Before she finished high school, she auditioned for As the World Turns but did not take the role; in 1987 she accepted a part in Another World shortly after graduating. In her 2001 memoir, Call Me Crazy, she described childhood sexual abuse by her father, allegations that her mother and sister disputed. Her family background and early experiences also figured in her public discussion of mental health and spirituality.
Education
Heche attended Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, a progressive school whose theater program included student performances. She acted in school productions of The Skin of Our Teeth and Bury the Dead. A talent scout saw her in a play when she was 16 and invited her to audition for television; her first professional acting role followed after she graduated in 1987. She later received an offer of admission from Parsons School of Design but chose to pursue an acting opportunity instead.
Heche began her professional acting career in 1987 on the NBC daytime drama Another World, playing twins Vicky Hudson and Marley Love. She remained on the series until 1991 and received a Daytime Emmy Award for the role. She then moved from daytime television into television films, theater, and feature films, including O Pioneers!, her screen debut in An Ambush of Ghosts, and The Adventures of Huck Finn. The television film O Pioneers! was part of Hallmark Hall of Fame, a long-running anthology series presenting made-for-television dramatic productions.
Her film career expanded in the mid- and late 1990s, with supporting roles in Donnie Brasco, Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Wag the Dog. In 1998 she starred in Six Days, Seven Nights, Return to Paradise, and Psycho. She also worked in Los Angeles theater and later made her Broadway debut in Proof in 2002. Her performance in the Broadway revival of Twentieth Century brought a Tony Award nomination, while her work in the television film Gracie's Choice earned a Primetime Emmy nomination.
From the late 1990s into the early 2000s, Heche also wrote and directed screen projects. She made the short film Stripping for Jesus, directed a segment of HBO's If These Walls Could Talk 2, and adapted Walter M. Miller Jr.'s short story Command Performance for a segment of the anthology film On the Edge. HBO, a subscription television network established in 1972, became known for original films and series as well as theatrical programming. Heche also directed the documentary Ellen DeGeneres: American Summer, a project that was not completed.
Her screen work continued through recurring roles in series including Ally McBeal, Everwood, Nip/Tuck, Men in Trees, and Hung, alongside films such as Prozac Nation, John Q., Spread, Cedar Rapids, and Catfight. Men in Trees, her leading television series, aired from 2006 to 2008. Later roles included the NBC drama The Brave and appearances in Chicago P.D. and The Best of Enemies. She competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2020 and appeared in 13 Minutes, released in 2021. Several films she had completed were released after her death, including Supercell in 2023.
Heche published the memoir Call Me Crazy in 2001 and narrated audiobooks, including her own memoir and recordings of works by Stephen King and Tess Gerritsen. She hosted the SiriusXM radio program Love and Heche with Jason Ellis and co-created the podcast Better Together with Heather Duffy Boylston. On August 5, 2022, she was critically injured in a car crash in Los Angeles. She died from her injuries on August 11, 2022; her cremated remains were interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in May 2023.
Achievements
Heche received a Daytime Emmy Award for her dual portrayal of Vicky Hudson and Marley Love on Another World, establishing her early public recognition in television.
Her work in Donnie Brasco and Wag the Dog contributed to her receiving the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1997.
Heche directed and wrote projects for film and television, including a segment of If These Walls Could Talk 2 and the adaptation Reaching Normal for On the Edge.
Heche authored the memoir Call Me Crazy, which addressed her family, career, and experiences with mental health.
Her Broadway performance in Twentieth Century earned her a Tony Award nomination, and her role in Gracie's Choice brought a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
Works
audiobook
Vanish
(Audiobook by Tess Gerritsen, co-narrated by Heche and Ily...)
Heche was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family. Her father worked as a choir director in several churches, and the family changed denominations as his employment changed. Her recorded religious affiliation is Catholic. In later life, Heche described intense spiritual experiences, including hearing what she understood as the voice of God; she also discussed these experiences in connection with her mental health.
Views
In her memoir and interviews, Heche emphasized honesty and openness about painful experiences, linking her desire to tell the truth to the secrecy and denial she associated with her upbringing. She described love and truth as central to her outlook. Her memoir also recounts a period in which she understood spiritual experiences as a personal divine mission; she later said that she had recovered from the related mental health crisis and put the identity she called Celestia behind her.
Interests
Theater and performing; audiobook narration; radio and podcast production.
Connections
Heche's parents were Donald Joe Heche and Nancy Heche. Her siblings included Susan Bergman, Cynthia, Nathan, and Abigail. Susan was a university lecturer in literature and a Christian writer; Nathan died in a car crash in 1983. Heche's relationships with her mother and surviving siblings were strained for years, particularly after she published her memoir; she later reconciled with Abigail.
Heche had a son, Homer Heche Laffoon, with Coleman Laffoon, whom she married in 2001; their divorce was finalized in 2009. She and James Tupper had a son, Atlas Heche Tupper, and were together until 2018. Heche also had relationships with Ellen DeGeneres, Lindsey Buckingham, Steve Martin, and Thomas Jane. She and DeGeneres were together from 1997 to 2000, a period in which their relationship attracted extensive public attention.
Father:
Donald Joe Heche
Choir director who died of AIDS-related complications on March 3, 1983.
Mother:
Nancy Heche
Christian therapist and author.
Sister:
Susan Bergman
University lecturer in literature and Christian writer; author of Anonymity. She died in 2006.
Sister:
Cynthia Heche
Died in infancy from a heart defect.
Brother:
Nathan Heche
Died in a car crash in 1983, three months after his father's death.
Sister:
Abigail Heche
Heche later reconciled with Abigail after years of estrangement.
Ex-husband:
Coleman Laffoon
He and Heche had a son, Homer.
Partner:
Ellen DeGeneres
Heche and DeGeneres were in a relationship from 1997 to 2000.
Partner:
James Tupper
He and Heche had a son, Atlas; their relationship ended in 2018.
Partner:
Lindsey Buckingham
Heche and Buckingham were in a relationship for about a year in the early 1990s.
Partner:
Steve Martin
Heche and Martin were in a relationship for about two years in the mid-1990s.
Partner:
Thomas Jane
Heche and Jane announced their relationship in 2019 and had separated by the time of her death.
