One week after being hospitalized for crashing her car into a Los Angeles home, actress Anne Heche has died, her reps confirm. She was 53 years old.
“Today we lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend,” Heche’s rep confirms in a statement.
“Anne will be deeply missed but she lives on through her beautiful sons, her iconic body of work, and her passionate advocacy,” the statement continues. “Her bravery for always standing in her truth, spreading her message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact.”
Shortly after the Aug. 5 accident, Heche’s rep confirmed that the actress fell into a coma due to a “significant pulmonary injury requiring medical ventilation and burns that require[d] surgical intervention.” Days later, on Aug. 11, her rep shared that the actress had suffered a “severe anoxic brain injury” from the crash and was unfortunately “not expected to survive” her critical condition.
The actress was declared “brain dead” on Aug. 12, according to her reps, but she was being kept on life support to preserve her organs for donations.
AUG. 14 UPDATE: A rep for Heche has confirmed that the actress was “peacefully taken off life support” on Sunday.
Ellen DeGeneres, who dated Heche in the late ’90s, posted a message of condolence on social media:
This is a sad day. I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) August 12, 2022
Actor James Tupper, who dated Heche while they costarred together on ABC’s Men in Trees, offered a tribute to her on Instagram, posting a photo of Heche along with the caption “love you forever” and a heartbreak emoji.
Heche had an impressive career on the small screen, beginning with a four-season stint on Another World (1987–1991) that earned her a Daytime Emmy Award. She proceeded to land recurring roles on major shows like Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal, Everwood, Nip/Tuck, Chicago P.D. and All Rise. She was also a series regular on Save Me, Hung and Men in Trees, and she even competed on Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars, finishing in 13th place.
This fall, Heche can be seen in Lifetime’s The Girl in Room 13, which is about a girl (played by When Calls the Heart‘s Larissa Dias) who finds herself in the middle of a human-trafficking ring, tricked into the situation by her boyfriend; Heche plays the title character’s mother. “[Heche] did a phenomenal performance, a tour de force,” director Elisabeth Rohm recently shared. Lifetime programming EVP Amy Winter added, “We hope that this film moves you and that you are just as inspired as Anne was to help us with our mission to stop violence against women.”
On the big screen, Heche will be remembered for her work in films such as John Q.; Six Days, Seven Nights; Wag the Dog; and the remake of Psycho, in which she starred as Marion Crane.
How will you remember Heche? Drop a comment with your favorite role(s), along with your thoughts on her tragic death, below.
I followed her career pretty closely. She was a wonderful actress & person. May she rest in peace. May her family & friends get through knowing although hard she is no longer suffering. Goodbye Anne.
This is very sad news. I loved her show Men in Trees and always enjoyed seeing her on the big and small screens. She seemed like a good person when I saw her give interviews. She will be missed.
I wish her sons and her family and close friends a lot of happy beautiful memories.
This news is just terrible. My condolences to her family and friends.
I am so sad for her son. It must be so hard to lose your mother and have so much public attention around the circumstances.
Agree and my best goes out to both of her sons.
Anne had 2 sons. Homer & Atlas. 💙💙
Given the extent of her injuries, this was the outcome I was expecting…. I can only hope that Anne Heche found the peace that eluded her for so long in life.
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RIP.
DAMN, so young !!! May she Rest in peace 🙏 🕊.
Vicky and Marley. Always.
Yes, she was a favorite of mine on Another World. She was amazing as the twins. RIP.
I thought she was amazing as the twins and then she was forever on my radar. Truly–RIP.
She was awesome as the twins, played them perfectly! I enjoyed just about everything I saw her in, she was a bright light and great person…may her family find peace and remember all the fun times and celebrate her always. RIP ♥️
❤️
Such a sad end for a talented woman who lived a life of challenges. Much love and prayers to her family, friends, and fans.
Vicky&Marley Hudson
Very sad. R.I.P.
Rip but thankful she didn’t take any innocent lives with her.
She certainly did take lives with her. Pay attention to the news.
She did not, she damaged a house, nobody else was injured let alone died.
The only car crash I ever had occurred in a cross road wherein I was swiped so hard by the car hitting my car on the right side, it twirled around and ultimately headed towards a house. I honestly thought I was hitting the brake but the bushes in front of the house stopped the car. I really doubt that she truly hurt people inside a house. (If they were outside, that’s a completely different story.) But it’s been approximately about a week and I’ve heard nothing regarding any other person being hurt so I doubt it very much.
The house she hit caught fire, but thankfully none of its occupants were injured. Unfortunately, the owner lost all her possessions that had been inside.
She did not, kill any one, but I think that was only really out of luck. She got drunk and high and smashed her car into a private home. It was likely the front room of someone’s house, (closest to the road) and that is typically a well occupied room, even at night my Dad will sit in the front room and read if get can’t sleep, so there is NO safe time to smash the front of our house. If she hadn’t died she would have been looking at some really serious charges. She seriously endangered other people in her actions, every car and pedestrian she pasted was in danger … and apparently the people in the building too. That changes things for a lot of people.
There was a warrant obtained for a blood test that was done after she arrived at the hospital… There was no alcohol detected.
They found cocaine and fentanyl in her system
According to LAPD, there was no evidence of alcohol in her blood. LAPD also acknowledged they were waiting for additional toxicology analysis to rule out any drugs administered by EMT or hospital staff to treat her injuries. A more through toxicology will be released once all procedures, prior to possible organ donation are complete.
Who else died in the accident? Or are you speaking of those that she left behind? Just wondering
But they also donated her organs.
No. She did not. Pay attention to the article you’re commenting on.
Nobody else died in this accident, just destroyed a home and side of a building…those things are replaceable, she was the only one to lose a life in this tragic accident. You need to read the news!
She didn’t kill anyone but she almost did. She almost hit a pedestrian, then she hit a garage, people tried to stop her and help her out of the car, she took off again and that’s when she plowed through that poor Michele woman’s house and narrowly missed killing her and her beloved pets. Destroyed the house and all the woman’s lifelong possessions plus she ran her business from her home. Why couldn’t she have just stayed home and do her drugs instead of getting behind the wheel of a car?
So glad others were not hurt by her selfishness getting behide a wheel!!! RIP
Live in a glass house? Express your condolences, don’t be rude. Time and place, time and place.
I first saw her as the twins and based on those roles would look for her other work to watch because I knew she would give a great performance. I loved her also in Men in Trees. She had this energy and spark to her that made you smile. My condolences to her children, her family and friends. She will be missed. RIP Anne,
You have to be joking. She was driving intoxicated and speeding through a residential neighborhood. She was involved in a hit and run before crashing into someone’s home and setting it on fire. It’s a miracle that she didn’t kill more people. This person has every right to condemn her illegal and dangerous actions.
The leeway to commit incredibly dangerous crimes that people give celebrities is insane.
Again, take your nastiness out of a condolences thread or do you solely like to act as a rude person? The only one that died was her, nobody else AND her organs went to save others. I don’t care if prelim reports say something they have already backtracked out half of what they claim to have found and she has admitted to her addictions in the past. She was in a fire, I am willing to bet that there is a different explanation than the one given, an explanation that I hope they still find and do not just drop because she died. No matter what the base of our justice system is innocent until proven guilty … but you so easily want to go right past that and convict. People wonder what is wrong in this country and world – responses just like that are a good example. Had this happened to a member of your family I bet you would be very quick to rely on the proven guilty instead of unproven in a court of law assumptions.
Nope, comments like yours are what’s wrong with this country. You’re so quick to talk down to people for not being okay with someone driving recklessly under the influence of drugs. Why? Is it because she’s a celebrity? More than 10,000 people are killed every year by intoxicated drivers, so you’re acting like others don’t have the right to express outrage over this ridiculous and preventable problem is incredibly indicative of why this issue will continue to exist. No one here is being nasty – if you genuinely believe simply pointing out that intoxicated driving is messed up is somehow “nasty”, I’m horrified to think what other behavior you will excuse.
Hey tox screen has yet to be released, so claiming that she was intoxicated or high is speculation and slander. It’s already been noted that she had no alcohol in her system. Obviously, she was given opioids for her injuries in route or at the hospital, prior to any blood draw, so determining her condition at the time of the crash has not been clear. And most opioids break down into the same chemicals, so even that makes it more difficult to be precise. As a pain patient myself, regularly screened, my meds break down into lessor opiates, along with free morphine. None of which has resulted in any type of traffic incidents. Anne was a long time mental health patient, who was known to resist taking meds. Videos showed that she was confronted about a building strike right before she was seen speeding down the street and crashing. If she was suffering a mental health emergency, she could have been experiencing severe anxiety and panic, even hysteria at the time, which could explain what happened. Without any clarification of her condition at the time of the accident, everything else is speculation, accusation, and irrelevant.
There was cocaine and fentanyl in her system.
What nasty comments some are posting on this forum. Disgraceful! She has died can’t you let people express their condolences and admiration for her past tv shows in peace.
I adored her in Another World. From that point forward, there wasn’t any work on tv or in the movies that I didn’t love.
I wish I could send more than just thoughts and prayers at this moment to her family and especially to her children, but I hope they realize their mother lives on in their memories and in her body of work (it’s been like 30 years and I still recall her portrayal of Vikki as if I saw the show yesterday…) RIP 🥺😢🕊⚡️❤️🌈
Same. I had no idea she was leaving Another World and in her last scene she looked directly in the camera and said “don’t forget me”. I thought she was terrific in The Brave.
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Deepest condolences to her family, friends and fans. Way, way too young to leave this world and may she rest in peace.
May Ms Heche spread her wings and find the peace that eluded her in life.
Condolences to her family and friends
I have followed her career since Another World. She made it impossible to look away, even for a second. My heart is heavy today with the loss of Anne Heche. My prayers are with her family.
This is so sad. Always liked her.
RIP
I hope she has found peace now. RIP and prayers to her family and loved ones.
Rest in peace I will remember you for your role in in volcano
I remember Anne Heche in the Hallmark Christmas movie “Looks Like Christmas” with Dylan Neal which aired in 2016. It was a great movie. She was a wonderful actress and surely will be missed.
My condolence to her family and friends. She left this earth too soon.
I remember and loved the movie fatal desire that Anne heche played in with Eric Roberts .
Drugs are bad, mmmkay.
It’s fascinating how different the coverage has been of this incident/Heche’s hospitalization has been from the coverage of the other major crash in LA in the past week.
This article doesn’t mention the fact that she was under the influence of drugs, that she was speeding in a residential neighborhood, or that she caused a crash that burned someone’s house down and almost killed someone else. The media and general responses around Anne Heche’s accident have been overwhelmingly worried about her and expressing sadness, while the other woman that was speeding under the influence has been skewered and people are screaming that she should be locked up for life.
Is it her fame? Is it just because other people actually died in the other crash while the victim of Heche’s intoxicated car crash was saved from the burning home?
The other lady killed 6 people, fame or not she should definitely be locked up.
And Anne Heche could have easily killed more people as well – she’s lucky that she didn’t and that the person inside the house she set on fire was saved. I’m not saying the other woman shouldn’t be locked up, just that it’s ridiculous that people are treating these two women drastically differently.
Very true. Thank you for pointing it out. Because Anne Heche by luck didn’t take anyone out with her. And that’s all it was… luck. And the press surrounding her has been so positive and sad about her tragic loss. Whereas the nurse who was speeding and caused an accident is being dragged through the media with people calling for her death.
Well said–where’s all the sympathy & outrage for the woman that’s now homeless and lost everything she owns because a drugged up “celebrity” drove into her house?
I know, I know, she’s not famous…
I live out of CA so do not get much Hollywwod news coverage. Heard Anne had been speeding in a residential neighborhood, crashed into someone’s home, a neighbor rescued that person but couldn’t help Anne. No reference was made of the nurse hitting others and killing them.
I did see a flash of a vehicle going down a road looked to be at about 85mph+, they said that was Anne. What was she thinking.
I’ll always remember her as Vicki and Marley Hudson on Another World and for her work on Men In Trees. RIP.
She was the voice of Su Yin Beifong on The Legend Of Korra.
I will always remember her for the classic movie Volcano.
My condolences to Anne’s boys. The first time I saw Anne was on Another World and fell madly in love with her portrayal of Vicky/Marley. Rest In Peace Anne
My condolences to Anne’s boys. The first time I saw Anne was on Another World and fell madly in love with her portrayal of Vicky/Marley. Rest In Peace Anne
Poor Ellen .. why has no one mentioned her feelings ! They were married … I feel bad for Ellen too… How sad for those she left behind … Her sons AND Ellen..
I don’t believe they were married. It’s been many years since they dated.
They were never married. They broke up in 2000, over 20 years ago. They both went on to form relationships with several other people.
She and Ellen were never married, they dated for 3 years, from 1997 – 2000.