Anne Heche Biography

Anne Celeste Heche ( ; born May 25, 1969) is an American actress. She has had leading roles in two theatrically released films Six Days Seven Nights and Return to Paradise, as well as many supporting roles in films such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Volcano, John Q, Donnie Brasco, Spread, and Cedar Rapids. She also starred in the television series Men in Trees, Hung, and most recently Save Me.

Early life

Heche was born in Aurora, Ohio, the daughter of Nancy (née Prickett) and Donald Joseph Heche. Heche is the youngest of their five children, although three of her four siblings are now deceased.

Heche's family moved a total of eleven times during her childhood; at one point, they lived in an Amish community. When asked in a 2001 interview on Larry King Live what her father's source of income was, Heche replied "Well, he was a choir director. But I don't think he made much on that a week. He said that he was involved in a business of gas and oil. And he said that until the day he died. But he never was involved in the business of gas and oil ever." The family settled in Ocean City, New Jersey when Heche was twelve years old. Because of their desperate financial situation, Heche went to work at a dinner theater in Swainton. "At the time we'd been kicked out of our house and my family was holed up living in a bedroom in the home of a generous family from our church," she said. "I got $100 a week, which was more than anyone else in my family. We all pooled our money in an envelope in a drawer and saved up enough to move out after a year."

On March 3, 1983, when Heche was thirteen, her 45-year-old father died of AIDS contracted from having sex with other men, although he never came out as a homosexual. "He was in complete denial until the day he died. We know he got it from his gay relationships. Absolutely. I don't think it was just one. He was a very promiscuous man, and we knew his lifestyle then," Heche said on Larry King Live. Despite her father's homosexuality, Heche has claimed that he repeatedly raped her from the time she was an infant until she was twelve, giving her genital herpes. When asked "But why would a gay man rape a girl?" in a 2001 interview with The Advocate, Heche replied "I don't think he was just a gay man. I think he was sexually deviant. My belief was that my father was gay and he had to cover that up. I think he was sexually abusive. The more he couldn't be who he was, the more that came out of him in ways that it did."

On June 4, 1983, three months after her father's death, Heche's 18-year-old brother Nathan was killed in a car accident. The official determination was that he fell asleep at the wheel and struck a tree, though Heche claims he committed suicide. The remainder of Heche's family subsequently relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where Heche attended the progressive Francis W. Parker School. In 1985, when Heche was sixteen, an agent discovered her in a school play and secured her an audition for the daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Heche flew to New York City, auditioned, and was offered a job, but her mother insisted she finish high school first. Shortly before her high school graduation in 1987, Heche was offered a dual role on the daytime soap opera Another World. "Again I was told I couldn't go. My mother was very religious and maybe she thought it was a sinner's world," recalled Heche. "But I got on the phone and said, 'Send me the ticket. I'm getting on the plane.' I was like, 'Bye!' I did my time with my mom in a one-bedroom, skanky apartment and I was done."

Career

For her work on Another World, Heche received a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991 for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. In November 1991, Heche made her primetime television debut in an episode of Murphy Brown. She made her TV-movie debut the following year with a brief appearance in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of O Pioneers! (1992).

In 1993, Heche made her feature film debut in Disney's The Adventures of Huck Finn with Elijah Wood. Over the next two years, she had small supporting roles in made-for-TV movies such as Girls in Prison (1994) and Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995). She also appeared in the straight-to-video erotic thriller Wild Side (1995) as Joan Chen's lesbian lover.

In 1996, Heche had her first substantial role as a college student contemplating an abortion in a segment of the made-for-cable anthology film If These Walls Could Talk. That same year, she appeared in the independent film Walking and Talking, and gained positive notice from film critic Alison Macor of Austin Chronicle, who wrote in her review: "Heche's acting suggests that she is destined for larger film roles". For her performance as Johnny Depp's wife in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, critics such as Janet Maslin of New York Times wrote that Heche "does well with what could have been the thankless role". Heche had supporting roles in three other films released in 1997, playing a seismologist in Volcano, a creepy backwoods loner in I Know What You Did Last Summer, and a presidential advisor in Wag the Dog (a part that was originally written for a man).

Heche's first high-profile role was in the 1998 romantic adventure Six Days Seven Nights, where she starred opposite Harrison Ford. She had been cast in the film one day before her same-sex relationship with Ellen DeGeneres went public. Although Heche did land a second starring role shortly thereafter as Vince Vaughn's love interest in the acclaimed drama Return to Paradise (1998), the romance with DeGeneres destroyed her prospects as a leading lady. According to Heche, "People said 'You're not getting a job because you're gay' ". She commented: "How could that destroy my career? I still can't wrap my head around it." Six Days Seven Nights and Return to Paradise have remained the only theatrically released films in which Heche has had a leading role. She never stopped working, but quickly fell under the Hollywood radar.

Heche had a seven-episode guest arc on the television sitcom Ally McBeal in 2001. She played a hospital administrator in the thriller John Q (2002), starring Denzel Washington. In 2002, Heche made her Broadway debut in a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Proof. In 2004, Heche received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the Lifetime movie Gracie's Choice, and a Saturn Award nomination as Best Actress for her performance in the CBS television movie The Dead Will Tell (2004). In the same year, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Broadway's Twentieth Century, and appeared in the well-received independent film Birth.

Heche had a recurring role on the WB drama Everwood during its 2004"2005 season. She then took on a recurring role on Nip/Tuck in 2005 as an ex-mob wife and Witness Protection Program subject who requires plastic surgery. Heche continued to act in TV movies, playing a widow who doesn't celebrate Christmas in Silver Bells (2005), and a con woman who schemes a man she met on a dating website in Fatal Desire (2006).

In 2006, Heche began work on her own primetime series, ABC's dramedy Men in Trees. In the show, Heche starred as a New York author who, after finding out her fiancé is cheating on her, moves to a small town in Alaska, which happens to be abundant with single men and few women. Men in Trees was canceled in May 2008, after a season shortened by the writer's strike. She then appeared in Spread, a sex comedy starring Ashton Kutcher released in 2009, which came out in a limited release and with negative reviews, however, Matthew Turney of View London wrote "There's also terrific support" from Heche.

In 2009, Heche was cast in the HBO series Hung, a dark comedy that centers on a well-endowed but struggling high school basketball/baseball coach. Thomas Jane plays the lead character, Ray. Heche plays Ray's ex-wife, who is remarried. The actress replaces Kristin Bauer, who played the role in the pilot. The series was canceled in December 2011.

In 2011, Heche appeared in the independent romantic comedy film Cedar Rapids, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is about a naive middle-aged man (played by The Hangover actor Ed Helms) who ventures out of his sheltered existence for the first time when he's forced to attend an insurance conference. Since its release Cedar Rapids has received many good reviews in which Heche's performance was well received; David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter stated that "while Heche shines brightest in more brittle mode, as in HBO's Hung, she strikes a sweet balance between Joan's mischievous and maternal sides".

Heche had a leading role in the racy comedy That's What She Said (2012), which went straight to DVD. She currently has an upcoming television pilot for NBC called Save Me, scheduled to air in mid-2013, in which she plays a Midwestern housewife who believes she is channeling God. Heche will play a waitress in the upcoming film Heat (2014), which stars Jason Statham.

Media

Throughout her career, she has appeared in several magazine covers including Entertainment Weekly, Mirabella and Observer Magazine. Heche was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1998. She became a significant subject of widespread media interest while dating comedian Ellen DeGeneres.

Personal life

Heche's same-sex relationship with comedienne Ellen DeGeneres and the events following their breakup became subjects of widespread media interest. The couple started dating in 1997, and at one point, said they would get a civil union if such became legal in Vermont. They broke up in August 2000. Heche has stated that all of her other romantic relationships have been with men. Prior to DeGeneres she dated I Know What You Did Last Summer producer Neal Moritz.

On September 1, 2001, Heche married Coleman 'Coley' Laffoon, a cameraman she met the previous year on DeGeneres' stand-up comedy tour. They have a son, Homer, born on March 2, 2002. Laffoon filed for divorce on February 2, 2007 after five and a half years of marriage. In court papers filed on May 2, 2007, Laffoon requested primary custody of their son, claiming Heche was an unfit parent and exhibited "bizarre and delusional behavior for which she refuses to seek professional help." Heche countered by accusing Laffoon of "resorting to lies with the court" because Heche "would not cave in to his astronomical money demands." Heche lost custody of their son on June 11, 2007. On May 14, 2008, following the cancellation of her TV series Men in Trees, Heche submitted a financial declaration showing that she had a grand total of less than $35,000 in her bank accounts and could no longer afford to pay child support. Heche and Laffoon's contentious divorce was finalized on March 4, 2009. A court order was issued requiring them to hire a parenting coordinator to manage their relationships with son Homer. This arrangement remained in effect until May 1, 2011.

Heche reportedly left her husband for Men in Trees co-star James Tupper. The couple moved in together in August 2007. On December 5, 2008, it was confirmed by Heche's representative that the actress was pregnant with Tupper's child. Their son, Atlas Heche Tupper, was born on March 11, 2009. This is the second child for Heche and the first for Tupper.

Family

Heche's sister, Susan Bergman, died in January 2006. Heche was estranged from her.

Heche and her mother, Nancy, have been estranged ever since Heche confronted her about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. In her 2001 memoir, Call Me Crazy, Heche wrote that when she contracted genital herpes as an infant, her mother insisted it was a diaper rash and refused to take her to the doctor. Of the allegations, Nancy Heche responded: "I am trying to find a place for myself in this writing, a place where I as Anne's mother do not feel violated or scandalized. I find no place among the lies and blasphemies in the pages of this book."

Heche's only remaining sibling, Abigail, added: "It is my opinion that my sister Anne truly believes, at this moment, what she has asserted about our father's past behavior; however, at the same time, I would like to point out that Anne, in the past, has expressed doubts herself about the accuracy of such memories. Based on my experience and her own expressed doubts, I believe that her memories regarding our father are untrue. And I can state emphatically, regardless of Anne's beliefs, that the assertion that our mother knew about such behavior is absolutely false."

Nancy has also denied Heche's allegation that her brother Nathan committed suicide: "I have talked to his youth pastor, and he said that Nathan was committed to the Lord, he loved Jesus, and I do not believe that that was suicide. But the death of his father from homosexuality could certainly have stirred up a lot of confusion for him." Since her husband's death from AIDS, Nancy has been a Christian therapist and motivational speaker who lectures on behalf of James Dobson's Focus on the Family about overcoming homosexuality. In 2009, Heche told the New York Times:

My mother's had a very tragic life. Three of her five children are dead, and her husband is dead. That she is attempting to change gay people into straight people is, in my opinion, a way to keep the pain of the truth out. People wonder why I am so forthcoming with the truths that have happened in my life, and it's because the lies that I have been surrounded with and the denial that I was raised in, for better or worse, bore a child of truth and love. My mother preaches to this day the opposite of that core of my life. It is no mistake that she still stands up against love. And one wonders why I'm not rushing to have her meet my children.

In 2011, Heche told The Daily Telegraph that she doubts she will ever repair relations with her mother, but that she has reconciled with Abigail after 20 years of estrangement.

Psychological problems

On August 19, 2000, Heche drove from Los Angeles to Cantua Creek, a rural area outside Fresno, California, and parked her Toyota SUV along a dusty roadside. Wearing only a bra and shorts, Heche walked 1½ miles through the desert and knocked on the door of a stranger's ranch house. When the home's occupant, Araceli Campiz, opened the door, she immediately recognized Heche from the film Six Days Seven Nights. "I was thinking, 'Oh my God, we're in the middle of nowhere,' " recalled Campiz, "and she walks in." Heche gulped down glass upon glass of water, "took off her Nikes and said she needed to take a shower," said Campiz, who obliged, offering her a towel. Refreshed, Heche, who as far as Campiz could tell was neither drunk, drugged nor ill (although Heche later admitted she had taken ecstasy), plunked down in the living room, requested a pair of slippers (and suggested Campiz don the same) and settled in. "She wanted to watch a movie," said Campiz, "but the VCR was broken." Bemused at first, Campiz grew uneasy when Heche showed no sign of leaving"?calling neither friends nor a garage"?after half an hour had passed. "I didn't know what to do," Campiz said. "So I called the sheriff's department." When deputies arrived, Heche told them that she was "God, and was going to take everyone back to heaven in a spaceship," according to a police report that was aired on KSEE-TV. The deputies summoned an ambulance, which ferried Heche the 50 miles to Fresno's University Medical Center, where she was admitted to the psychiatric unit and released after a few hours.

Heche says that she was insane for the first 31 years of her life due to the trauma of being sexually abused by her father during her infancy and childhood. In a series of interviews with Barbara Walters, Matt Lauer and Larry King in 2001, Heche stated on national television that she created a fantasy world called the "Fourth Dimension" to make herself feel safe, and had an alter ego named "Celestia," an alien from another planet who could speak to God and was the half-sister of Jesus Christ. Heche said that the incident in Cantua Creek snapped her out of her insanity and put her alter ego behind her.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	An Ambush of Ghosts	Denise	Unreleased
	The Adventures of Huck Finn	Mary Jane Wilks
1994	I'll Do Anything	Claire
	Milk Money	Betty
1995	Wild Side	Alex Lee	Straight to video
1996	The Juror	Juliet
	Pie in the Sky	Amy	Straight to video
	Walking and Talking	Laura	Limited release
1997	Donnie Brasco	Maggie Pistone	National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress
	Volcano	Dr. Amy Barnes
	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Melissa "Missy" Egan
	Wag the Dog	Winifred Ames	Nominated " Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
1998	Six Days Seven Nights	Robin Monroe	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress " Comedy or Romance
	Return to Paradise	Beth McBride	Csapnivalo Awards " Golden Slate for Best Actress in a Leading Role
	Psycho	Marion Crane
1999	The Third Miracle	Roxane	Limited release
2000	Auggie Rose	Lucy Brown	Also known as Beyond Suspicion Limited release
2001	Prozac Nation	Dr. Sterling	Straight to video
2002	John Q.	Rebecca Payne
2004	Birth	Clara	Limited release
2005	Sexual Life	Gwen	Straight to video
2007	Suffering Man's Charity	Helen Jacobsen	Straight to video
	What Love Is	Laura	Limited release
	Superman: Doomsday	Lois Lane	Voice only Straight to video
2008	Toxic Skies	Dr. Tess Martin	Straight to video
2009	Spread	Samantha	Limited release
2010	The Other Guys	Pamela Boardman	Uncredited
2011	Cedar Rapids	Joan Ostrowski-Fox	Limited release
	Rampart	Catherine	Limited release
2012	That's What She Said	Dee Dee	Straight to video
	Black November	Barbra	Unreleased
	Arthur Newman	Mina Crawley	Limited release
2013	Nothing to Fear	Wendy	post-production
	Life at These Speeds	Coach Rowan	pre-production
	Wheeler	N/A	Filming begins in June 2012
2014	Heat	N/A	filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987"1991	Another World	Victoria 'Vicky' Hudson Marley Love Hudson	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Female Newcomer " Daytime Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama
1991	Murphy Brown	Nica	1 episode
1992	O Pioneers!	Marie	TV movie
1993	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	Kate	1 episode
1994	Against the Wall	Sharon	Made-for-cable film
1994	Girls in Prison	Jennifer	Made-for-cable film
1994	The Investigator	Lucinda	Short
1995	Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long	Aileen Dumont	TV movie
1996	If These Walls Could Talk	Christine Cullen	Made-for-cable film Segment: "1996"
1997	Subway Stories	Pregnant Girl	Made-for-cable film Segment: "Manhattan Miracle"
1998	Ellen	Karen	1 episode
2000	One Kill	Captain Mary Jane O'Malley	TV movie
2001	Ally McBeal	Melanie West	7 episodes
2004	Gracie's Choice	Rowena Lawson	TV movie Nominated " Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2004	The Dead Will Tell	Emily Parker	TV movie Nominated " Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television
2004"2005	Everwood	Amanda Hayes	10 episodes
2005	True	Rosie True	Unaired pilot
2005	Nip/Tuck	Nicole Morretti	3 episodes
2005	Silver Bells	Catherine O'Mara	TV movie
2005"2006	Higglytown Heroes	Gloria the Waitress	Voice only 3 episodes
2006	Fatal Desire	Tanya Sullivan	TV movie
2007	Masters of Science Fiction	Martha Van Vogel	1 episode
2006"2008	Men in Trees	Marin Frist	36 episodes
2009"2011	Hung	Jessica Haxon	30 episodes
2011	Girl Fight	Melissa	TV movie
2011	Silent Witness	Kate Robb	TV movie
2012	Blackout	Dr. Debra Westen	Miniseries
2013	Save Me	Beth Harper	Lead Role, 7 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	9: The Last Resort	Miss G-String	Voice

Director

Year	Title	Notes
2000	If These Walls Could Talk 2	Segment: "2000"
2001	Ellen DeGeneres: American Summer Documentary
2001	On the Edge	Segment: Reaching Normal