Biography for
Anne Heche More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 May 1969, Aurora, Ohio, USA

Birth Name

Anne Celeste Heche

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Anne Heche was born in Aurora, Ohio and is the youngest of 5 children, although 3 of her 4 siblings are now tragically deceased. Her father, Don Heche, was often unemployed and led a double life as a homosexual. Despite her father's homosexuality, Anne has said that he raped her from infancy until she was 12, and gave her herpes when she was 8. The experience drove her insane, and she created an alter-ego named Celestia to escape the horrors of her life.

The Heches moved 11 times before settling in Ocean City, New Jersey when Anne was 12. They were very poor, and at one point all lived together in one bedroom of another family's house. Anne got her first professional acting job working in a dinner theater, and used her small salary to help make ends meet. In March 1983, when Anne was 13, her father died of AIDS, and his secretive lifestyle was disclosed on his deathbed. Just weeks later, her brother Nate committed suicide. To escape the embarrassment of these two events and get a new start, Nancy Heche took Anne and her sister Abigail to Chicago. Anne was active in theater at the progressive Francis W. Parker School, and was seen by a talent agent who offered her a contract on the soap opera "As the World Turns" (1956) when she was 16. However, her mother felt it best that she finish high school first.

Immediately after graduating high school in 1987, Anne joined the cast of the soap opera "Another World" (1964). She was on the show for 4 years, and won a Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series". In 1992, she made her TV-movie debut with a minor role in O Pioneers! (1992) (TV), then made her big-screen debut the following year in The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993). Anne worked constantly over the next few years with many small parts in various film and TV projects. Her first substantial role was in a segment of the 1996 made-for-cable anthology film If These Walls Could Talk (1996) (TV), in which she gave an excellent performance as a college student who decides to have an abortion after becoming pregnant by her married professor.

In 1997, Anne had supporting roles in 4 widely released movies: She played Johnny Depp's wife in Donnie Brasco (1997), appeared in the disaster film Volcano (1997) and the political satire Wag the Dog (1997), and made a brief but memorable appearance in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). Each of these performances earned Anne critical acclaim, but her career was overshadowed by bigger news that year: Out of nowhere, she was in a same-sex relationship with the most famous lesbian in the world, Ellen DeGeneres, and the unknown actress suddenly became the subject of widespread controversy and criticism. Prior to this, Anne had only dated men, and many speculated that she was just experimenting and accused her of being a gold-digger. Meanwhile, she had just landed her first leading role in the big-budget romantic adventure Six Days Seven Nights (1998) with Harrison Ford. She was terrific in the film and appeared to be a star on the rise. It performed well at the box office when it came out in the summer of 1998. Later that year, she had her second leading role (and her best role to date) in the exceptional drama Return to Paradise (1998) with Vince Vaughn. As a smaller film, it did not do well at the box office and was overlooked for any major awards.

Despite the commercial success of "Six Days Seven Nights" and the critical plaudits for "Return to Paradise," Anne was unable to get another lead role in a major film due to the negative attention regarding her personal life. In the worst of timing, Anne's updated sexual preference had seemingly ruined her career just as she seemed destined to become a major star. She lost a lot opportunities, and her output decreased significantly. Her next roles were in the inferior, poorly received remake of Psycho (1998), the barely-seen indies The Third Miracle (1999) and Auggie Rose (2000) (straight to cable), and the mainstream thriller John Q (2002) which did not get released until 2002 despite being filmed in 2000.

In August 2000, Anne and DeGeneres broke up after 3 years together. A day after the split was announced, Anne drove five hours from Los Angeles to nearby Fresno, parked her car along a dusty roadside and walked a mile and a half through the desert before showing up at the door of a stranger's ranch house. High on ecstasy and wearing only a bra and shorts, Anne rang the doorbell and asked if she could take a shower. The resident obliged, then Anne curled up on the sofa and said she wanted to watch a movie, but the VCR was broken. After showing no signs of leaving, the resident called the police. According to the police report, Anne told officers that she was "God, and was going to take everyone back to heaven in a spaceship." The deputies summoned an ambulance, which ferried Anne the 50 miles to Fresno's University Medical Center, from which she was released after a few hours.

By the end of 2000, Anne had gone back to dating men and was in a relationship with cameraman Coleman 'Coley' Laffoon, whom she first met when he was part of a crew filming a documentary about DeGeneras. In 2001, Anne had a recurring guest role on the TV sitcom "Ally McBeal" (1997) and a small part in the straight-to-video film Prozac Nation (2001). Later that year, she released an autobiography titled "Call Me Crazy," in which she described her horrifying childhood and stated that she was insane for the first 31 years of her life, until the incident in Fresno snapped her out of it and put her alter-ego behind her. Anne also described her estrangement from her mother Nancy, which began when Anne confronted her about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. Nancy Heche, who claims she cured Anne's lesbianism through prayer, is a successful psychotherapist and motivational speaker who encourages gays to convert to straightness. She and Anne remain estranged.

Anne married Laffoon on September 1, 2001, and six months later their son Homer was born on March 2, 2002. After taking some time off to be with her baby, Anne tried to get her career back on track. In 2004 she starred in the TV movies Gracie's Choice (2004) (TV) and The Dead Will Tell (2004) (TV), and had a supporting role in Birth (2004), a very good independent film starring Nicole Kidman. In 2005 Anne had recurring guest roles on the shows "Everwood" (2002) and "Nip/Tuck" (2003). In more TV movies, she starred in the Hallmark Christmas drama Silver Bells (2005) (TV) and the Lifetime thriller Fatal Desire (2006) (TV).

In 2006, Anne turned to television full-time by starring in her own series: "Men in Trees" (2006) was a delightful comedy-drama in which she played Marin Frist, a New York relationship coach who, after finding out her fiancée has been cheating on her, moves to a small town in Alaska to get a new start, where the ratio of men to women is 10 to 1. The series, which was shot entirely on location in Vancouver, Canada, was very well-received by both critics and audiences during its first season. Anne's love interest was played by Canadian actor James Tupper, whom she left her husband for. Laffoon filed for divorce from Anne in February 2007, which marked the beginning of a two-year court battle over child and spousal support. Laffoon was granted custody of their son Homer because Anne was living in Canada to shoot "Men in Trees". However, in June 2008, following a hiatus due to the writer's strike, the show was unfortunately canceled after 36 episodes. Following the cancellation, Anne claimed she had no money and could no longer afford to pay the ridiculous monthly installments of $15,000 in child support. Anne, who had recently moved in with James Tupper, was sad to leave her recently-purchased home Vancouver home and return to Los Angeles. She became pregnant by James, and on March 8, 2009, she gave birth to their son Atlas, while still legally married to Laffoon. The divorce was finalized 2 days later, and a court order was issued requiring them to hire a "parenting coordinator" to manage their relationships with Homer, which remained in effect until 2011.

After yet another fiasco with both her career and personal life, Anne went looking for work. She got a featured role in the independent film Spread (2009), in which she had a number of explicit sex scenes with Ashton Kutcher. Then, she joined the cast of the little-watched cable TV series "Hung" (2009) as the ex-wife of the main character, a male prostitute played by Thomas Jane. Anne was a replacement for the actress who had originally played the role in the pilot episode. Though the part was well beneath her talents, Anne was just happy to be getting work. Two years passed before she was in another released project, the indie comedy Cedar Rapids (2011), in which she gave a funny performance. In December 2011, "Hung" was canceled after 30 episodes and Anne signed with a new agency. Only time will tell if this extremely underused, one-of-a-kind actress will get another high-profile film role and become the big Hollywood star that she should be.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

Coleman 'Coley' Laffoon

(1 September 2001 - 10 March 2009) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Surname is pronounced "Haytch".

Chosen by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. [1998]

Is one of five children, although 3 of her 4 siblings are now deceased. Her sister Cynthia died of a heart defect as an infant; her brother Nate committed suicide shortly before his high school graduation in 1983; her sister Susan died of brain cancer in 2006. Anne has one remaining sibling, Abigail, with whom she recently (2011) reconciled with after years of estrangement. However, Anne remains estranged from her mother Nancy.

Her father Don, a choir director, died at 45 of AIDS in 1983.

Her late sister Susan Bergman wrote a book about their family and their father called "Anonymity" (1998).

Went to Ocean City High School in Ocean City, New Jersey. Graduated from the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Illinois (another alumnus is 'Daryl Hannah' )..

Announced that she intended to marry Ellen DeGeneres if Vermont carried through its plans to legalize gay marriages. In August of 2000, they split after three years together. [1999]

Announced that she is engaged to her boyfriend, cameraman Coleman 'Coley' Laffoon. [30 May 2001]

During an interview with Barbara Walters, Heche stated that she has an alter ego named "Celestia". [5 September 2001]

2 March 2002: 7 pound boy, Homer, born in Los Angeles. The baby is the first child for Heche and her husband, cameraman Coleman 'Coley' Laffoon.

4 September 2001: Autobiography "Call Me Crazy" released. Heche wrote it in just six weeks.

Heche's family moved 11 times before she was 12.

Was the basis for the Heather Graham character in Bowfinger (1999).

Was nominated for Broadway's 2004 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for a revival of "Twentieth Century."

Graduated from the same Chicago prep school Daryl Hannah attended.

Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham wrote the song "Come" about her, taking shots at her lesbianism and delusions.

Her Christian mother Nancy claims to have cured her lesbianism by praying for her.

In 1977, at age eight, she appeared as an impostor on the syndicated TV panel show "To Tell the Truth" (1969).

The baby she is expecting in Spring 2009, is a boy. [January 13, 2009].

8 March 2009: Gave birth to her second son, Atlas. He weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. Dad is Heche's boyfriend, James Tupper.

She was born at 4:51 PM (EDT).

Returned to work eight months after giving birth to her son Atlas in order to begin filming The Other Guys (2010).

Met with producers for the role of Penny Lane in Almost Famous (2000), which ultimately went to Kate Hudson.

Personal Quotes

I put a very high premium on honesty. What I learned from [my father's] death is that if you don't accept your sexuality, it will kill you. -- Cosmopolitan magazine, May 1997.

I'm always honest, whether I'm in the limelight or not.

I've always kind of gone with my heart.

And as a child, we have such a wonderful thing as children, that we can just make the best of everything, and say, Well, this must be what everybody else is experiencing, and I've got to make the best of it. You don't know that it's not good until you witness something that it seems better.

Are we changing the idea of what beauty is? Let's hope so. I'm not the typical Hollywood beauty. Let's hope we're looking at the insides of people a little more.

It's my job, to create a fantasy.

We do not fall in love with the package of the person, we fall in love with the inside of a person.

It's important to talk about loving yourself and looking at your tragedies and the stuff that makes you grow.