Anne Heche

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American actress who began her career at 17 in New York, cast in the soap "Another World," where she played twins for four years, staying through 1991 and earning an Emmy Award for her work in the process. After leaving the soap, Heche (pronounced "Haytch") did an occasional TV show but stayed mostly in the shadows. In 1996, she had a breakthrough film role in "Walking and Talking," a well-received independent. The same year, she had a supporting role as Demi Moore's best friend in "The Juror." Her exposure increased exponentially when she appeared in "Wag the Dog" and as Johnny Depp's wife in the highly acclaimed "Donnie Brasco," 1997. Heche was born in a small town and raised as a fundamentalist Christian, though stability was lacking due to 11 moves by the time she was 12. The youngest of four kids, she is the daughter of a Baptist minister who died of complications from AIDS in 1983 at age 50. He disclosed his homosexuality to his family prior to his death. Anne was 13 at the time and later said, "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." She is estranged from her mother since disclosing her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres. Her brother died in a car accident at age 18, three months after the death of their father and one sister, Susan Bergman, who is an editor and author of a memoir about their dad and his "secret" life, "Anonymity," 1998. In the late ‘80s Anne was involved with Richard Burgi, her co-star in "Another World." She and Steve Martin were a couple from 1993-1995, but the relationship that earned the most play from the media was her affair with comedienne Ellen DeGeneres. They met on Oscar night, 23 March 1997. Hecht said, "I became oblivious to everything the second I saw Ellen. I'd never been attracted to a woman before. I mean, I loved women, but not at all physically. Within seconds of meeting Ellen, I had my hands on her." They left the function together and began their relationship that night. When Ellen came out of the closet as a lesbian on her show at the episode on 30 April 1997, Heche was a loyal backup. Their affection and openness made the two women veritable poster-girls for gay pride in Hollywood and elsewhere. They began appearing together in public, a move which was perhaps riskier for Heche, as she said she had not crossed that sexual gender-line before falling in love with DeGeneres. The decision to go public made her agents aghast and they said it would be the death of her career. She fired them and took the media attention with a great show of serenity. Harrison Ford supported her as his co-star in the romantic comedy "Six Days Seven Nights." Heche went on to give another strong performance as a lawyer in "Return to Paradise" and then landed the much-sought-after role in the 1998 re-make of "Psycho." The film did not do well, nor did the drama, "The Third Miracle." She made her directorial debut with "Reaching Normal" in 1999, and the following year wrote and directed a segment of the HBO drama "If These Walls Could Talk 2," a segment about a lesbian couple willing to do anything to have a baby, starring Sharon Stone and DeGeneres. The summer of 2000 in San Jose, while Heche had directed a documentary about DeGeneres' return to standup comedy, 26-year-old cameraman Coleman Laffoon was part of the crew. There was a strange incident on 19 August 2000 when Heche mysteriously wandered up to the rural Fresno home of strangers and asked to take a shower (she was briefly hospitalized and released). It was apparently a segment of trauma in the breakup of her relationship with DeGeneres after 3 1/2 years together. Laffoon was on hand to be supportive, and they became inseparable. On 25 May 2001, he asked her to be his partner for life and she accepted. They married on 1 September 2001 in Los Angeles with about 75 friends and relatives in attendance. They took their honeymoon after Heche completed a ten-city book tour to promote her autobiography, "Call Me Crazy." In her memoir, Heche reveals that she spent the first 31 years of her life suffering from mental illness that she says was triggered by sexual abuse by her father. The term she used was "insane," explaining that she believed she was two people. One was Anne Heche and the other was Celestia, who was from another planet and spoke directly to God in a different language. As for the present, "I'm here," says Heche. "I could not be more elated with my life." Her joyful attitude also included the news that she was three-months pregnant. She and her husband welcomed Homer Heche Lafoon on 2 March 2002, 1:54 AM, Los Angeles, California. Heche's career resumed with the autumn 2006 release of her TV series, "Men in Trees." Her marriage, however, dissolved. On 24 January 2007 she announced her split from her husband Coley Laffoon. The reason? She had been having an affair with her "Men in Trees" costar James Tupper. Her divorce from Coley Lafoon became finalized on 6 June 2008 in Los Angeles. Link to Wikipedia biography Link to Astrodienst discussion forum