Anne Heche has been taken off life support, a family representative said, following the announcement of her death Friday.
Heche, 53, had been seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash on Aug. 5 and suffered a “severe anoxic brain injury,” according to a statement to CNN from Heche’s family. He was confirmed “brain dead” on Friday, meeting a legal definition of death in California, but it is understood he was kept on life support to facilitate organ donation. A family representative said Sunday that he had been “peacefully taken off life support.”
Heche’s acting career took off in the late 1990s with prominent roles in Walking and Talking, Donnie Brasco and I Know What You Did Last Summer, before reaching the Hollywood A-list with films such as Wag the Dog, Six Days, Seven Nights (adjacent). Harrison Ford) and the 1998 remake of Psycho.
A relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, which began in 1997, attracted considerable media attention. In 2001, she published a memoir claiming she had been sexually abused by her father.
Her family had previously released a statement to TMZ, saying: “We have lost a shining light, a kind and joyful soul, a loving mother and a loyal friend. Anne will be greatly missed, but she lives on through her beautiful children, her iconic work, and her passionate advocacy. Her courage to always stand in her truth, to spread her message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact.”