Biography
A waifish blonde, Anne Heche (pronounced 'haytch') was still
relatively unknown when she made headlines in April 1997
disclosing her relationship with comedienne Ellen DeGeneres.
Almost immediately, there was speculation and questions about
whether the actress' decision to reveal her lesbianism would
adversely affect her career, particularly as Heche had been cast
as Harrison Ford's love interest in "Six Days/Seven
Nights" (1998). Reportedly, the marketing campaign for the
film was altered to play up the adventure aspect of the film
instead of the romance.
Heche,
however, had already proven herself as an actress. The daughter
of a Baptist minister who was a closet homosexual and succumbed
to AIDS complications in 1983 (although Heche has hinted he
committed suicide in interviews), the thin wide-eyed performer
began her career as a singer and dancer in dinner theater. After
her father's death, Heche did not perform for several years
until graduating from high school. Within weeks, she had landed
her first major role, that of good and evil twins, Vicky and
Marly on the NBC soap opera "Another World". During
her four year stint, Heche earned a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding
Younger Actress in 1991 and engaged in a high profile romance
with her co-star Richard Burgi.
Feeling
stifled, Heche decided to leave the show after four years and
enroll at the Parsons School of Design. Instead, she landed a
role alongside Jessica Lange in the CBS production "O
Pioneers!" (1992) and decided to concentrate on an acting
career. Film roles soon followed, including her debut as Mary
Jane Wilks in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
(1993). She gradually landed larger roles in "I'll Do
Anything" (1994) and the TV-movies "Against the
Wall" (HBO, 1994), as Kyle MacLachlan's wife, and
"Kingfish: A Story of Huey Long" (TNT, 1995), as the
politician's mistress. Heche landed the breakthrough role of a
doctor friend of Demi Moore who falls victim to a hit man in
"The Juror" (1996). She went to co-star with Catherine
Keener in the indie "Walking and Talking' (also 1996)
before landing the role of Johnny Depp's neglected wife in
"Donnie Brasco" (1997). Later that year, Heche was
teamed with Tommy Lee Jones in the disaster flick
"Volcano" and won praise for her turn as a
presidential advisor in Barry Levinson's political satire
"Wag the Dog" (a role written for a man which Heche
played with no changes to the dialogue). By the time of the
latter's release, Heche and DeGeneres had taken their
relationship public. While pundits fretted over what the
disclosure might do to Heche's career, the actress pressed on
landing co-starring roles with Harrison Ford in the romantic
adventure "Six Days, Seven Nights" and Vince Vaughn in
"Return to Paradise" (both 1998). She further
solidified her rising star status by tackling the role of Marion
Crane (again opposite Vaughn as Norman Bates) in a color remake
of Hitchcock's classic "Psycho" (also 1998). |
