The 53-year-old actress suffered a severe brain injury in a fiery crash a week ago, according to a family spokesperson.
LOS ANGELES — Award-winning actress Anne Heche, who starred in “Six Days, Seven Nights” and was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood in the late 1990s, has died, her son Homer confirmed to the Los Angeles Times Friday.
“My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom. After six days of almost unbelievable emotional swings, I am left with a deep, wordless sadness,” he wrote to the Times. “Hopefully my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom.
“Over those six days, thousands of friends, family, and fans made their hearts known to me. I am grateful for their love, as I am for the support of my Dad, Coley, and my stepmom Alexi who continue to be my rock during this time. Rest In Peace Mom, I love you, Homer.”
Heche, 53, had been in a coma after suffering a “severe anoxic brain injury” in a fiery crash a week ago. She has been hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital north of Los Angeles.
On Thursday night, her family released a statement that the actress was “not expected to survive” and it had "long been her choice to donate her organs."
A family spokesperson confirmed the star had been declared brain dead on Friday, but that she had remained on life support for organ donation. Under California law, Heche was considered legally dead by being declared brain dead.
The Los Angeles Police Department ended its investigation into Anne Heche's car accident on Friday.
“As of today, there will be no further investigative efforts made in this case," the department announced Friday. "Any information or records that have been requested prior to this turn of events will still be collected as they arrive as a matter of formalities and included in the overall case. When a person suspected of a crime expires, we do not present for filing consideration.”
Detectives looking into the crash had said narcotics were found in a blood sample taken from Heche, 53. She had been hospitalized at a Los Angeles burn center.
Heche is known for starring in the action-comedy film "Six Days, Seven Nights" and appearing on the soap opera "Another World," for which she won a daytime Emmy. She is set to appear on the upcoming HBO drama "The Idol."
In the late 1990s she became one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, a constant on magazine covers and in big-budget films. She co-starred with Johnny Depp in 1997's “Donnie Brasco”; with Tommy Lee Jones in 1997's “Volcano”; with Harrison Ford in 1998's “Six Days, Seven Nights”; with Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix in 1998's “Return to Paradise,” and with an ensemble cast in the original 1997 “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
Her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000 heightened her fame and brought immense public scrutiny.
She recently had recurring roles on the network series “Chicago P.D.” and “All Rise,” and in 2020 was a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”
TEGNA contributed to this report.
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