Anne Heche Cause of Death Revealed by LA County Coroner

The cause of death of actress Anne Heche has now been revealed, following complications from a recent car crash in the Los Angeles area. According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Heche’s passing occured due to “inhalation and thermal injuries,” with “sternal fracture due to blunt trauma” also cited as “significant condition” that led to her death. The Emmy-winning actress crashed a blue Mini Cooper into a home in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles on Friday, August 5th, which caused both her vehicle and the house to catch on fire. The actress was then taken to the hospital with severe burns and injuries, and intubated, with later police reports revealing that she had had narcotics in her system at the time of the crash. On Thursday, August 11th, a representative of Heche’s family and friends revealed in a statement that she had been taken off of life support after being pronounced brain dead, and that she was being kept on a ventilator until it was determined if any of her organs could be donated. 

“We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne’s recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive. It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable. Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life’s work -especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.”

Born on May 25, 1969 in Aurora, Ohio, Heche landed the roles of Vicky Hudson and Marley Love and Another World shortly after graduating high school. She would go on to win a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance. She rose to prominence in the 1990s with performances such as The Adventures of Huck Finn, If These Walls Could Talk, Donnie Brasco, Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Psycho, and Wag the Dog. She then landed a starring role opposite Harrison Ford in the 1998 film Six Days, Seven Nights. One day after being cast in that film, it was publicly revealed that Heche was in a relationship with Ellen Degeneres, which she argues led to her subsequently being blacklisted in Hollywood for a decade.

“This wasn’t a long-term love affair,” Heche told Page Six in a 2021 interview. “This was a moment in my life when I was given the glory of being able to stand up for what I believe in and have since I was a kid… I didn’t do a studio picture for 10 years. I was fired from a $10 million picture deal and did not see the light of day in a studio picture.”

Heche went on to have roles in Ally McBeal, Everwood, Nip/Tuck, That’s What She Said, Quantico, Catfight, My Friend Dahmer, and Chicago PD. She also voiced Suyin Beifong on the Avatar: The Last Airbender spinoff The Legend of Korra. She also competed on the 29th season of Dancing with the Stars, and co-hosted the weekly SiriusXM radio show Love and Heche. Her last onscreen role prior to her passing was a five-episode stint on All Rise. She will posthumously appear in the HBO series The Idol, among other projects.

Following her break-up with Degeneres in 2000, Heche married Coleman “Coley” Laffoon from 2001 to 2007, and later dated James Tupper from 2008 to 2018. She has three children.