Anne Heche's life before near-fatal wreck included mental health struggles, Ellen DeGeneres romance

Anne Heche remains hospitalized after crashing her vehicle into a home Friday morning in Los Angeles, where she was pulled from the burning car.

“Anne is currently in stable condition,” her friend Heather Duffy Boylston told The Associated Press on Saturday. The 53-year-old actress’ family and friends asked for well wishes and “to respect her privacy during this difficult time.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Heche’s representatives for details.

TV video showed a damaged blue Mini Cooper Clubman being towed as firefighters put a woman in an ambulance.

Without identifying the driver, Tony Im of the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY that a crash occurred and the vehicle “became engulfed in flames.”

Anne Heche hospitalized: Actress in ‘stable’ condition after fiery car crash in Los Angeles

Anne Heche was trapped in burning car for more than an hour before rescuers got her out

The Los Angeles Fire Department said in a news release that the vehicle struck a two-story home, causing “structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire.” The driver was taken to a hospital “in critical condition,” according to the release.

Fifty-nine firefighters responded to the incident and took 65 minutes to extinguish the flames and rescue an adult female from the vehicle, LAFD said. No other injuries were reported.

David Manpearl, a neighbor of the person whose home was destroyed in Heche’s crash, told Fox News Friday he attempted to save the actress from her car but it was “impossible.”

She told him “she was not OK,” he shared. “So that was tough.”

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Anne Heche talked ‘bad days’ in podcast episode released a day before car crash

Heche detailed having a bad day to Duffy on their “Better Together” podcast, released the day before the crash. But the episode was recorded Tuesday, podcasting company Straw Hut Media told to USA TODAY.

The episode titled “Just the 2022 of Us” was removed from streaming services following the crash due to “inaccurate reporting that the episode was recorded on the day of the accident,” Straw Hut Media rep Ryan Tillotson said. It is still posted on the Straw Hut website. 

On the podcast, Heche said she had “a very unique day.”

“I don’t know what happened, sometimes days just suck, and I don’t know if you ever have them. … Some days are those no good very bad days. And I don’t know why some days just end up like this, and things don’t really rock me like that.”

Heche and Duffy were drinking during the podcast, sharing that they “each have a bottle (of vodka) in front of us.”

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Alec Baldwin, more celebrities rally around Anne Heche post-crash

Alec Baldwin posted an Instagram video Saturday going out to his “old pal” and “The Juror” co-star Heche. “She is an amazingly talented woman,” Baldwin said and called her “brave.”

“I hope you get through this. My heart goes out to you. I’m sorry you had this tragic thing happen to you,” he added. “Sending you all my love.”

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A post shared by Alec Baldwin (@alecbaldwininsta)

Late Friday, “Big Little Lies” and “A Million Little Things” star James Tupper, previously Heche’s partner of 10 years and father of one of her children, posted a photo of the actress and their son, Atlas, now 13, on his verified Instagram account.

“Thoughts and prayers for this lovely woman, actress and mother tonight,” he wrote with a heart emoji. “anneheche we love you.”

Heche is also a mother to son Homer, 20, whom she shares with ex-husband Coleman Laffoon.

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Anne Heche rose to fame in the 1990s

Heche launched to fame starring in the soap opera “Another World” in the ’90s, playing twins Vicky Hudson and Marley Love. The roles earned her a Daytime Emmy.

She later starred in films “Six Days Seven Nights,” “Donnie Brasco,” “Wag the Dog,” “Volcano” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

More recently, the actress appeared in “All Rise,” “Chicago P.D.,” “The Brave” and The Weeknd’s upcoming HBO show “The Idol,” starring Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp.

The actress dated Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000

At the height of Heche’s career, she dated Ellen DeGeneresafter the comedian came out in 1997. While competing on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2020, Heche opened up about her past relationship with DeGeneres. The two met at a Vanity Fair Oscars party in 1997 and were a couple until 2000.

“I was in a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres for three-and-a-half years and the stigma attached to that relationship was so bad that I was fired from my multimillion-dollar picture deal, and I did not work in a studio picture for 10 years,” Heche said on “DWTS.”

Judy Wieder, editor-in-chief of The Advocate, told People at the end of Heche and DeGeneres’ relationship: “Either they were made into role models for happiness for same-sex couples or attacked. Cameras followed them everywhere. At times that might be exhilarating, but at other times I’m sure it was an utter nightmare.”

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Heche spoke openly about her mental health struggles in her memoir ‘Call Me Crazy’

Heche has discussed her mental health struggles in recent years.

In 2000, she was hospitalized after knocking on a stranger’s door near Fresno, California. Authorities said she appeared shaken and disoriented and spoke incoherently to the residents.

In “Call Me Crazy,” her memoir released in 2001, Heche talked about her lifelong struggles with mental health and a childhood of abuse.

“I’m not crazy,” she told ABC News that year. “But it’s a crazy life. I was raised in a crazy family and it took 31 years to get the crazy out of me.”

To cope with the trauma of her life, “I drank. I smoked. I did drugs. I had sex,” the actress said. “I did anything I could to get the shame out of my life.”

In a sitdown with Larry King in 2001, Heche said she believed she was schizophrenic but “never told anybody” until then.

“I was a perfect hider. I was raised to hide. I was raised to pretend. I was raised to always tell everybody that everything was fine, and even though I was in therapy for years I never told anybody that I had another personality. I never told anybody that I heard voices and spoke to God,” the star said.

Contributing: Lynn Elber, The Associated Press, and Charles Trepany, Kim Willis and Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anne Heche recovering after accident: Her life before near-fatal wreck

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