Hetse, 53, was seriously injured in a one-car accident on Aug. 5 and suffered “severe anoxic brain damage,” according to a statement from Hetse’s family to CNN. She was confirmed “brain dead” on Friday, meeting California’s legal definition of death, but it is understood life support was maintained to facilitate organ donation. A family spokesman said he had been “peacefully removed from life support” on Sunday. 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 A-list Hollywood with films such as Wag the Dog, Six Days, Seven Nights (opposite 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 alleging that she had been sexually abused by her father. Her family previously released a statement to news outlet TMZ, which said: “We have lost a shining light, a kinder and happier soul, a loving mother and a loyal friend. Anne will be greatly missed, but lives on through her beautiful sons, her iconic work and her passionate advocacy. Her bravery in always standing in her truth, spreading the message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact.”
