Throwback Thursday: Anne Heche

Anne Heche (1969 - 2022)

One of my favourite actresses, Anne Heche has died following a horrendous car accident.

She was only 53.

Below I'm republishing a piece I wrote back in September 2007, almost at random, to celebrate my discovery of her - then - new TV show, the brilliant Men In Trees, which, like so many great shows, came and went without the plaudits it deserved.

My celebrity crush on Anne was a big part of my latter university years and subsequent life.

My one attempt at writing a novel featured a lead character that I'd modelled on her, with the idea that when it was inevitably made into a movie she would be cast in the role!

While I never lost my admiration for her, the explosion of available TV in recent years made it harder to stumble across her work... which now often appeared to be on channels we couldn't access or that simply never crossed The Pond to Blighty.

I definitely got the impression that she was a troubled soul, like another of my favourites, Superman's Margot Kidder.

Here's what I wrote - unedited - 15 years ago about Anne, reminiscing about the first time I saw her on screen:

After all this time, it still surprises me what I can recall from my "pre-stroke" days and what's a total blank. Rather oddly, one thing I still recall clearly is the first time I saw actress Anne Heche.

It was early in my second year of university, and, as usual, a group of us were gathering in our house for a boisterous night on the town. People were drifting in slowly and the TV in the main lounge was on - it was some Channel 4 "theme night". I was watching it out the corner of my eye.

The host introduced comedian Ellen DeGeneres who came in, accompanied by her stunning girlfriend - it was like I had been struck by lightning! I sat up and fixated on this bob-haired pixie, whose name I soon discovered was Anne Heche.

I have followed Anne's career loyally ever since - watching many of her films (although none of her more recent material yet) and her major TV appearances (from her cameos on Ellen to her major role in Ally McBeal) and I even stuck by her though the "difficult years" when she was a bit loopy (I read her rather disturbing autobiography Call Me Crazy) and her indecisions about whether she was a lesbian or not, up to the present day.

Last night Living TV screened the first episode of Anne's great new TV series: Men In Trees. Set in the isolated Alaskan town of Elmo, where the men outnumber the women 10 to one, there's a strong Northern Exposure vibe, although Men In Trees has yet to evidence the extreme quirkiness of that early '90s staple.

I managed to watch the show 'live' (rather than "off tape") as the Film Night screening of Taxi Driver was postponed until next week as Rachel and I had come in late from shopping after visiting mum.

Men In Trees is not in the slightest bit geeky, and my critical eye was certainly skewed by Anne's presence, but its stunning Alaskan scenery and gentle humour has guaranteed it a slot in my weekly "must see" schedule.

Anne plays relationship coach Marin Frist who visits Elmo on a lecture tour to promote her latest book, only to discover while there that her fiancé is cheating on her. She gets drunk in the town's one bar and misses her flight home, then after a series of mishaps - including falling through the ice into a frozen lake - decides to stay in Elmo to start work on her next book.

There is enormous potential for this ensemble show, as long as it doesn't fall into the "visitor from the outside"-of-the-week cliché, and as long as Anne stays on board I'll be there for a weekly dose of easy viewing and Merin Frist wisdom.

BBC News has published a thorough guide to Anne's life and her career here.