Connect with us

Breaking News

12

Anne Heche, ‘Another World’ Alum and TV and Film Star, Dead at 53

Photo: AP

UPDATED: According to Anne Heche’s rep, Holly Baird, “Anne Heche has been peacefully taken off life support,” in a statement released on Sunday night.

Previously, following a catastrophic brain injury from crashing her car into a home on August 5th and suffering severe burns, the actress had been declared brain-dead at the age of 53.

In a statement from a rep for Heche’s friends and family, they expressed: “Today we lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend.  Anne will be deeply missed but she lives on through her beautiful sons, her iconic body of work, and her passionate advocacy. Her bravery for always standing in her truth, spreading her message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact.”

Heche is legally dead according to California law, although her heart is still beating she has not been taken off life support in order to allow for organ donations to take place and to find the right recipients.

 

Photo: AHInstagram

Anne’s eldest son, Homer 20, said in a statement to PEOPLE on his mom’s passing:  “My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom. After six days of almost unbelievable emotional swings, I am left with a deep, wordless sadness. 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.”

The talented actress is best-known to soap opera fans for her Daytime Emmy-winning dual roles as twins, Vicky and Marley Hudson on Another World.  She had two sons, Homer with her ex Coley Laffoon and Atlas, 13, with actor James Tupper.

Throughout her career Heche appeared on TV shows and films includingL Men in Trees, If These Walls Could TalkDonnie BrascoI Know What You Did Last SummerSix Days, Seven Nights, and Gus Van Zant’s 1998 remake of Psycho. Back in 2020, Anne became a celebrity contestant on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Heche’s stormy relationship with Ellen DeGeneres made headlines throughout her career, and today, DeGeneres shared: “This is a sad day. I’m sending Anne’s children, family and friends all of my love.”

Michael Fairman chatted with Anne back in 2020, in a memorable conversation for You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel touching upon her career start on Another World, being a champion for the LGBTQ community, her relationship with DeGeneres, the ups and down in her career, and her demons and childhood past.

You can watch the conversation below.

Now, share your thoughts, condolences, and remembrances for Anne Heche via the comment section.

Leave a comment | 12 Comments

12 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Anne Heche was a wonderful actress, loved her on Another World. Sending my condolences to her children friends and Family. My heart hurts hearing she passed away. May she RIP ❤️

Being a huge fan of AW for many years, and I was sad when it was canceled. The show had so many talented actors / actress on it. The show was awesome and the storylines were great. Beverlee McKinsey rocked it, Linda Dano just awesome, Stephen Schnetzer great, Anna Stuart also rocked it (love her), Ellen Wheeler great, Nancy Frangione, awesome (miss her) Judi Evans, great, Alice Barrett rocked it (miss her, Alicia Coppola, rocked it, Thomas Ian Griffith, awesome, Matt Crane, great, Anna Holbrook great (miss her, Carmen Duncan, great, but Anne Heche really rocked it, day in and day out she was awesome! Her acting was top notched and had me and rest of the AW fans and other’s tuning in to view her along with Tom Eplin, he was great too! To view Anne Heche on AW I knew she be star, and she was doing it her way. We will never know what was going on with her during her last days, but she has left a legacy in daytime that will NOT be done again on screen. Heche was a top notch actress and her acting skills were just awesome and she did take all of us to Another World. She be missed deeply! ♥ RIP

Her work on AW was superb beyond words. I was just a teenager at the time, but she left such an imprint on this young soap fan that I always remembered her as one of my all-time faves.

I’ve been watching Anne on AW clips on YouTube she was so good I wish she had stayed until the bitter end it would have been a much better show. She was Vicky to me always. RIP to a true daytime original and a STAR!†*****

I’m really bereft about this news. All sympathies to Homer and Anne’s other loved ones. She was a unique actress with her own style. Even in the ill-advised remake of PSYCHO, she shone in the role of Marion Crane. And I love her LIFETIME and HALLMARK Christmas movies. I hope the press can be more respectful from here on. ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, which cashes in on celebrity woes, has been particularly pointed in listing all of Anne’s “demons”, averring she had “narcotics, notably cocaine in her system” and continually dredging up her unfortunate history post-Ellen. Now they’re piling on felony and misdemeanor charges! Leave her alone! How about showing some significant clips of her best work, like her stunning performance as the scheming Rowena in GRACIE’S CHOICE or as the terrified mother in GIRL FIGHT. THAT would be appropriate and respectful, not telling viewers that “our thoughts and prayers are with Anne’s family.” If so, back off!

I suppose that part is news as well, Soaphound–but I too wish the coverage had been less lurid and more balanced. While I certainly can’t condone driving under the influence (of whatever), I also can’t begin to understand what it’s like to be a survivor of child sexual abuse or what that might do to one’s psyche, and I would have hoped more compassion (not to mention respect) would have been shown in covering what happened–again, not asking that the bad parts get ignored or glossed over, just that they not take the forefront and overshadow everything else. Maybe she’ll get that now that she’s gone.

This is so sad. I have a fan since “Another World”. She was an amazing actress. I feel for her sons and their loss. RIP

Loved Anne on Another World, all of her nighttime shows, especially Men In Trees and Chicago PD. My heart goes out to her family, especially her two sons. She was in so much pain and turmoil her whole life, hopefully now she will long-lastingly be at peace. God bless her and her loved ones.j

Violet, I ADORED Men in Trees and was just devastated when it was canceled.

Her passing is such a loss. I do wonder if in cases like this it can be a blessing; I understand from news reports that had she survived, the road to recovery would have been long and painful, as well as very iffy. Terrible as this news is, I hope her family and friends can take comfort in the amount of suffering she has likely been spared.

This whole situation is weird so everyone is sitting around waiting to take body parts? Just strange totally strange!!

Being an organ donor is the last gift someone can give. In real life it saves others lives and may provide the dying individual’s loved ones some comfort. A painful situation to be in, but not weird or strange.

Michael, thank you for reposting your talk with Anne. I missed it the first time. She was such a bright light. I hope she knew how many people loved her and how talented she was. I was disappointed when she wasn’t at the Emmys to accept her award. She is still being referred to as Emmy-nominated in her obituaries. This is hitting me hard. I only started watching Men In Trees because she was in it. It was a good show. I don’t think ABC did it any favors moving it around on the schedule. I never knew how hard it was for her to film Vicky/Marley scenes. She did it so well and effortlessly. I was so sad when she left AW. To this day, those characters that she made her own, are some of my favorite. You are missed Anne, but your work and love will live on. Thank you for sharing your gift and entertaining me.

Breaking News

George Cheeks, CBS President & CEO, on Timeline to Launch New Daytime Drama, ‘The Gates’: “We’re So Focused on Getting it Right”

March 2024 will be remembered in the TV and soap world when the news broke that CBS is prepping a brand new daytime drama. Many had thought a major network would never bring a new daytime soap into the world, given that the last time it was attempted was 25 years ago when the now defunct Passions bowed on NBC.

However, The Gates is definitely in development and moving forward with some major players associated with it including: Michele Val Jean as The Gates writer, showrunner and one of its executive producers, and Sheila Ducksworth from NAACP Venture

Now, for the first time since its announcement, George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer for news and sports at Paramount+, spoke on the project that will feature a Black family as its central focus who live in a wealthy gated community.

Photo: NAACP

Speaking with Vulture, and when asked if The Gates is really something that truly has a chance of getting on the air, Cheeks clarified, “It’s super real. And just to give you a little bit of the backstory,  when we hired Sheila Ducksworth to run the NAACP Venture, she and I had multiple meetings talking about what different genres she was going to lean into, and we talked a lot about daytime.”

Cheeks added, “One of the things that the data made very clear to both of us is that daytime soap operas over index with Black women, and yet when you look at soap operas, it’s usually sort of a white-led family with supporting characters that reflect more of our society. So we just thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to flip that and make the core anchor family a Black family, and then make the other characters reflect more the broader scope of society?”

Photo: JPI

The CEO gave props to Michele Val Jean,  and how Ducksworth came to the table with the former B&B and GH writer. “She found this great writer, Michele Val Jean, who’s been in the soap opera space for 30 years. She came up with a pitch, and we loved it,” shares Cheeks. “We brought Procter & Gamble into it as well, because if there were going to be (product) integrations, we could do it more holistically and organically. All of that is to say, we did a lot of work on the front end to put this together. So while yes, it’s development, it’s accelerated development.”

When prodded on the timeline of when The Gates could come to full fruition, Gates related, “The actual timeline and when we’re going to do it is still uncertain, because we want to get this right. I mean, there hasn’t been a new soap opera launch since I can’t even begin to tell you when. But we have great success with Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless, and so we think we’re the right folks to be launching a new soap. I wish I could tell you more about exact timing, but we’re so focused on getting it right, and that will dictate when we’re ready to launch it.”

The CBS exec also shared that whether The Gates will wind up an hour soap or half-hour is not yet determined, but that it is being developed as an hour show.

So, after reading what George Cheeks, the CBS President & CEO had to say about ‘The Gates’, are you even more excited for what looks to the first new network soap in 25 years? Comment below.

Continue Reading

Breaking News

Robyn Bernard, ‘General Hospital’s’ Terry Brock, Dead at 64

Former General Hospital star, Robyn Bernard, who played aspiring singer Terry Brock has died. She was 64-years-old.

Bernard’s body was found Tuesday in San Jacinto, California. A Riverside County Coroner told TMZ they identified the actress’ body using her fingerprints after deputies responded to a death investigation call on Tuesday March 12th.

Sources told the outlet that Bernard’s body was found in the wee hours of the morning. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Photo: ABC

Bernard joined General Hospital back in 1984 as Terry Brock, the daughter of the abusive D.L. Brock (played by David Groh). Robyn remained on the ABC soap opera for six years before making her exit in 1990. At one point, Terry’s stepmother would become Bobbie Spencer (the late Jackie Zeman) when the nurse married her father.

Terry was involved in the Laurelton Murders storyline and after first setting her sights on Frisco Jones, wound up with killer Kevin O’Connor. Later, Terry was blamed for several murders and in the end killed Kevin in self-defense. In addition, Terry had a relationship with Dusty Walker played by none other than Shaun Cassidy.  She eventually left Port Charles after landing her own recording contract.

Photo: ABC

The last time GH Fans may have seen Bernard was in 2014, when she appeared at the GH Fan Club Weekend Past Cast event. Robyn is pictured below with the late Susan Brown (ex-Gail) at the fan gathering. She has been out of the limelight for several years.

Photo: JPI

In addition to her role on GH, Bernard was featured throughout her TV career on primetime’s Simon & Simon, Tour of Duty and The Facts of Life.

Share your remembrances and condolences for GH alum Robyn Bernard and her loved ones via the comment section below.

Continue Reading

Breaking News

51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Announce Broadcast Date on CBS

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) revealed on Tuesday, that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Friday night, June 7th (8 – 10 PM, ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+*.

This year will mark the 18th time CBS has broadcast the Daytime Emmy Awards, which is more than any other network.

The 2024 Daytime Emmys will take place at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles. Back in December of 2023, the delayed 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were also held at that venue. The June 7th date for the upcoming ceremony will be the first time in several years that the event is scheduled a few weeks earlier than normal; excluding last year’s revised date to the actors and writers strikes.

Photo: NATAS

Lifetime Achievement honoree, nominations, host, and additional information will be announced in the coming weeks.

In a statement, Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS noted, “We eagerly anticipate our return in June as we once again partner with CBS to recognize the exceptional and talented individuals who make daytime television great. We’re thrilled to kick off our second half-century of the Daytime Emmys.”

The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of categories, including daytime dramas, talk shows, instructional programming, hosting, culinary, and legal/courtroom programs. In 2021, NATAS and the Television Academy jointly announced plans to realign the Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards to be organized by content genre, as opposed to program airtime.

Photo: JPI

The 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will once again be produced by NATAS and Associated Television International (ATI), which produced Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies on The CW in 2009 and on CBS in 2010, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Adam Sharp and Lisa Armstrong are executive producers from NATAS, while David McKenzie is executive producer from ATI.

So, glad to know that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards honoring performance and shows in the 2023 calendar year, will be held in early June this year, and once again broadcast on CBS? Comment below.

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

Peter Reckell returns for a second visit with Michael Fairman following the wrap-up of his recent run as Bo Brady on Days of our Lives.Leave A Comment

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Kim Coles as Whitley

Days of our Lives

Airdate: 7-24- 2023

Popular