Anne Heche's childhood was marked by terrible suffering which shaped her survivalist's outlook on life. Her father, Donald Heche, was a choir director in a Baptist church who frequented gay bars at night. Anne found out about her father's double life when she was 12, as he lay dying of AIDS. "I watched my dad disintegrate from AIDS because he was ashamed to be what he wanted to be," He died the following year and before the loss could sink in her brother was killed in a car accident.

The family relied on Anne finding employment and she sang in dinner theaters for extra money. In high school, performing became less of an economic necessity and more of an after-school avocation and professionalism was apparent. At 15, Anne was approached by a talent scout from the daytime drama "As The World Turns", but she turned it down because it would have forced the family to relocate from Chicago to New York.

After high school she accepted a job on a different daytime soap "Another World". "The day I arrived, the producer said, 'Oh, by the way, you're playing twins, and one of them is a real sexpot. In your first scene you'll be naked in a bathtub and you've just lost a million dollars'," Heche recalls. She played the good and evil twins Marley McKinnon and Vicki Hudson Frame for four years and won a daytime Emmy along the way.

Her work since has been considerable. Most recently she starred in the remake of Hitchcock's "Psyco", with Vince Vaughn. She also shared the spotlight with Harrison Ford in the hit romantic comedy "Six Days, Seven Nights". She was showered with critical acclaim for her performance in the political satire "Wag The Dog" opposite Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman, and in "Donnie Brasco" opposite Johnny Depp. She was running from fire and ash with Tommy Lee Jones in 1997's "Volcano" and co starred in 1996's "The Juror" with Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin.

Among her TV credidts; HBO's "If These Walls Could Talk"; "Kingfish; A story of Huey P. Long" opposite John Goodman; John Frankenheimer's "Attica"; and "Girls in Prison".

However, no matter how many outstanding performances or Oscars Anne may win, she'll always be remembered as the woman who switched teams for Ellen DeGeneres. At the same moment she professed her undying love for the comedienne, Heche reached career pinnacle attained by only a chosen few. The couple have been in the headlines again recently this time because of their breakup. DeGeneres confirmed their split saying "Unfortunately, we have decided to end our relationship. It is an amicable parting, and we greatly value the 3 ½ years we have spent together. We hope everyone will respect our privacy through this difficult time."