Anne Heche, best known for 1990s movies “Donnie Brasco” and “Six Days, Seven Nights”, crashed her car into a two-story house in the Mar Vista neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
A spokeswoman said Friday that Hollywood actress Anne Heche has been legally dead after she rammed her car into a Los Angeles building.
Heche, 53, had been unconscious at the hospital with a severe brain injury following the horrific collision on August 5.
Having lost all brain function, he is “legally dead according to California law”. However, his heart is still beating as his family puts his body on life support while searching for organ donation, spokeswoman Holly Baird said.
“Today, we lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend,” the family said in a joint statement. “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, best known for 1990s movies “Donnie Brasco” and “Six Days, Seven Nights”, as well as a high-profile relationship with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, crashed her car into a two-story house in the Mar Vista neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
The violent collision resulted in “structural compromise and… heavy fire” at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The department said that the ensuing blaze took 59 firefighters more than an hour to contain and fully extinguish.
Local media reported Thursday that preliminary tests of Heche’s blood had returned positive for narcotics. However, more was needed to ensure the drugs were not administered during her treatment.
Celebrity gossip outlet TMZ, citing unnamed police sources, said Heche had tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, with the latter sometimes used for pain relief in clinical settings.
Heche rose to fame with her role in the soap opera “Another World,” for which she won a Daytime Emmy in 1991.
She was nominated for a Tony award for her appearance in “Twentieth Century” on Broadway in 2004. “My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom,” Heche’s son Homer Laffoon said in a separate statement.
“Hopefully, my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom,” he wrote.
