Heather Duffy remembers Anne Heche in heartfelt tribute to late actress on their ‘Better Together’ podcast
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Heche, one of the world’s most highly regarded actresses, fell at the age of 88, and the public’s response was a mix of shock and relief.
One person on Twitter joked that she was only on her second cup of tea before tweeting “we’re all gonna die anyway!” as if everyone was meant to.
Even before Heche’s death, we were reminded of the strength of her performances on the small screen. Her portrayal of Mary Magdalene in a BBC production of Jesus’ life. The BBC series Our Friends in the North. And her role in the movie The Sweet Smell of Success, when she played the role of a woman whose husband ran away after giving her a big divorce settlement. It’s not often you see a woman play a lesbian in a mainstream film.
The star, who starred in over 60 films and dozens of television shows over the course of her career, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013.
In 2015, at the age of 79, heche fell just two months short of her 100th birthday. Heather Duffy, one half of her comedy act, has been covering the star’s decline in her weekly podcast Our Friends In The North.
Duffy spoke about the star’s life on the episode and explained how she, herself, has battled with the condition for most of her life.
It was the summer of 2013 when a doctor made the surprising announcement. He felt there was something wrong with Heche. Heche was very fit, she had always been very energetic, and was never ill. What he had seen before on Heche was a decline in her physical strength.
“I went to see her doctor, because I felt a little uneasy about the way in which I was feeling about her, and it was the beginning of the decline that I had noticed which was beginning to affect her physical strength and her physical energy,” She explained.
The decline in her physical strength left Heche with a loss of control. The physical decline was so gradual that a large number of people did not notice it. But as those who lived with Heche saw her decline, there were signs, and she was now unable to move around in the house by herself.
“She was able to put on the clothes she wanted to