Call Me Crazy by Anne Heche

Anne Heche. Call Me Crazy. New York: Washington Square Press, 2001.

The author was sexually abused from when she was a baby. Sexual abuse is something that happens to one sixth of all minor females. Only about one tenth ever will discuss it. Heche copes by splitting her personality into two, and later in adulthood, into three.

Anne Heche grew up in a strict household where a sister had died and was seldom mentioned. Her bisexual father contracted hepatitis while claiming it was from eating raw fish with a mother who insisted they had never eaten raw fish. Anne was raped by her father while her mother never intervened. The author contracted herpes at age eight. Her parents didn’t believe in doctors, which meant her mother preferred to keep her father’s secret hidden.

Anne Heche’s father taught his children to be creative. When her father boasted of being friends with Teri and Brooke Shields, young Anne began wondering if her own father would love her more if she were an actress like Brooke Shields.

The family fell into hard times. Each family member sought additional work. Anne was a baby sitter for a family that owned a dinner theater. They agreed to let Anne audition with an equal chance against other auditioners. She won a part and became the local theater group’s youngest actor. While working in theater, she heard about homosexuality and came to realize her father and his male roommate were gay. Her father died of AIDS in 1983.

Anne Heche went into therapy, including illegal LSD therapy based on the ideas of Dr. Timothy Leary. In exploring her inner mind, she found herself feeling as if she were her own feces.

Anne Heche moved to Los Angeles. During her first week there, she got a role on the TV series “Murphy Brown”. A few weeks later shoe won the lead in a play. She met musician Lindsay Buckingham and dated him for about a year.

Heche appeared in the movie “Volcano” and then “Stripping for Jesus”. She met Ellen DeGeneres and they dated. When she announced she was bringing Ellen DeGeneres as her date to the “Volcano” premiere, she was warned she would be blacklisted from movie roles. Some blamed the poor attendance figures for “Volcano” on her announcement she was gay. Her next movie’s co-star Harrison Ford called to support her. They filmed “Six Days Seven Nights” together.

The public relationship took its toll on Ellen DeGeneres, who became depressed as her TV show’s ratings dropped./ Anne hid what she wanted from Ellen DeGenere,. Heche broke into another personality who was gathering people on a spaceship to Heaven. Heche was hospitalized.