Eric Dane, the celebrated actor best known for his roles on \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d and \u201cEuphoria\u201d and who later in life became an advocate for ALS awareness, died Thursday. He was 53.<\/p>\n
His representatives said Dane died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known also as Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease, less than a year after he announced his diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world,\u201d said a statement that requested privacy for his family. \u201cThroughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight. He will be deeply missed, and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he\u2019s received.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dane was born on November 9, 1972 and raised in California. His father, a Navy man, died of a gunshot wound when he was 7. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, landing guest roles on shows like \u201cSaved by the Bell,\u201d \u201cMarried…With Children,\u201d \u201cCharmed\u201d and \u201cX-Men: The Last Stand,” and one season of the short-lived medical drama \u201cGideon’s Crossing.\u201d<\/p>\n
His big break arrived in the mid-2000s, when he was cast as Dr. Mark Sloan, aka McSteamy, on the ABC medical drama \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy,\u201d a role he would play from 2006 until 2012 and reprise in 2021. In 2019, he did a complete 180 and became Cal Jacobs, a troubled married man, in HBO’s provocative drama, \u201cEuphoria,\u201d a role he continued in up until his death.<\/p>\n
Dane also starred as Tom Chandler, the captain of a U.S. Navy destroyer at sea after a global catastrophe wiped out most of the world\u2019s population, in the TNT drama \u201cThe Last Ship.\u201d In 2017, production was halted as Dane battled depression.<\/p>\n
In April 2025, Dane announced he had been diagnosed with ALS, a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells controlling muscles throughout the body.<\/p>\n
ALS gradually destroys the nerve cells and connections needed to walk, talk, speak and breathe. Most patients die within three to five years of a diagnosis.<\/p>\n
Dane became an advocate for ALS awareness, speaking a news conference in Washington on health insurance prior authorization. \u201cSome of you may know me from TV shows, such as \u201cGrey’s Anatomy,\u201d which I play a doctor. But I am here today to speak briefly as a patient battling ALS,” he said in June 2025. In September of that year, the ALS Network named Dane the recipient of their advocate of the year award, recognizing his commitment to raising awareness and support for people living with ALS.<\/p>\n
A memoir by Dane is scheduled to be published in late 2026. \u201cBook of Days: A Memoir in Moments\u201d will be released by Maria Shriver\u2019s The Open Field, a Penguin Random House imprint. According to Open Field, Dane will look back upon key moments in his life, from his first day at work on \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d to the births of his two daughters and learning that he has ALS.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to capture the moments that shaped me \u2014 the beautiful days, the hard ones, the ones I never took for granted \u2014 so that if nothing else, people who read it will remember what it means to live with heart,” Dane said in a statement around the book’s announcement. “If sharing this helps someone find meaning in their own days, then my story is worth telling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dane is survived by his wife, actor Rebecca Gayheart, and their two teen daughters, Billie Beatrice and Georgia Geraldine. Gayheart and Dane wed in 2004 and separated in September 2017. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018, but later filed to dismiss the petition. In a December essay for New York magazine\u2019s The Cut reflecting on Dane\u2019s diagnosis, Gayheart called their dynamic \u201ca very complicated relationship, one that\u2019s confusing for people.\u201d She said they never got a divorce, but dated other people and lived separately.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur love may not be romantic, but it\u2019s a familial love,\u201d she said. \u201cEric knows that I am always going to want the best for him. That I\u2019m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me. So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eric Dane, the celebrated actor best known for his roles on \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d and \u201cEuphoria\u201d and who later…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[59350,128,59352,59351,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-140429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-als","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-eric-dane","11":"tag-lou-gehrigs-disease","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-the-bronx","16":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","17":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}