Eric Dane, who was catapulted to fame after starring as the heartthrob McSteamy on Grey's Anatomy, has died at 53. The actor's death was announced on Thursday, less than a year after he revealed that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) , also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 'With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,' his family said in a statement to the Daily Mail on Thursday. 'He 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,' they continued. 'Throughout 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’s received. The family has asked for privacy as they navigate this impossible time,' their statement concluded.

The award-winning Euphoria actor is survived by his two teenage daughters, Billie Beatrice, 15, and Georgia Geraldine, 13, and his wife, Rebecca Gayheart. ALS is a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to loss of muscle control and paralysis as it gets worse over time, per the Mayo Clinic. Following his death, a bevy of stars, including Ashton Kutcher and Nina Dobrev, rushed to social media to pay tribute to Dane. The actor announced his diagnosis with the disease in April. By June, he revealed to ABC News — in what would become his final interview before his death — that he had lost the function of his right arm and hand. 'I feel like maybe a couple, few more months, and I won't have my left hand [functioning] either,' Dane told Diane Sawyer.'

The TV star added that he was worried about his impending inability to use his legs, which he said was 'sobering.' By September, Dane was in a wheelchair. In the same interview, he said he first began noticing symptoms of what was later diagnosed as ALS more than a year earlier. 'I didn't really think anything of it at the time. I thought maybe I'd been texting too much or my hand was fatigued,' he recalled. 'But a few weeks later, I noticed it had gotten a little worse, so I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist.' After he was referred to two different neurologists, Dane was finally diagnosed with ALS. 'I'll never forget those three letters,' he declared. Dane, who was born in San Francisco on November 9, 1972, suffered an early tragedy when his father died by [self-murder], leaving Dane's mother to raise him and his brother by herself, according to Deadline. In a 2014 interview with Gulf Times, Dane revealed that he initially had no interest in acting.

Instead, he was focused on sports in high school, where he played on the water polo team, but his life changed when he 'got roped' into playing the lead role in a production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons after his season ended early. The experience gave Dane the acting bug, and he never looked back. He went on to drop out of high school just a month before graduation and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. 'I moved down here with 40 bucks in my pocket and took about three or four acting classes a week and tried to figure out what it was about this thing that I liked so much,' Dane recalled. He shared with People in a 2014 interview that his early career was complicated by his wild streak. 'I ended up partying for the next eight years,' he admitted. 'I got into a lot of trouble.' His early acting credits include appearances in Saved By The Bell, The Wonder Years, Roseanne and Married... with Children, but his big break came in 2000 when he was cast in a recurring role in Gideon's Crossing. He then went on to land the role of Jason Dean in Charmed.

In 2005, Dane made a fateful guest appearance on Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Mark Sloan. His character garnered such an overwhelming response from viewers in his debut episode that he was promoted to a series regular for the show's third season. 'In the moment, it was just another scene to me,' he recalled to Sawyer in June. 'I just remember walking out of a bathroom with a very nice [effects] gentleman blowing smoke [to create steam] toward me.' Dane went on to appear on the medical drama until the eighth season, when his character resigned, although he returned fleetingly in season nine before Dr. Mark was killed off. In 2024, Dane revealed on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast that he had left Grey's Anatomy due to the show's tightening budget. 'I wasn’t the same guy they had hired. So I had understood when I was let go,' he said. 'And [series creator] Shonda [Rhimes] was really great. She protected us fiercely. She protected us publicly. She protected us privately. … But I was probably fired. 'It wasn’t ceremoniously like, "You’re fired." It was just like, "You’re not coming back,"' he explained.

In the same interview, he revealed that he had gone to rehab during his stint on Grey's Anatomy due to an addiction to painkillers. 'If you take the whole eight years on Grey's Anatomy, I was [expletive] up longer than I was sober. And that’s when things started going sideways for me,' he shared. 'It was overwhelming, and I think I just wanted to pretend that it wasn’t and that I was comfortable with it. Act like you’ve been there, but you haven’t been there.' Despite having been killed off, Dane's character returned one more time in 2022's season 17, when series lead Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) met him on a beach during a hallucination while she was in a coma brought on by a battle with Covid-19. More recently, Dane starred as Jacob Elordi's on-screen dad in the HBO series, Euphoria, which premiered in 2019. In April, he confirmed that he would be returning to the show as Cal Jacobs for its third and final season. 'I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to [the] set of Euphoria,' he said in a statement to People. On the big screen, Dane appeared in an array of huge titles, including Marley & Me (2008), Burlesque (2010) and Americana (2023). In 2010, he starred alongside Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, and Bradley Cooper in the romcom Valentine's Day.

His other recent film work includes roles in Redeeming Love (2022), the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence–starring Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), One Fast Move (2024) and Borderline (2025). He also played an FBI agent last year in the Amazon Prime Video series Countdown. Also in 2025, Dane appeared in Jimmy Warden's directorial debut, Borderline with Samara Weaving and Ray Nicholson. Dane had been open about his declining health, first revealing his ALS diagnosis in April. 'I have been diagnosed with ALS,' he told People at the time. 'I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.' In his interview with Diane Sawyer for Good Morning America in June, Dane spoke about how he was processing his health battle. 'I wake up every day, and I'm immediately reminded that this is happening,' he said. 'It's not a dream.' Dane's wife, Gayheart, also opened up about how their family was dealing with his 'heartbreaking' diagnosis. She said that their teenage daughters were talking to therapists as their father battled with the progressive neurodegenerative disease. 'I mean, it's heartbreaking,' she told People. 'My girls are really suffering, and we're just trying to get through it. It's a tough time. 'We have some professional therapists who are helping us, and we're just trying to have some hope and do it with dignity, grace and love.'

Dane and Gayheart wed in 2004. They were married for 14 years before she filed for divorce in 2018. However, the pair called off the split seven years later, and they remained married until his death. Dane announced his diagnosis just a month after Gayheart requested to dismiss her divorce filing. 'I mean, we're definitely dealing with something that has brought us all together, and Eric will always be my family, whether we're married or not, or living in the same house or not, but yeah, we are closer, but we don't like the reason why,' she said. 'It's a horrible disease, and I wish that there was a cure. I hope they find one soon, because it is just so sad.' In September, Dane was notably absent from the Emmy Awards despite a previously announced appearance to reunite with his Grey's Anatomy costar Jesse Williams to present an award. Williams ended up presenting alone onstage and made no mention of Dane's absence. A day later, Dane made a virtual appearance as he revealed a partnership with the nonprofit organization I AM ALS. In the video, he encouraged people to donate to the cause to find a cure. 'I'm Eric, an actor, a father, and now a person living with ALS,' he said in the video.