Veteran actor Eric Dane, who starred as the unforgettable Dr. Mark Sloan — a.k.a. McSteamy — in Grey’s Anatomy and the hit HBO drama Euphoria, died on Thursday. He was 53. News of his death arrives 10 months after he shared his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, with the public.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” read a statement from the actor’s family, per People. “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.
“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,” his family added. “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.”
In April of last year, Dane shared that he was diagnosed with ALS, a rare degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. When appearing on television and social media, Dane would often share the challenges of living with the disease and advocate for awareness and research into ALS.
“I will never forget those three letters,” he told Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America when discussing how his life changed learning of the diagnosis. “It’s on me the second I wake up. It’s not a dream.” At the time, he said his right side had stopped functioning while his left side was still working. “I’m fighting as much as I can. There’s so much about it that’s out of my control,” he said.
Eric William Dane was born on Nov. 8, 1972, in San Francisco, California. His father died of a gunshot wound when Dane was seven years old. “He was a Navy man and ended up becoming an architect and interior designer. He was a troubled soul,” the actor told Gulf Times in 2014.
An athlete in high school, Dane initially had no intention of acting. “I was a water polo player in high school and my season was short and I ended up getting roped into playing Joe Keller in All My Sons,” he told the publication. “And I fell in love with it. I was, like, this is the greatest feeling ever!”
He moved to Los Angeles in 1993 and struggled for several years, taking on film and television roles on Gideon’s Crossing, Charmed, Saved By the Bell, Married With Children, and X-Men: the Last Stand. In 2006, he landed his career-making role as the handsome plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan in the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
It was a character he fully embraced. “I felt like I had an artistic obligation to not shy away from that part of the character. And to a degree, there’s a lot of me in that guy,” he told Glamour in 2019. “But I think at the end of the day, you tend to give people what they’re asking for, because it’s the path of least resistance.”
After leaving the show in 2012, Dane would go on to star as a Naval commander in the dystopian suspense series The Last Ship for five seasons before finding his way to Euphoria. The HBO teenage drama debuted in 2019 and among its brilliant cast, Dane delivered one of the most menacing portrayals as the father of Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi.
In his 2014 Gulf Times interview, Dane elaborated on his “love-hate” relationship with acting. “When I love it, I love it more than anything,” he said. “And when I’m not feeling it, I have a deep disdain for it. I don’t know if I can articulate exactly why, but I think with anything there’s a balance, and you can’t have an intense amount of love for something if you don’t have the polar opposite of that for it.”
Last October, Dane revealed that he had to miss a planned appearance at the Emmy Awards because of a head injury tied to his ALS diagnosis. The actor was set to present an Emmy alongside his old Grey’s co-star Jesse Williams, but had to pull out at the last minute.
While the injury prevented Dane from attending the ceremony, it didn’t stop him from flying to Washington, D.C., a couple of days later to meet with lawmakers and advocate for more funding for ALS research. (There is still no cure for the disease, nor is it fully understood what causes ALS.)
Of taking on his role as an advocate, especially when he has the resources to access certain types of care not available to all with ALS, Dane told The Washington Post, “I have been an open book about certain things in my life. This is something I felt compelled to share with people. I don’t really have a dog in the fight, per se, when it comes to worrying about what people are going to think about me. This is more of a: ‘How can I help? How can I be of some service?’
