Eric Dane dead at 53 after ALS struggles

Actor Eric Dane has died.

The “Grey’s Anatomy” alum passed away on Thursday, 10 months after announcing his ALS diagnosis..

He was 53 years old.

Dane’s family shared in a statement to People, “With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS. “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,” the statement continued. “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.”

Dane had been open about his struggles with ALS, which he shared he was diagnosed with in April 2025.

ALS “is a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord,” leading to “loss of muscle control” and progresses over time, according to the Mayo Clinic.

There is no cure.

In an interview with “Good Morning America” back in June 2025, he revealed his first symptom.

“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand, and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” the actor explained to Diane Sawyer.

“I thought maybe I had been texting too much or my hand was fatigued. But a few weeks later, I noticed it had gotten a little worse.”

In September 2025, he was seen in a wheelchair at an airport in Washington, DC, and struggled to speak to a paparazzo.

“Keep the faith, man,” Dane replied in a stilted voice when asked what he wanted to say to concerned fans.

In December 2025, he said he still wanted to continue acting despite his disease’s progression.

“I still have my brain, and I still have my speech,” he explained in December during a panel discussion put on by I Am ALS and “Brilliant Minds,” noting that he was “willing to do just about anything.”

Late last month. he abruptly pulled out of an ALS event due to health issues. The actor canceled “due to the physical realities of ALS” and not being “well enough to attend.”

Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart called off their divorce in March 2025, one month before he announced his ALS diagnosis.

The former couple wed in 2004 and shared daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14.

In an emotional essay for “The Cut” published in December 2025, Gayheart clarified that she and Dane “haven’t lived in the same home for eight years,” noting that their “love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love.”

She noted that “he’s dated other people, [and she has] dated someone” — 78-year-old billionaire Peter Morton — since she filed for divorce in 2018.

“Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him,” she also wrote. “That I’m 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,” she continued. “And I want to model that for my girls: ‘That’s what you do. That’s the right thing to do.’”