Friends and former costars of Eric Dane are paying tribute to the actor after his death at the age of 53.
Dane’s death was confirmed Thursday by ABC News.
The actor, a father of two, revealed in April 2025 that he’d been battling the incurable degenerative neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
As recently as December, Dane said on a panel that he hoped to continue acting in roles involving ALS, saying, “It’s imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can, because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore.”
Actor Ashton Kutcher, a friend of Dane’s, was among the first to publicly pay tribute to the late Grey’s Anatomy star, writing on X Thursday, “The Franklin strip fanatics fantasy football league will miss Mr. Eric Dane. We know you’ll be watching from the booth. Miss you, buddy. Let’s keep fighting the fight to solve ALS.”
Dane’s Grey’s Anatomy costar Patrick Dempsey remembered his friend during an appearance on a radio show Friday, saying in part, “He was the funniest man. He was such a joy to work with. And I just want to remember him in that spirit because anytime he was on set, he brought so much fun to it. He had a great sense of humor … we got along instantly.”
In addition to Grey’s Anatomy, on which he portrayed Dr. Mark Sloan, Dane also starred in shows including Charmed, Euphoria and Countdown as well as films including Marley & Me and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, according to his IMDb biography.
Alyssa Milano, who costarred with Dane on Charmed, shared photos of Dane on Instagram, writing in part, “I can’t stop seeing that spark in Eric’s eye right before he’d say something that would either make you spit out your drink or rethink your entire perspective. He had a razor-sharp sense of humor. He loved the absurdity of things. He loved catching people off guard. And when it came to his daughters and Rebecca, everything in him softened. He carried them with him even in rooms where they weren’t present. You could see it in the way his voice changed when he said their names. A breathtakingly beautiful family.”
Journalist Maria Shriver, whose publishing imprint published Dane’s memoir, also paid tribute, writing on Instagram, “What a tragedy. He was so heroic the way he handled his diagnosis. He used his voice to let the world know what it was like living with ALS.”
I Am ALS, an advocacy group Dane worked with, shared a statement after the actor’s death, saying, “Eric brought humility, humor, and visibility to ALS and reminded the world that progress is possible when we refuse to remain silent.”
Born on Nov. 9, 1972, in San Francisco, Dane caught the acting bug in high school and made his television debut in a 1991 episode of Saved by the Bell.
Dane is survived by his two daughters, whom he shares with the actress Rebecca Gayheart.
Gayheart and Dane married in October 2004. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018 but later requested to dismiss that petition in March 2025, a month before Dane went public with his ALS diagnosis.
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