Eric Dane: How the late Grey’s Anatomy star brought his heroic ALS fight to the screen

In October 2025, Eric Dane found himself back on the set of a medical drama. For six seasons on Grey’s Anatomy, the San Francisco-born star had made hearts race as a doctor dubbed “McSteamy”. This time, in an emotionally-charged episode of Brilliant Minds, he was playing a patient.

Six months earlier, Dane, who has died Thursday at the age of 53, announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease, is an incurable condition that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It causes increasing muscle paralysis over time, and life expectancy varies widely. On average, those found to have the condition live for between two and five years. Some, such as the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, have lived much longer.

Dane vowed that the condition would not stop him from acting. In Brilliant Minds, he played Matthew Ramati, a firefighter whose pride prevented him from revealing his own ALS diagnosis to his family. In one scene, Zachary Quinto’s Dr. Oliver Wolf advised Ramati about his treatment options and the first responder reacted badly to the idea of spending his last days hooked up to a machine. “What’s it matter? Nobody survives this,” he says. “We both know that, and I know how to take care of my family.”

In another powerful scene, Dane’s character recorded a message detailing how his thoughts about asking for help had changed. Afterwards, Brilliant Minds creator Michael Grassi recalled the show’s cast and crew giving the actor a 10-minute standing ovation.

“I have never seen this happen in my entire career... it was so beautiful and so honest and so real,” Grassi told USA Today. “Also, while his character’s finding bravery, there’s a lot of bravery in Eric to tell the story as well. To come out and share this part of yourself is vulnerable but also really important, and I think raises awareness and shows people that they’re not alone.”

open image in gallery

Dane experienced tragedy early in his life. At the age of 7, while he was growing up in northern California, his father died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. “He was a Navy man and ended up becoming an architect and interior designer. He was a troubled soul,” Dane told the Gulf Times in 2014. “My grandmother thinks [his death] was an accident. Everybody’s got a different opinion on it.”

At high school, Dane was a water polo player who fell in love with acting after appearing in a school production of the Arthur Miller play All My Sons. After moving to Los Angeles, he made his television debut in 1991 as volleyball player Tad on teen sitcom Saved by the Bell and worked steadily over the next decade with regular roles in Gideon's Crossing and Charmed.

It was Grey’s Anatomy, however, that made Dane a star. He was initially hired to play Dr. Mark Sloan for just one episode of the medical drama but he proved such a hit with audiences that turned into 140 episodes. His memorable appearance in the show’s third season, fresh from the shower wearing only a towel, helped cement his “McSteamy” nickname.

open image in gallery

Dane left Grey’s in 2012, and from 2014 to 2018 led the Michael Bay-produced action series The Last Ship, about the crew of a Naval destroyer after a pandemic has wiped out most of the world’s population. He also had a key role in the HBO series Euphoria, playing the father of Jacob Elordi’s character.

He married fellow actor Rebecca Gayheart in 2004, and the couple had two daughters together. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018 but later dismissed her petition in order to support Dane after his ALS diagnosis. In December 2025, Gayheart revealed that he required 24-hour medical care, and reflected that while the former couple’s “love may not be romantic... it’s a familial love.”

As well as using his appearance on Brilliant Minds to draw attention to ALS, Dane also became a spokesperson for a number of charities including the research foundation Target ALS. In January 2026, he was named Advocate of the Year by the ALS Network.

“Facing ALS myself, I know the challenges are real and relentless,” Dane said at the time. “But together, through advocacy, awareness, and action, we can move closer to a world without this disease.”