Eric Dane, best known for playing emotionally tortured hunks on shows including Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria, has been diagnosed with amyotrophic late
Eric Dane, best known for playing emotionally tortured hunks on shows including Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria, has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Just days ahead of his April 14 start of filming on the long-gestating third season of HBO’s Euphoria, Dane told People magazine: “I have been diagnosed with ALS. I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a uncommon neurodegenerative disease that weakens a patient’s ability to control muscle movement, speak clearly, and, eventually, breathe independently. There is no cure for ALS, and people typically live for two to five years after diagnosis, according to the ALS Association. However, some patients can live for a decade or more beyond that window.
The 52-year-old is married to fellow actor Rebecca Gayheart, with whom he shares two daughters—15-year-old Billie and 13-year-old Georgia. “We are best of friends. We are really close,” Gayheart told E! News a day before Dane publicly shared his diagnosis. “We are great coparents…. I think it’s important to not look at a relationship that ends as a failure.”
Gayheart filed for divorce from Dane in 2018, but filed to dismiss the petition just last month. “We were married for—I mean, we are still married, but together for 15 years, and we had two beautiful kids,” she said. “So I think that’s a successful relationship, and that’s how we look at it.”
Dane, who found fame playing hotshot plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan (a.k.a. McSteamy) on Grey’s Anatomy, went on to lead the TNT naval series The Last Ship and appear in films including Burlesque and Bad Boys: Ride or Die. His most prominent recent role has been Euphoria’s Cal, the closeted, embittered father of Jacob Elordi’s Nate.
“I don’t know what it’s like to be Cal, but I know what it’s like to live a double life,” Dane told Vanity Fair in 2022. “I’ve had my own experience with drug and alcohol abuse. That’s a double life.” He has been open about his experience with addiction, voluntarily entering rehab in 2011 for a dependency on painkillers following a sports injury. “Trying to keep that secret is tough,” Dane continued. “Eventually everything always catches up with you.”
Dane will now return to the part after another life-changing event. “I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to [the] set of Euphoria next week,” he told People. “I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
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