“Grey’s Anatomy” aired episode 18 of its second season titled “Yesterday” on Feb. 19, 2006. In the episode, audiences were introduced to a brand new character named Mark Sloan, who made his first appearance right after receiving a punch from Derek Shepherd. Sloan eventually became a season regular and was nicknamed “McSteamy” to contrast Shepherd’s “McDreamy.”
Twenty years later, on that exact same day, Sloan’s beloved actor, Eric Dane, passed away.
Fifty-three-year-old Dane was remembered for his role as Mark Sloan and whose on-screen fictional death left fans heartbroken. USA Today reported, “fans are mourning McSteamy once again.”
Dane was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2024, later revealing it to the public in 2025. ALS is a rare, degenerative neurological disease that attacks and kills motor neurons. There is no cure for ALS and no way to stop its acceleration.
After noticing weakness in his hand in 2023, Dane went through a series of different specialists to find the cause. By the time he revealed the diagnosis to the public, his right arm was no longer functioning.
Dane continued to act through his diagnosis as a way to continue doing what he loved and spread awareness about ALS. Fans noticed the quick progression of his ALS, seeing drastic changes from one interview to the next.
Dane was scheduled to present at the 2025 Emmy Awards alongside his former “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star Jesse Williams. In an interview with The Washington Post, Dane recalled that night as a frustrating moment, saying he had a bad fall that night and had to get stitches on his head. He described ALS as “a nasty disease” that stopped him from attending something he was looking forward to.
“I’m fairly limited in what I can do physically as an actor, but I still have my brain, and I still have my speech, so I’m willing to just do about anything,” Dane said at an ALS conference in December 2025. “I’ll take on any role.”
Despite the progression of the disease, Dane completed filming for the third season of “Euphoria” as his character Cal Jacobs, which will premiere on April 12.
The weekend following his death, many of Dane’s former colleagues published tributes to Dane, reminiscing not only on the type of person he was and their fondest memories of him, but also sharing the impact he had on their lives.
The morning after his death, Netflix released “Famous Last Words: Eric Dane,” a special interview that was only to be aired after he had passed. The interview was filmed as a one-on-one between Dane and Brad Falchuk with no film or production crew present.
Dane shared that throughout it all, he never let the disease take his sense of humor away.
Although he was in a relationship with filmmaker Janell Shirtcliff at the time of his death, Dane spoke specifically about his legal wife and the mother of his two daughters in the interview, Rebecca Gayheart.
“I will have never, by the time anybody sees this, have fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca,” Dane said.
While Dane was guided through the interview with a series of questions from Falchuk, during the last few minutes of the segment, he was left alone in the room to truly share the last words he wanted people to hear from him.
He chose to direct them to his two daughters, Billie Dane and Georgia Dane.
Dane reminisced on all the times he went to the beach alongside his wife and their “water babies.” He shared advice for the two of them about cherishing every moment, showing up, finding things to fall in love with and to always fight.
Dane ended with, “Billie and Georgia, you are my heart, you are my everything. Good night. I love you. Those are my last words.”
