Eric Dane, who died Thursday at 53 after a nearly yearlong battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), candidly revealed his vow to “combat” the disease in his final on-camera interview in December 2025.
Speaking on a virtual panel for I Am ALS on Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2), the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor discussed his time playing a character battling ALS in drama series “Brilliant Minds.”
“It was hard, and there were moments when it was very difficult for me getting the lines out,” he said.
“Nobody survives this. We both know that. I’ve never played a character who’s going through something I’m dealing with in real time, in real life as well.”
“I’m fairly limited in what I can do physically,” he added.
“I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore. Obviously ,I have a family at home,” the father of two teen daughters, who he shares with wife Rebecca Gayheart, explained. “But this is such a big deal to me. You want to make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it’s about and more importantly what we can do to combat it.”
“I’m willing to do just about anything, I’ll take on any role, but I think from here on out it’s going to have to be ALS-centric,” he noted at the time, as he played Matthew, a firefighter struggling to tell his family about his ALS diagnosis.
The “Grey’s Anatomy” alum went public with his diagnosis in April. The role marked the first show he filmed since that diagnosis.
In an interview with “Good Morning America” in June 2025, he discussed his very first symptom of the disease.
“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand, and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” the “Euphoria” actor told 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 photographer. In January, he abruptly pulled out of another ALS event citing “the physical realities of ALS” and not being “well enough to attend.”
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. Dane’s family shared in a statement to People on Thursday, “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.”
I Am ALS said in a statement to Page Six that the actor was “a fierce advocate, a generous spirit, and a true champion in the movement to end ALS.”
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