Eric Dane, the actor best known as the charming, hunky plastic surgeon nicknamed McSteamy on the wildly successful ABC medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” has died. He was 53.
Mr. Dane died after battling A.L.S., a neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease that breaks down a patient’s ability to control their muscles, speak and eventually breathe without assistance.
His death was confirmed by his publicist Melissa Bank.
“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,” Ms. Bank said in the statement.
Mr. Dane died just 10 months after revealing his A.L.S. diagnosis in People magazine in April 2025. He later spoke in interviews and on social media about the challenges of living with the progressing condition. Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S., typically live for only two to five years, though clinical trials for potential therapies have provided hope that lives can be extended by several months.
“I will never forget those three letters,” he said in a 2025 interview with Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America.” “It’s on me the second I wake up.” During the interview he described the loss of function in his right arm. “It’s not a dream,” he added.
As part of a patient advocacy campaign in September 2025, Mr. Dane sat in a chair and spoke in a slightly slurred voice: “I am an actor. I am a father and now a person living with A.L.S.” He spoke about raising funds and research and “finally, finally push toward ending this disease.”
Eric William Dane was born on Nov. 8, 1972, in San Francisco to William Dane, an architect and interior designer, and Leah (Cohn) Dane, a homemaker, according to his biography on abc.com. He was the older of two brothers.
As a high school student, Mr. Dane excelled as an athlete and developed an interest in acting after performing in a production of Arthur Miller’s play “All My Sons.”
He moved to Los Angeles in 1993 and made his TV debut on “The Wonder Years” that same year, and landed other small roles in popular TV shows such as “Saved By the Bell” and “Married With Children.”
His boyish looks led him to recurring roles as handsome supporting characters, including his first role as a doctor in the former ABC medical drama “Gideon’s Crossing,” and a San Francisco newspaper owner and love interest for Alyssa Milano’s character Phoebe in “Charmed,” the former CW series about three sister witches.
Mr. Dane’s acting extended to the big screen. He played a mutant able to make multiple versions of himself in “X-Men: The Last Stand” in 2006. Two years later, he co-starred as the newsroom buddy Sebastian Tunney in the real-life inspired movie “Marley & Me,” a film about married journalists raising a rambunctious yellow Labrador.
In 2004, he married Rebecca Gayheart, who survives him, along with their two daughters, Billie Beatrice and Georgia.
Mr. Dane’s big breakout role came in 2006 with the popular sudsy medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Mr. Dane portrayed the handsome, blue-eyed Dr. Mark Sloan, the head of plastic surgery at the fictional Seattle hospital where the show was based. Each week his character, who was known as McSteamy for his sex appeal and smarmy manner among many of the nurses, residents and even attending physicians, stirred up mischievous drama.
He became known for one scene in particular — called the “towel scene,” it featured him ripped and shirtless while wrapping a white towel around his waist after a hot shower.
Mr. Dane later said he had no idea how memorable the scene would become in the show’s history, and in pop culture.
“In the moment, it was just another scene to me,” he recalled in the 2025 interview with Ms. Sawyer. “I just remember walking out of the bathroom with a very nice kind of gentleman kind of blowing smoke toward me.”
Mr. Dane appeared in 139 episodes of the show, which has been one of ABC’s top-rated programs since its premiere in 2005.
McSteamy represented one facet of Mr. Dane’s career. He also starred as a fearless and by-the-book Naval commander in the dystopian suspense series “The Last Ship” for five seasons.
Mr. Dane continued to work after his diagnosis.
One of his more recent credits was a portrayal of the father of Nate Jacobs, played by Jacob Elordi, on the HBO teenage drama “Euphoria.”
And in November 2025, drawing from his own experiences, Mr. Dane portrayed a firefighter who wrestled with his family to accept his A.L.S. diagnosis in an episode of NBC’s “Brilliant Minds,” a medical drama.
The Open Field, Maria Shriver’s publishing imprint at Penguin Random House, is planning to publish his memoir, “Book of Days, A Memoir in Moments,” in 2026.
In an interview with Conan O’Brien in 2015, Mr. Dane reflected on his days as McSteamy and how he didn’t take the fandom seriously.
“It’d be awkward if you did,” he said.
He talked about his latest role as a commander of a ship and joked about gaining weight, sitting at the helm and barking orders: “I’m going to let it all go.”
He added, “I just don’t care anymore.”
Rylee Kirk contributed reporting.
Johnny Diaz is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news from Miami.
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