Eric Dane’s former Grey’s Anatomy colleagues are flooding social media with tributes after the actor died Feb. 19 at 53, less than a year after he disclosed an ALS diagnosis. The show’s official accounts posted a memorial message from ABC and 20th Television praising Dane’s “remarkable talent” and “unforgettable presence,” and saluting the “courage and grace” he showed while living with the disease.
Dane joined the series in 2006 as plastic surgeon Mark Sloan, quickly branded “McSteamy” by fans and characters alike. He remained a series regular through 2012, and later returned for a 2021 episode. The timing carried extra sting for longtime viewers: his first episode aired on Feb. 19, 2006, putting his death on the 20th anniversary of his debut.
Patrick Dempsey, who played Derek Shepherd, said he had been texting with Dane and spoke to him about a week before his death. He described a rapid decline in Dane’s ability to speak and swallow, then shifted to what he wanted people to remember: the humor Dane brought to set and the ease of working beside him. “He was the funniest man,” Dempsey said, recalling Dane’s first scene as an entrance designed to make everyone else feel “out of shape and insignificant.” Dempsey also credited him for using his platform to draw attention to ALS.
Kate Walsh, who played Addison Montgomery, posted that she was “at a loss for words” and said her first scene with Dane was an elevator moment that was also his first day on the show. She remembered him as nervous, strikingly handsome, and quickly undeniable as an actor once the cameras rolled. Walsh wrote that she loved his “sensitivity and vulnerability,” and urged fans to support ALS research, echoing Dane’s family statement that he became a “passionate advocate” determined to help others facing the same fight.
