The &34;Grey's Anatomy&34; star died on Thursday at the age of 53, almost a year after he announced his ALS diagnosis. Patrick Dempsey reveals details about Eric Dane's final days The &34;Grey's Anatomy&34; star died on Thursday at the age of 53, almost a year after he announced his ALS diagnosis. By Mekishana Pierre :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/MekishanaPierreauthorphotoed08906b8105488ca1e991de8ac00dec.jpg) Mekishana Pierre Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at . She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

The "Grey's Anatomy" star died on Thursday at the age of 53, almost a year after he announced his ALS diagnosis.

Patrick Dempsey reveals details about Eric Dane's final days

The "Grey's Anatomy" star died on Thursday at the age of 53, almost a year after he announced his ALS diagnosis.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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February 20, 2026 10:52 a.m. ET

Eric Dane and Patrick Dempsey on 'Grey's Anatomy'. Credit:

Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

A day after Eric Dane's family shared the news of his death, the late actor's costar, Patrick Dempsey, is sharing a few details on Dane's final days.

During an appearance on *The Chris Evans Breakfast Show* on Friday, Dempsey paid tribute to his former co-worker, who joined the soapy medical drama as Dr. Mark Sloan (a.k.a. McSteamy) in 2006.**

"I just woke up this morning, and I was very sad to read the news," Dempsey shared. "It's hard to put into words. I feel really so sad for his children. I was corresponding with him, we were texting. So I spoke to him about a week ago."

Dane shared teen daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, with his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart. Although the couple separated in 2017, and Gayheart filed for a divorce petition in 2018, she filed to dismiss the petition for divorce about a month before Dane announced his diagnosis.

Eric Dane and Patrick Dempsey on 'Grey's Anatomy'.

Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Dempsey noted that it was clear how much Dane's health had declined just 10 months after he announced he had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"Some friends of ours went in to see him," he added, "and he was really starting to lose his ability to speak, he was bed-ridden and it was very hard for him to swallow. The quality of his life was deteriorating so rapidly."

But the *Bridget Jones's Baby* star emphasized how much he wanted to remember Dane for the "joy" he was to work with, reflecting on how the late actor quickly became a fixture on the Shonda Rhimes-created show despite initially coming on as a guest star, and continually set fan hearts aflutter by living up to his steamy moniker,**

Ellen Pompeo recalls first conversation with Eric Dane after learning of Grey's Anatomy costar's ALS diagnosis

Eric Dane misses awards ceremony due to 'physical realities' of ALS

"He was the funniest man — he was such a joy to work with and I want to just remember him in that spirit because any time he was on set, he brought so much fun to it," he recalled. "He had a great sense of humor. He was easy to work with, we got along instantly. First scene was him, you know, in all his glory, coming out of the bathroom with the towel on looking amazing, making you feel completely out of shape and insignificant."

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The character remained on the still-running show until the season 9 premiere on Sept. 27, 2012, when Mark died from injuries sustained in a plane crash. But Dane made one more appearance when Ellen Pompeo's Dr. Meredith Grey was in a coma and saw him during a 2021 episode.

It was easy for their working relationship to translate into an off-set friendship that lasted for two decades. "We hit it off because there was never really any competition," Dempsey shared. "It was just this wonderful mutual respect. He's wickedly intelligent. I'm always going to remember those moments of fun that we had together and celebrate the joy that he did bring to people's lives. The real loss is for us who don't have him anymore."**

Eric Dane and Patrick Dempsey attend the 33rd Annual People's Choice Awards in 2007.

Vince Bucci/Getty

After sharing his diagnosis, Dane became the face of a public campaign to find federal funding for research on the incurable neurological disease. In September, a noticeably less mobile Dane joined doctors and representatives from the I Am ALS organization for a discussion with California Congressman Eric Swalwell about investing in innovative treatments to ensure access to quality care for those diagnosed with ALS, as well as their families and researchers.

"He did an incredible job at bringing awareness to this horrible disease and those remaining days and it just reminds us that we all have to celebrate every day like it's our last day," Dempsey said of his late friend's openness about the devastating realities of ALS.

He went on, "It's something that we have to remember and certainly in a world where there is just so much crisis and there is so much tragedy that we really need to be grateful for every moment that we have... spend time with our families, do things that are better, that benefit of other people to be of service to be kind, to be loving and these values with our leadership unfortunately that we're seeing around the world and certainly in America with this horrible, you know, corrupt government that is currently running America, we have to remember to treat our neighbors and our friends with the right values.**

Watch Patrick Dempsey's tribute to Eric Dane above.**

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Published: February 21, 2026 at 02:00AM on Source: PRIME TIME

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