On a warm June night in Los Angeles, Eric Dane stepped onto the red carpet with girlfriend Janell Shirtcliff, smiling for cameras that had no idea they were capturing his final major public appearance.
TLDR
Eight months before his death from ALS at 53, Eric Dane glowed beside girlfriend Janell Shirtcliff on a Los Angeles red carpet. Behind the smiles, he was juggling new love, renewed family ties, and work while living with a worsening illness.
Final Night in the Spotlight
According to Daily Mail US, Dane looked healthy and happy as he and Shirtcliff arrived at the Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles for the premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series “Countdown.” Dressed for the kind of occasion he had walked through for decades, the father of two beamed at the 42-year-old photographer he had been dating since 2022.
The images from June show the version of Eric that many fans preferred to hold on to. Shoulders squared, smile easy, leaning toward Janell as if the chaos of the premiere existed far away from their small, shared space on the carpet. For those who grew up watching him on “Grey’s Anatomy” or discovered him later on “Euphoria,” it looked like another effortless star moment.
Yet behind the cameras, the story was already much more fragile. Daily Mail US reports that Dane had been quietly living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the degenerative neurological disorder more widely known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. His appearance at the “Countdown” premiere would turn out to be his last major red carpet before the disease ended his life, with his passing confirmed at age 53.
A Private Battle With ALS
Dane was reportedly diagnosed with ALS in April 2025. As the condition advanced, he lost function in his dominant right arm and his legs, a brutal progression for anyone, and especially for a working actor whose physicality had been central to his screen image for years.
ALS attacks nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most people with ALS live two to five years after symptoms first appear, although some live longer. Treatment options and therapies can slow progression, but there is no cure.
Dane did not retreat entirely from public view. Daily Mail US notes that his final live virtual appearance took place in December for the advocacy organization I AM ALS. Speaking candidly, he shared how he was trying to navigate the emotional reality of the diagnosis.
“I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day,” he admitted during the conversation. He went on to explain why he still felt compelled to let people in. “I think it is imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I do not feel like my life is about me anymore.”
That shift in purpose reflected the way his family later described his final chapter. In a statement shared with the media, they said, “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.” They added that he would be “deeply missed and lovingly remembered always” and that he “adored his fans” and was grateful for their support, while asking for privacy as they faced “this impossible time.”
Work, Legacy, and Quiet Leadership
Even as ALS advanced, Dane kept working. He found the strength to portray Special Agent Nathan Blythe in creator Derek Haas’s 13-episode crime drama “Countdown.” The series, which ultimately ran for only one season, now carries the weight of being one of his final major roles.
On set, colleagues saw a different kind of star power. His “Countdown” co-star Jensen Ackles spoke to E! News about the presence Dane brought to the production, calling it a “beautiful, quiet leadership” that was “incredibly needed” as the cast tried to gel around a brand-new story world. It is a description that contrasts sharply with the swaggering plastic surgeon fans met when he exploded into the cultural conversation as Mark McSteamy Sloan on “Grey’s Anatomy” in the 2000s.
Dane’s career had entered an intriguing new phase before ALS intervened. He had already complicated his heartthrob image with his turn as Cal Jacobs, the closeted and deeply conflicted real estate developer at the center of HBO’s “Euphoria.” According to Daily Mail US, he completed work as Cal for the eight-episode third season, set to introduce newcomers like Sharon Stone, Rosalia, Marshawn Lynch, and Kadeem Hardison.
He had also filmed “Kabul,” a six-episode series, and appeared in an episode of “Brilliant Minds.” It suggested a midlife reinvention in progress. For viewers who remembered him primarily in surgical scrubs, this later chapter showed a performer willing to lean into darker, more morally tangled characters, even as his offscreen life was becoming more complicated and more fragile.
Family, Love, and Complicated Goodbyes
In his final months, Dane’s personal life was as layered as the roles he chose. On one side was his relationship with Janell Shirtcliff, the woman whose arm he held on that bright June night, and who accompanied him through events as his health quietly declined. On the other was the family that had defined so much of his adult life with actor Rebecca Gayheart.
Daily Mail US reports that despite Dane’s relationship with Shirtcliff, he spent his last days surrounded by dear friends, Gayheart, and their daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were described as the center of his world. The paper also notes that Gayheart, known for her role in “Jawbreaker,” had dismissed her divorce petition the previous year after roughly seven years of estrangement.
It created a complex tableau: a longtime leading man walking carpets with a new partner while, at home, an estranged marriage was softening into renewed connection just as time was running out. The family statement about his advocacy, gratitude, and the request for privacy suggested a household united in their grief and in their desire to protect his memory.
For Gen X and Baby Boomer fans who first met him as McSteamy, Dane’s death from ALS at 53 lands as both a personal loss and a jarring reminder of time’s speed. He bridged eras of television, from the glossy escapism of network medical drama to the raw intensity of “Euphoria,” and he did it while navigating private battles that only fully came into focus near the end.
Those images from his final red carpet, with Janell Shirtcliff at his side, remain potent. The smile, the posture, and the easy charm are all there. So is the knowledge that just beneath that healthy glow, a once-invincible leading man was already carrying a diagnosis that would not let go.
Join the Discussion
Do you remember the first time you watched Eric Dane on screen, and does knowing more about his final months change the way you think about his work and his legacy today?
