For ads-free news, click here.
From Variety: Eric Dane opened up about his recent ALS diagnosis on “Good Morning America,” telling Diane Sawyer in an emotional interview that he now only has “one functioning arm.”
“My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working,” he said, noting that his left arm has been getting weaker as well. “I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either. It’s sobering.”
The 52-year-old “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” star was diagnosed in April after nine months of testing. He first started having symptoms a year and a half ago when he began to experience weakness in his right hand.
“I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” Dane told Sawyer. “I thought maybe I’d been texting too much or my hand was fatigued, but a few weeks later I noticed it got a little worse. So I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist. I went and saw a neurologist and the neurologist sent me to another neurologist and said, ‘This is way above my pay grade.’”
ALS is a fatal, progressive degenerative disease that breaks down the nerves in the body, weakening muscles and causing eventual paralysis, impacting patients’ ability to breathe, speak and move. There is no known cure.
Dane has two daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, with his wife, Rebecca Gayheart, and he’s worried that he’s going to leave them much too early.
Dane explained that he lost his father to suicide when he was only 7 years old, and said, “I’m angry because my father was taken from me when I was young, and now there’s a very good chance I’m going to be taken from my girls when they’re very young.”
So far, Dane can still walk, but he knows that will eventually come to an end as well. He told Sawyer about the time he went snorkeling with his daughter and then realized he didn’t have enough energy to swim, despite that he was always a competitive swimmer. His daughter had to drag him back to the boat, and he broke down into tears, devastated.
Dane first announced he had been diagnosed with ALS in an interview with People.com in April.
Dane rose to fame for his role as Dr. Mark Sloan on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” from 2006-2021, where he was dubbed “Dr. McSteamy.”
He also stars as the Jacobs family patriarch on Euphoria, and stars in the Amazon Prime Video series “Countdown,” which premiers on June 25. His physical limitations are now starting to impact his acting abilities.
WATCH the emotional interview below:
The ALS Association wrote, “Thanks to Eric Dane for sharing his ALS journey with Good Morning America and making sure others don’t feel alone in their ALS diagnosis. This is a devastating disease and he is bravely helping the world understand the challenges of living with ALS. We urgently need new treatments and cures for EVERYONE affected by ALS.”
Thanks to Eric Dane for sharing his ALS journey with Good Morning America and making sure others don’t feel alone in their ALS diagnosis. This is a devastating disease and he is bravely helping the world understand the challenges of living with ALS. We urgently need new… https://t.co/D0k5w2bmfw
— The ALS Association (@alsassociation) June 16, 2025
READ MORE from Variety.
Eric Dane opened up about his ALS diagnosis on “Good Morning America,” saying that he now only has “one functioning arm.”
“My right side has completely stopped working. I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either.” https://t.co/iJz6mpJQQz
— Variety (@Variety) June 16, 2025
