‘Next week isn’t guaranteed’: Maria Shriver on Eric Dane’s final days
Eric Dane, left, Katherine Heigl, center, and James Pickens Jr. from the show “Grey’s Anatomy” arrive at the premiere of “Dreamgirls,” in Beverly Hills on Dec. 11, 2006. Heigl says she debated posting a tribute to Dane publicly after his death.In the days after Eric Dane’s death, the public remembrances have shifted from shock to recollection.
Maria Shriver revealed this week that she had been scheduled to meet Dane for lunch — plans that were postponed when he wasn’t feeling well and rescheduled for the following week.
The San Francisco-born actor, best known as Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan in “Grey’s Anatomy” and Cal Jacobs on HBO’s “Euphoria,” died of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis before that meeting could take place.
“His passing is another powerful reminder that today is all any of us have,” Shriver wrote in her Sunday Paper newsletter. “Next week isn’t guaranteed.”
Shriver, former first lady of California, had been working with Dane through her Penguin Random House imprint, The Open Field, to publish his memoir, “My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments,” slated for release later this year.
“He wrote it so that his family had something to be proud of,” she said in her newsletter, published on Sunday, Feb. 22.
When the book was announced in December, Dane said he wanted to capture his illness in unsparing detail.
“I wake up every morning, and I’m immediately reminded that this is real — this illness, this challenge and that’s exactly why I’m writing this book,” he said in a statement at the time.
Actor Eric Dane, left, and filmmaker Janell Shirtcliff attend Prime Video’s “Countdown” premiere at the Harmony Gold theater in Los Angeles on June 18, 2025. “I want to capture the moments that shaped me — the beautiful days, the hard ones, the ones I never took for granted — so that if nothing else, people who read it will remember what it means to live with heart,” Dane continued. “If sharing this helps someone find meaning in their own days, then my story is worth telling.”
In 2024, Dane was diagnosed with ALS, also known Lou Gehrig’s disease, and went public with the neurodegenerative disease in April 2025. He died Feb. 19 at 53.
“Eric bravely shared his ALS diagnosis with the world over this past year. He advocated for increased research and showed up in every way he could to focus our attention on this devastating neurological disease,” Shriver wrote Sunday.
Other accounts have begun to surface that suggest the private support beneath the public fight.
Page Six reported that actor Johnny Depp had opened one of his Los Angeles homes to Dane under what was described as a flexible, pay-what-you-can arrangement during his battle with ALS.
Representatives for Depp have not commented, and the arrangement has not been independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, tributes have continued from former co-stars and friends. Katherine Heigl, who worked alongside Dane in the early seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy,” wrote that she had debated posting publicly.
“I will never forget Eric’s gold and I will forever be grateful I got to bask in it for even a brief moment in time,” she wrote, invoking a Robert Frost poem that she said had long brought her comfort in loss.
Even the GoFundMe campaign launched in his name has become part of the story. Now verified and steadily growing, its drawn contributions from colleagues and fans alike.
As of Monday, Feb. 23, the fundraiser had raised more than $420,000 toward a $500,000 goal, according to the campaign page. Donors listed include “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson and his wife, Ashley Levinson, as well as Hailey Bieber.
ALS attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and is considered fatal, according to the National Institutes of Health.
