Grey’s Anatomy has paid tribute to Eric Dane, known for playing Dr. Mark Sloan on the show, following his death after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The veteran medical drama marked Dane’s passing by looking back on his time as Mark Sloan, who first arrived in 2006 and stayed through 2012. He later returned briefly in 2021, reappearing during the show’s well-known beach sequence alongside Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo).
Now in season 22, Grey’s dedicated an episode that aired earlier this week to Dane, adding a final coda that revisited some of Sloan’s standout moments across the series.
The roughly minute-long montage opened with Dane’s introduction as Sloan — “McSteamy” — in his memorable towel scene, before moving through key beats that tracked the character’s evolution from a notorious womaniser to a devoted father.
The tribute was set to Tommee Profitt and Fleurie’s cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’, a track closely tied to the series after first being featured in the season 2 finale.
“Why are you telling me to give it time when there’s no guarantee time is going to be there?” Sloan reflects in one scene in the clip.
In another one, he says: “If you love someone, you tell them, even if you’re scared it’s not the right thing, even if you’re scared it’ll burn your life to the ground, you say it. You say it loud.”
The montage ended with Sloan — who died after the show’s plane crash storyline — telling Meredith: “Don’t waste a single second.”
“In loving memory of Eric Dane. ❤️,” the show captioned the video on their Instagram page.
Dane, who had most recently appeared in Euphoria, died on 19 February, nearly a year after publicly sharing his ALS diagnosis. He was 53.
He is survived by his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart — who supported him throughout his illness — and their two daughters, Billie and Georgia.
Following the news, several former co-stars from Grey’s shared messages in Dane’s memory, including Cheryl Leigh, who played Dr. Lexie Grey — Meredith’s sister and Sloan’s love interest — and described the loss as ‘devastating’.
“The last 48 hours have been devastating,” the actress told E! News in a statement, two days after the star died.
“I never thought I would be using the term ‘had or was,’ but here we are. And I hate it. Eric had a heart of gold. His humor and, especially, his laugh was infectious.”
Leigh said Dane ‘was a deeply intelligent man who could carry a philosophical conversation for hours even while we were on set’.
“He was an amazing father and loved his girls FIERCELY. Incredibly passionate about his work and the causes he kept close to his heart.”
The Way Home star concluded: “The Universe is undoubtedly holding Eric now, just as I will continue to do within my heart forever.”
Patrick Dempsey, who portrayed Dr. Derek Shepherd on Grey’s, also spoke about Dane’s death. The Ferrari actor said he had been hoping to bring Dane into his new series Memory of a Killer as his character’s brother, but the idea ultimately did not come together (via Metro).