Eric Dane’s widow Rebecca Gayheart supported by daughters Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, at opening of her musical… 7 months after his ALS death

Eric Dane’s widow Rebecca Gayheart posed proudly with their daughters Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, at the Los Angeles opening of her new musical.

Dane, who shot to fame on Grey’s Anatomy as Dr Mark Sloan aka ‘McSteamy,’ died February 19 aged 53 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) about a year after he announced that he had been diagnosed with the illness. 

The rare, incurable degenerative condition impairs the nervous system over time and causes the muscles to increasingly suffer from paralysis.

Although Dane split from Gayheart in 2017, they remained friendly co-parents and never finalized the divorce, which they called off just before he revealed he had ALS, colloquially known in America as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Gayheart, 55, remained a stalwart source of support for him amid his final decline, even as both of them continued to date other people.

Now, seven months after his death, she brought their children to the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood for opening night of her show Jawbreaker: The Musical.

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Gayheart for comment. 

Gayheart starred in the original 1999 film Jawbreaker, a dark teen comedy that also featured Rose McGowan, Judy Greer, Pam Grier and Marilyn Manson.

Although she played the popular high school girl Jules in the movie, Gayheart has switched parts for the stage show, stepping into the role of Assistant Principal Sherwood that was originated onscreen by Carol Kane.

The new adaptation features a book by the movie’s writer and director Darren Stein and choreography by RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Laganja Estranja. 

Jawbreaker: The Musical opened at the Hudson Theatre on September 4 for a limited workshop engagement slated to conclude on September 20. 

Gayheart and her daughters made their first public appearance since Dane’s death nearly a month after it occurred, attending the premiere of the movie The Drama, which starred Dane’s Euphoria co-star Zendaya along with Robert Pattinson. 

Dane and Gayheart tied the knot in 2004, two years before he landed his fan favorite role as the womanizing ‘McSteamy’ on Grey’s Anatomy. 

They stayed together through the scandal that erupted five years into their marriage when a home video leaked of them frolicking naked with an ex-beauty queen.

Gayheart stood by Dane through various personal problems, including his rehab stay in 2011 to wean himself off the pain medication he had begun taking for an injury. 

Six years later in 2017, Dane entered treatment for depression, resulting in a filming pause on his action drama series The Last Ship.

The next year, Gayheart filed for divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences, and the pair agreed on joint custody of their daughters with Dane paying alimony.

Gayheart, who acted infrequently after having children, remarked a few months after her divorce filing that she wanted to start working again.

‘I think that as a female you need to be able to always take care of yourself and never depend on a man,’ she told Us Weekly. ‘I’m going back to work and I think it’s partly because I want my daughters to see me work.’

She explained that she and Eric were ‘doing our best’ to co-parent their children, acknowledging: ‘It isn’t easy. But we are trying and we are committed.’

The couple never finalized the divorce, which they threw out altogether in the weeks before Dane announced he was suffering from ALS.  

In order to help provide for his daughters in the wake of his death, Dane’s friends set up a GoFundMe that quickly surpassed its initial goal of $250,000. 

A source revealed Johnny Depp had attempted to ‘ease the financial burden’ by allowing Dane to stay at one of his homes during his ALS battle. 

‘He was living basically rent-free in one of the homes Johnny owns above the Sunset Strip. He told Eric to pay whatever he could or — couldn’t for rent,’ the source told Page Six, adding that Dane as a result had ‘one less thing to worry about.’ 

Dane had sharply declined after his diagnosis, using a wheelchair, losing the use of his right arm and pulling out of a public appearance the month before he died citing the ‘physical realities’ his illness had forced him to face.

Nevertheless Dane, who played the father of Jacob Elordi’s character on Euphoria, insisted as recently as December 2025 that he would keep acting.

He had secretly recorded a final message for his daughters to be released posthumously in a Netflix special entitled Famous Last Words: Eric Dane.  

‘Billie and Georgia, these words are for you: I tried. I stumbled sometimes, but I tried,’ he said, speaking directly to the camera. ‘Overall, we had a blast, didn’t we?’

Dane then shared the four lessons he had learned over the course of his life that he wanted to impart to his daughters before he died.

‘First, live now, right now in the present. It’s hard, but I learned to do that,’ he said. ‘For years, I would wander off mentally, lost in my head for long chunks of time, wallowing in worry and self-pity, shame and doubt. I replayed decisions, second-guessed myself. “I shouldn’t have done this. I never should’ve done that.”‘ 

However he ultimately declared: ‘No more,’ a change in mindset that he characterized as a decision he made ‘out of pure survival’.

He added: ‘Second, fall in love. Not necessarily with a person, although I do recommend that as well. But fall in love with something,’ Dane said. 

Explaining that he had discovered acting at around his daughters’ age, he said: ‘Find your passion, your joy. Find the thing that makes you wanna get up in the morning.’

His third dictum was to ‘choose your friends wisely,’ to ‘find your people and allow them to find you and then give yourselves to them,’ inasmuch as the ‘best of them will give back to you. No judgement. No conditions. No questions asked.’

Sharing his gratitude for the friends who ‘stepped up’ when he became ill, he urged his daughters: ‘Just show up. And love your friends with everything you have. Hang on to them. They will entertain you, guide you, support you and some will save you.’

His fourth and final exhortation was to ‘fight with every ounce of your being and with dignity. When you face challenges, health or otherwise, fight.’ 

Dane told Billie and Georgia: ‘Never give up. Fight until your last breath. This disease is slowly taking my body, but it will never take my spirit. So when something unexpected hits you, and it will, because that’s life, fight and face it with honesty, integrity and grace, even if it feels or seems insurmountable.’

The San Francisco-born actor’s voice broke as he reflected: ‘I hope I’ve demonstrated that you can face anything. You can face the end of your days. You can face hell with dignity. Fight girls, and hold your heads high.’

He concluded by saying ‘Billie and Georgia, you are my heart. You are my everything. Good night. I love you. Those are my last words.’