Eric Dane Recounts Telling Rebecca Gayheart of ALS Diagnosis in Posthumous Memoir
The actor's memoir details the harrowing conversation after his diagnosis, his battle with addiction, and his enduring love for his estranged wife.
Eric Dane vividly recalled the moment he informed his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart, of his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis in his posthumous memoir, "My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments." Dane died on February 19 at age 53, less than a year after publicly announcing his diagnosis in April 2025.
In an excerpt shared by People, Dane described calling Gayheart after his doctor's appointment and stating, "It’s what we feared." He noted that he couldn't recall his subsequent words, only Gayheart's response on the other end of the phone: "I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere." He described his own sobs shuddering through his body as she spoke amid her tears.
The couple, married in October 2004, separated in September 2017 and unexpectedly called off their divorce proceedings in March 2025, just one month before Dane's public announcement of his illness. They share two daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14.
Dane's memoir details his determination to remain strong for his daughters, writing, "I’m going to take this on. I’m going to fight. I’m going to show my girls how to walk through this life with grace and dignity, no matter what. I am going to FIGHT. This has become my purpose. My reason. This is now my job."
Elsewhere in the memoir, Dane addressed the dissolution of his marriage, attributing part of the strain to his struggles with substance abuse. He listed "My work hours, my addiction complications, the times I’m away, the times I’m here but not here" as contributing factors to the marital difficulties, acknowledging that these issues "all weigh on Rebecca, smother her, disappoint her, infuriate her."
Despite their separation, Dane emphasized their continued closeness, stating, "We’ve since stayed close, co-parenting, going on vacations as a family, spending time together and now we talk every day." Gayheart, in a December 2025 essay for The Cut, described her love for Dane as familial rather than romantic.
Before his death, Dane spoke about Gayheart in his Netflix special, "Famous Last Words: Eric Dane." He declared that he would never fall in love with another woman as deeply as he loved Rebecca. He also reflected that Gayheart was "more willing to show up and do her part than I was," contrasting his own approach to adversity with a desire to abandon a failing situation rather than repair it. He maintained that they remained "still really best friends" who "still love each other deeply," even if they no longer wished to live together.
Gayheart had previously described their relationship as "complicated," noting in her essay that while they had a "lovely marriage for a long time – we were married for 15 years – we created two beautiful girls," their relationship also experienced significant difficulties. She confirmed they had separated and had not lived in the same home for eight years, acknowledging that both had dated other people.
Dane's posthumous memoir is scheduled for release on November 3.