Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, February the twentieth and
Speaker 1: Eric Dane aka doctor Mark Sloan but more affectionately aka
Speaker 1: mixed Steamy has died at the age of fifty three.
Speaker 1: And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Ropes.
Speaker 1: Immediately people know the face, maybe not immediately the name,
Speaker 1: but you certainly know mc steamy. But Eric Danes's name
Speaker 1: had been in headlines for the past year for reasons
Speaker 1: other than his acting.
Speaker 2: Yes, he announced just a year ago that he had
Speaker 2: been diagnosed with alsluke Errig's disease, a cruel disease. It's rare,
Speaker 2: but my god, it is a debilitating disease, and he
Speaker 2: was very public about it. He wanted to raise awareness,
Speaker 2: he wanted to raise funds, He wanted to do something
Speaker 2: with this last year of his life. He didn't know
Speaker 2: how soon it would come, actually, but this is just
Speaker 2: a devastating diagnosis for anyone, and we've been watching him
Speaker 2: this past.
Speaker 3: Year just find peace with it and speaks so.
Speaker 2: Lovingly of his daughters, And what matters is just it's
Speaker 2: a lesson to all of us when we see someone's
Speaker 2: life cut so short. He was such a bright star
Speaker 2: and to see everything just shut down in the year.
Speaker 3: We can all learn a lot.
Speaker 1: And he is a star and a name and a
Speaker 1: face and really a popularity on a show that is
Speaker 1: will go down in television history. So that is why
Speaker 1: people know his name and his face and really robes
Speaker 1: with a show Gray's Anatomy that has the following and
Speaker 1: the success it's had over years. If you play a
Speaker 1: prominent role in that show, you will forever be remembered,
Speaker 1: and he will be.
Speaker 3: That is so true.
Speaker 2: And I was telling you I was pregnant with my
Speaker 2: youngest daughter when he made his first appearance, which just
Speaker 2: so happened to be February nineteenth, two thousand and six.
Speaker 2: He died on February nineteenth, twenty twenty six, so exactly
Speaker 2: twenty years to the day his anniversary of appearing on
Speaker 2: Gray's Anatomy.
Speaker 3: He passed.
Speaker 2: But I remember that episode when he showed up on
Speaker 2: Grey's Anatomy. I was obsessed, you know, in your pregnant
Speaker 2: ladies and you're just binging shows.
Speaker 3: That's what I was doing.
Speaker 2: And I think so many of us can remember watching
Speaker 2: him come onto that show and just breathe new life
Speaker 2: to it because he played just basically a dueling role
Speaker 2: to Patrick Dempsey's McDreamy, So it was Mick Dreamy versus
Speaker 2: mc steamy, and it was just double the fun for
Speaker 2: everyone who watched that show.
Speaker 3: He brought just a spark and as sass to it.
Speaker 1: And he was not a reminder here, folks. He was
Speaker 1: not a part of that show. Initially. He did not
Speaker 1: start off with that show on season one, but he did, yeah,
Speaker 1: to make a guest appearance in season two, and it
Speaker 1: went over well. It turned into a regular thing the
Speaker 1: following season, and he was with it for the following
Speaker 1: what twenty and six, twenty twelve? Do I have that right?
Speaker 1: But he was through a long stretch. Now, I went
Speaker 1: through season eight robes I don't remember. I guess a
Speaker 1: lot of people will, and this will be a big
Speaker 1: I guess this is for a show that popular. If
Speaker 1: it loses a main character, that's a big event. And
Speaker 1: what was it? They wrote him off of the show
Speaker 1: at the end of season eight, certainly the beginning of
Speaker 1: season nine. Yes, a plane crashers, Yeah, you.
Speaker 2: Know, And I had fallen off the show at that point.
Speaker 2: Then I became a busy mom of two and didn't
Speaker 2: have as much time to watch the show. But yes,
Speaker 2: and people were very upset because, look, you know you've
Speaker 2: watched even with Sabine and some of these current shows,
Speaker 2: they loved to pit either women against each other or men,
Speaker 2: like your team Conrad or team Belly or team whatever.
Speaker 2: So this was maybe one of those first rivalries where
Speaker 2: you're either team mc dreamy or team mc steamy. So yes,
Speaker 2: when McDreamy got written off the show, they were definitely
Speaker 2: fans who were upset about it. Kisteemyey, sorry, but Dreamy
Speaker 2: Patrick Dempsey's character lived on. Yes, well that's that was
Speaker 2: also up and down and all around. But you know
Speaker 2: what's so funny is my daughters now like rediscovered Gray's
Speaker 2: Anatomy during the pandemic and they became obsessed with the show.
Speaker 3: So it was fun to watch them go through all of.
Speaker 2: Those seasons and watch just the excitement and the drama
Speaker 2: of Grey's Anatomy that just brought so many people to
Speaker 2: their television sets.
Speaker 1: And we will see him, folks again. He is actually
Speaker 1: in the new season of Euphoria. I say new season
Speaker 1: as if he's just joining. No, he has been in
Speaker 1: that show throughout its inception and if you watch it.
Speaker 1: Maybe he didn't catch it. But all I have to
Speaker 1: do is say, Jacob Elordi. These days, he plays Jacob
Speaker 1: Elordi's dad in that show, plays cal and those scenes
Speaker 1: have been shot, that season has been shot, and we're
Speaker 1: told we will get a chance to see him now
Speaker 1: posthumously Robes. But the other thing I did not realize,
Speaker 1: and I haven't been watching the show Brilliant Minds. Is
Speaker 1: it Fox?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 1: But he had and they have been describing now a
Speaker 1: scene in that show Robes, in which he plays a
Speaker 1: firefighter with als and the director, the creator, a writer
Speaker 1: on that show, said that something happened when he did
Speaker 1: that scene that he'd never seen before. He said, the
Speaker 1: whole crew gave this man a ten minute standing ovation
Speaker 1: after he shot that scene. He said, it was just
Speaker 1: such a yes, impressive in your acting, but it was
Speaker 1: so personal in that he was absolutely playing a character
Speaker 1: that was going through the same thing he was going through,
Speaker 1: and it said, it was just chilling. Now, I want
Speaker 1: to go back. Obviously, definitely that has aired. I want
Speaker 1: to go back and watch that for sure. But he
Speaker 1: continued to work, he continued to be out there, and
Speaker 1: I guess it was just recent recent months and last
Speaker 1: year as well. He had to cancel some appearances just
Speaker 1: ALS it does, I mean, it is cruel. Alis is cruel,
Speaker 1: It's cruel.
Speaker 3: I look my uncle.
Speaker 2: You were at the funeral with me. My uncle Ken
Speaker 2: passed from ALS. I believe he lived with it for
Speaker 2: a little more than a year. But to watch somebody
Speaker 2: so strong one day and then very quickly see the decline,
Speaker 2: it's remarkable to see how quickly and how cruelly, as
Speaker 2: you put it, this disease takes away the ability just
Speaker 2: to function as a normal adult, and you can go
Speaker 2: from being Look at Eric Dane, he was mixed to
Speaker 2: me for a reason. He was this specimen of a man, strong, gorgeous.
Speaker 2: At fifty three, you think he's got another thirty years
Speaker 2: ahead of him. You wouldn't even imagine that in one year,
Speaker 2: someone who could be at really his prime could decline
Speaker 2: so quickly. It's just the cruelty of the disease. And
Speaker 2: to have people watch it happen is something to be said.
Speaker 2: To be able to show the world what this disease does,
Speaker 2: hopefully to motivate people to continue to search for a
Speaker 2: cure or at least something to help because there isn't
Speaker 2: a lot out there right now.
Speaker 1: They still don't know what causes this, do they. But
Speaker 1: it's als I had to didn't know the acronym amyotrophic
Speaker 1: lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as Lugarrig's disease, named after
Speaker 1: lou Garrick, the Yankee Great, who had this disease that
Speaker 1: he died in his late thirties. Even I think this
Speaker 1: is a eighty five year anniversary this year of his death, actually,
Speaker 1: But it's just rose it muscular atrophy. They use the
Speaker 1: term your segmatically. They use the term your muscles waste away.
Speaker 1: It's a degenerative neurological disorder. You can't control your own bodies,
Speaker 1: your muscle and his movements, And they use the term
Speaker 1: you literally your muscles waste away.
Speaker 2: And the sad thing is, as you point out, its
Speaker 2: it destroys the neurons in your brain and in your
Speaker 2: spinal cord, so yes, your spine. And then when your
Speaker 2: brain obviously starts to deteriorate, the paralysis isn't just in
Speaker 2: your arms and legs.
Speaker 3: It actually at the end. And this happened to my
Speaker 3: uncle as well.
Speaker 2: He could not speak, he could not swallow and then
Speaker 2: eventually you can't breathe without assistance.
Speaker 3: So this is just a horrific, horrific disease.
Speaker 2: And for people who love the people who are suffering
Speaker 2: with this, you just feel so helpless. There's nothing you
Speaker 2: can do. And so for Eric Dane to be a
Speaker 2: public base of this, look, we don't have a.
Speaker 3: Lot of folks.
Speaker 2: This is a fairly rare disease, but when it does happen,
Speaker 2: it's so devastating. And I applaud him for being public
Speaker 2: and going public with it for this past year.
Speaker 1: And we did hear from his family about his final
Speaker 1: days and who was with him. Stay here will share
Speaker 1: the statement from his family, but also from his network,
Speaker 1: his television family, and their statement on the pack of
Speaker 1: mxed Steamy Stare. We continue here on this Friday, February twentieth.
Speaker 1: Eric Dane, actor best known for playing doctor Mark Sloan
Speaker 1: on The Hitch Show Gray's Anatomy, has passed away at
Speaker 1: the age of fifty three, one year after announcing he
Speaker 1: was diagnosed with als and ropes. We've been talking here about,
Speaker 1: right mc steamy, That's what everybody knows him. I've obviously
Speaker 1: we've been reading a lot about him. I haven't come
Speaker 1: across any where he was ever bothered or upset at
Speaker 1: that label.
Speaker 3: No, and I can't imagine most people would be.
Speaker 2: And you know what, he played the role like an arrogant,
Speaker 2: good looking prick of a doctor. I mean, that was
Speaker 2: his role and he relished it. He played it so well.
Speaker 2: So yeah, he leaned in hard to it, had that
Speaker 2: devilish smile.
Speaker 1: He's a cosmetic surgeon too.
Speaker 3: Yes, he was exactly.
Speaker 2: He played the role we perfectly and he looked the part.
Speaker 2: He was the part. And look people who uh you
Speaker 2: mentioned the tribute to book gun pouring in. So many
Speaker 2: of the actors and actresses who worked with him talk
Speaker 2: about his quick wit and his devilish smile and how
Speaker 2: that little spark that he brought to the character was
Speaker 2: truly who he was inside. He was fun to verbally
Speaker 2: spar with. He just was playful and brilliant and fun
Speaker 2: to work with. That's how everyone is remembering him.
Speaker 1: I was there was a show on I think it
Speaker 1: was T and T years ago called that he was
Speaker 1: called the Last Ship that as far as television goes,
Speaker 1: that is the role. I'm most familiar with him at
Speaker 1: I guess that was more of a dude show in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways. He played this naval captain kind
Speaker 1: of a thing. And they're outfit, so I remember hear
Speaker 1: from that he has a particular look that makes him
Speaker 1: You put a military uniform on him, you go, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: that works. Like he just has a physique and a
Speaker 1: build and a look, and there was something to him.
Speaker 1: I guess I didn't watch Gray's anatomy. He was younger there.
Speaker 1: I saw him in his I guess old, not like
Speaker 1: he was old, but he just had this distinct, unique
Speaker 1: and almost military look to him. He was always so
Speaker 1: put together. So you think about als going after somebody
Speaker 1: like that, and look, it's awful no matter who it
Speaker 1: happens to. But but bros, we've done several Jesus, grimey,
Speaker 1: who do we have here? Robert Duvall just passed away. Yes,
Speaker 1: Jesse Jackson, Jesse jet But we just had another actor
Speaker 1: passed away. And as soon as I saw every day
Speaker 1: pass like, oh here comes this in threees thing again,
Speaker 1: but broes, we Robert duval pass. He's ninety five. We
Speaker 1: can celebrate, we can feel good, and now he lived
Speaker 1: a long life. This feels shitty, right, it's just no
Speaker 1: matter what, just a fifty three that just feels awful.
Speaker 1: And in a year we go from he's acting and
Speaker 1: see him in these shows to one year he says
Speaker 1: he has this disease and he's gone.
Speaker 3: Look, this is the point you get to a certain age.
Speaker 2: I just turned fifty three, and obviously, having been diagnosed
Speaker 2: with cancer at forty, you just start to realize that
Speaker 2: there is a point in your life when you start
Speaker 2: to see people your age dying, either of cancer or
Speaker 2: a debilitating disease like this. And yes it's rare, and
Speaker 2: yes it isn't something that you should be obsessed with
Speaker 2: to the point where it's devastating. But you can look
Speaker 2: at death as a motivator. I've always looked at it
Speaker 2: like this, and I'm sure this is what Eric Dane
Speaker 2: and anyone whose life was cut short and they were
Speaker 2: preparing for an early death. Hug the people you love,
Speaker 2: focus on what's important. Remember, the value of your relationships
Speaker 2: is the most important part of why we're here. It
Speaker 2: isn't the fame, It isn't the fortunate, It isn't the roles,
Speaker 2: It isn't isn't any of that.
Speaker 3: It's who you have.
Speaker 2: Around you, and I love when I've been reading about him.
Speaker 2: In every single article, it is about the love of
Speaker 2: his two daughters. And he does have an interesting relationship,
Speaker 2: or he did at least with his estranged wife, who
Speaker 2: was also an actress that a lot of folks would
Speaker 2: see and remember with familiarity. But they were divorcing, and
Speaker 2: they had been divorcing since twenty eighteen, and once he
Speaker 2: was diagnosed, they called off the divorce. And look, they
Speaker 2: weren't romantic with one another. They were involved with other
Speaker 2: people actually, but they stayed together and kept that family
Speaker 2: bond because when you know you are facing impending death,
Speaker 2: you just make different decisions.
Speaker 1: And his family did put out a statement and certainly
Speaker 1: mentioned the daughters. As you say therebes quote, he spent
Speaker 1: his final day surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife,
Speaker 1: and his two beautiful daughters, Billy and Georgia, who were
Speaker 1: the center of his world. He said he was a
Speaker 1: passionate advocate for awareness and research when he came to
Speaker 1: ALS and saying, quote, he will be deeply missed and
Speaker 1: lovingly remembered all ways. Statement from ABC saying as well
Speaker 1: that they were deeply saddened at the loss. They said,
Speaker 1: his remarkable talent and unforgettable presence on Gray's Anatomy left
Speaker 1: a lasting impact on audiences around the world. And that
Speaker 1: is true, Robes. He has left, He's left a legacy
Speaker 1: and was a part of something that will go down
Speaker 1: in history. He will never be forgotten because certainly of
Speaker 1: that show. But there are people Billy Georgia around him who, yes,
Speaker 1: they appreciate that work, but they lost a whole lot
Speaker 1: more than what I guess the rest of the world
Speaker 1: to a certain degree are missing today. But I think
Speaker 1: a lot of people are hurting and like genuinely hurting
Speaker 1: and mourning. And this was a tough one to wake
Speaker 1: up to.
Speaker 3: It certainly was.
Speaker 2: And I think you know, at a certain point we
Speaker 2: all knew once he had that diagnosis that time was
Speaker 2: not on his side. But certainly this was even shorter
Speaker 2: than most expected. But you know what a really cool
Speaker 2: thing is that we can still see him. He's still
Speaker 2: going to be appearing on television. We can go back
Speaker 2: and watch some of the art he left behind. I've
Speaker 2: never seen the last ship. I would love to do that.
Speaker 2: These are the moments when you can go back and
Speaker 2: remember someone and honor the work they did, and I
Speaker 2: think by honoring the way you live and how you
Speaker 2: treat others and what you focus on and what you
Speaker 2: make ort today and tomorrow, that's also how you honor
Speaker 2: people who were fighting for their last breath to be
Speaker 2: around the people they love. So thank you Eric Dane
Speaker 2: for the art and for the lessons in life and
Speaker 2: without everyone, thank you for listening to us.
Speaker 3: I'm Amy Roeboch alongside t. J. Holmes. We'll talk to
Speaker 3: you soon.