The Terrific and Stellar Career of Eric Dane

On February 19, 2006, viewers and fans of ABC's hit series, Grey's Anatomy, were introduced to Dr. Mark Sloan, who was dubbed with the famous nickname, "McSteamy," by many fans. Eric Dane played this amazing character beginning with that evening's episode, "Yesterday," which was the 18th episode of the show's second season.

Sadly, we fast forward to 20 years to the day later, and we were hit with the tragic news that Eric Dane passed away at the age of 53. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS for short, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. That's what claimed Dane; 10 months after the diagnosis. Dane appeared in 139 episodes of the series as Dr. Mark Sloan, and also played the role in a pair of episodes of Private Practice (the spinoff of Grey's).

Dane was a guest star in Season 2 before becoming a regular in Season 3, with the character being established as the best friend of Dr. Derek Shepard--a friendship that ended due to the fact that Mark messed around with Derek's wife, Dr. Addison Montgomery. We've seen Mark in a bit of a long relationship with Lexie Grey, and it was also discovered that he had a teenage daughter, Sloan Riley. Mark also co-parented with Callie Torres, who gave birth to their child, a girl named Sofia.

Of course, as we all know, Mark was in that plane crash that ended Season Eight, and Season Nine saw Mark on life support before the plug was officially pulled, resulting in Mark fatally succumbing to his injuries from the crash that also killed Lexie. Dane was definitely one of the biggest breakouts on Grey's Anatomy by far, but as amazing as that run was, there was definitely other amazing facets in his stellar career.

Recognize that guy in the tee on the right? That is a young Eric Dane appearing in a 1991 episode of Saved by the Bell--"The Game," which served as the second of the show's Malibu Sands episodes. The episode centered on Leon Carosi's yearly wager on the owner of North Beach, which involved a volleyball contest. Zack, in order to force Leon to be nice to him and his friends, claims that he and his crew are talented players, and it was during the practice, the group (including Stacey Carosi) is encountered by brothers Chad and Tad Pogue from North Beach. Tad was Dane's character, and this was his first ever role. I myself didn't recognize Dane until very recently, but that's definitely "McSteamy."

I definitely remember this episode of Married... With Children. "Radio Free Trumaine," one of the show's three attempts at a backdoor pilot (and the first since Top of the Heap, which starred a pre-Friends Matt LeBlanc), featured Dane as Oliver Cole, a co-host of a college radio show. The shared connection was the fact that the college's dean was none other than Steve Rhoades (in what would be the character's last appearance on the series), and the episode also guest-starred a pre-Felicity Keri Russell. The episode/backdoor pilot served as the antepenultimate episode of Married... With Children's ninth season, but the pilot was never picked up as a series.

Before Grey's, Dane recurred on the original Charmed series as Jason Dean, who was a love interest for Alyssa Milano's Phoebe Halliwell. Following his long stint on Grey's, Dane co-starred on three TV series. First off, The Last Ship, which aired on TNT for five seasons between 2014 and 2018. Secondly, Dane was part of the HBO drama series, Euphoria, with the show premiering in the summer of 2019. Following an eight-episode first season, two specials aired in 2020 and 2021 before an eight-episode second season aired in early 2022. A year after appearing as villainous James McGrath in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Dane co-starred on the Amazon Prime series, Countdown, with Jensen Ackles and Jessica Camacho. Regarding Euphoria, a third season is coming this year, and will air posthumously, serving as Dane's final appearances.

Even though I didn't really start watching Grey's Anatomy until a few years ago, I had been a fan of Eric Dane's work for a good bit. It still amazes me that I've seen him in more things than I thought I did, and that's because at that time, Dane was trying to get some elevation; he was basically just starting. Those early appearances led to his huge break on Grey's, and that led to so much more, as is the case--Grey's has opened the door for a lot of the show's cast members. Eric Dane definitely became quite the star and had one hell of an epic career, and that is a legacy that will live on forever.