Rebecca Gayheart has made her first public appearance since the death of her husband, Eric Dane.
Grey’s Anatomy star Dane — who died February 19 at age 53 less than one year after sharing news of his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis — and Gayheart were married for more than a decade before their 2017 separation. They remained legally married at the time of his death.
Just weeks after Dane’s death, Gayheart, 54, and her two daughters shared with the late actor, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, attended Tuesday night’s Los Angeles premiere of The Drama. The red carpet photos saw Gayheart in a striped dress with a small pink purse, while her oldest daughter opted for a white lace outfit and her younger daughter sported a light pink dress.
Gayheart wore her long hair down, styled to frame her face though falling in front of her eyes at times. She offered a soft smile for the cameras.
In a statement announcing Dane’s death, his family said: “With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS. He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world.”
Dane and Gayheart met in 2003 and tied the knot less than a year later. But they separated in 2017 after over a decade of marriage. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2025, but dismissed the filing after Dane’s ALS diagnosis.
Although the couple was estranged, they remained close friends and co-parents for years, with Gayheart caring for Dane up until his death.
While the pair each dated different people, Gayheart wrote in an essay for The Cut in December 2025 that their “love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love.”
In his final pre-recorded interview, Dane praised Gayheart as his “best friend” and “biggest champion.”
“We’re still really best friends, but we’re not together,” he explained to Brad Falchuk in Netflix’s Famous Last Words interview that aired February 20. “By virtue of the distance of us living in separate homes, there’s a lot of time lost there. But I made sure that I can be there as much as possible and certainly when it counts.”
Last week, Gayheart opened up in an interview with Variety about how her family has been doing in the weeks following Dane’s death.
“I just want to thank everybody for being so kind to us during the last couple of years. It’s been challenging and meaningful, and people are kind,” she said. “I’m having trouble receiving all of the support and love coming at me from every which way because of Eric and the [entertainment] community that’s so generous with their time.
“They’ve been holding me and the girls up the last two weeks, and I don’t think they’re going anywhere. I think they’re in it for the long haul,” she continued. “Hollywood gets a bad rap. That kind of makes me mad, because we have a lovely community of people, and I’m so grateful for them.”
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