Eric Dane

Where it All Began

Eric William Dane was born November 9, 1972 in San Francisco, California. His father is an architect and interior designer who has worked for many years in the San Francisco area. Eric has a younger brother who likes to point out that he has no interest in becoming an actor.

As a regular American high school student, Eric Dane was a good athlete. It was when he started playing Joe Keller in his high school amateur stage production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons that he realized acting was what he wanted to do with his life. He then decided to cut his water polo season short and focus his efforts on an amateur stage career.

Dane, with wife Rebecca Gayheart

Eric Dane's Career

After moving to L.A. in 1993, Eric got a bit part in The Wonder Years. Dane earned other small roles on Married with Children, the police drama Silk Stalkings, and the outlaw bounty hunter drama Renegade. You may also recognize him from Roseanne, where he played a bellhop when Roseanne and the Connors went to Walt Disney World.

• In 1999, Eric was cast in his first major film, The Basket. The movie is set during WWI in the Pacific Northwest.
• In 2000, Eric got to do one episode of a comedy called Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane.
• Eric then did two movies in 2001. The first, Sol Goode, was a movie about twenty-somethings. In the second movie, Ball & Chain, he plays a character named Jack.
• After the movies in 2001, Eric went into television as series regular Dr. Wyatt Cooper on Gideon's Crossing. Due to low ratings, Gideon's Crossing was cancelled in April 2001 after only 20 episodes.
• After Gideon's Crossing, Eric moved on to a guest star role as Rob Goodwin on The American Embassy. He also had a recurring role on Charmed as Jason Dean, the boyfriend of Alyssa Milano's character, Phoebe Halliwell.
• Dane then played Charles "Tex" Watson in Helter Skelter, a movie based on the Charles Manson murders.
• The next acting gig for Dane was as Leo Broder on the television show Las Vegas.
• In 2005, Eric played a character named Hero in a movie called Feast, in which the customers of a bar have to fight off monsters.
• In 2006, Eric had a busy year. He starred in Open Water 2 and in A&E's Wedding Wars. He also had a role in X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Eric played popular comic book character Multiple Man, one of the followers of the evil-doer Magneto.

Rebecca Gayheart

Grey's Anatomy

In 2005, Eric Dane guest starred on Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Mark Sloan (McSteamy). Due to positive fan reaction, the show decided to make Dr. Mark Sloan a regular. Some say it was the shower scene during his first appearance that made Eric Dane a household name. If you are a fan of the show, you may remember that he walked out of a steamy shower with nothing more than a tiny towel. This earned him the nickname McSteamy.

Personal Life

Eric was involved with actress Lara Flynn Boyle in 2001. The couple met while shooting crossover episodes for Gideon's Crossing and The Practice, two shows produced by David E. Kelley. Eric has since settled down, marrying actress Rebecca Gayheart in October of 2004.