Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is one of the most brutal diseases out there. Per Mayo Clinic, it is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that slowly destroys motor neurons controlling voluntary muscles. It causes muscle weakness, twitching, and paralysis, and typically leads to respiratory failure within 3–5 years. Despite decades of research, there’s no cure yet. The only thing to do is to manage the symptoms.
Even with that, for most people, the fight is short and tough.
Hollywood just lost one of the most well-known faces, Eric Dane, to this disease. The world knows him as Dr. Mark Sloan, aka “McSteamy” of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, or from ‘Euphoria’. He passed away in February 2026 after his own battle with ALS.
Dane wasn’t alone; some familiar faces from Hollywood have fought their own battles with ALS. Quite a few of them have shared their journey publicly in order to raise awareness about the disease. With their courage to come forward and share such a personal experience, they’ve also pushed the conversation forward about why we need more research and better support for people living with it.
Here, let’s take a look at some of the Hollywood names we’ve lost to ALS, and how they made their mark.
