Katherine Heigl Breaks Silence on Eric Dane Death with Heartbreaking Message

Eric Dane — best known to TV audiences as Dr. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan on Grey's Anatomy and Cal Jacobs on Euphoria — died on Thursday, February 19, less than one year after going public with his ALS diagnosis. He was 53.

The Grey's Anatomy cast has responded with an outpouring of grief. Patrick Dempsey spoke about his former co-star's final days with raw honesty, several other cast members shared messages, and Katherine Heigl's tribute (which came days later) was another round of tears for fans.

'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

Heigl, who starred alongside Dane from Grey's Anatomy's 2005 premiere until her own departure in 2010, opened her Facebook post by acknowledging her own discomfort with public grief.

"I debated this post for days," she wrote. "I have never been comfortable grieving publicly. I share my tears, my stories and my memories with those I'm closest to and more times than not I share them only with the heavens alone. But that silence can often look like a lack of care, which I could not abide here."

She addressed Dane's wife Rebecca and daughters Billie and Georgia directly, telling them there is "so little, if in fact anything, one can say about a tragic loss like yours." Then she offered the only comfort she said has ever brought her peace in loss: Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" — tattooed on her body in her parents' handwriting, she explained, so she will never forget that the moment of gold was worth it.

"I will never forget Eric's gold and I will forever be grateful I got to bask in it for even a brief moment in time. Thank you for sharing him with us. Godspeed my old friend… here's to your next great adventure."

The Grey's Family Responds

Heigl was not alone. Kate Walsh recalled her very first scene with Dane — an elevator scene early in Grey's run — writing that she loved his "sensitivity and vulnerability" and that he had "the gravitas and old soul that made his work magnetic and made him a great friend off set."

Chyler Leigh, who played Dane's love interest Lexie Grey, said she would carry him "within my heart forever," remembering his infectious humor and deeply philosophical nature off set. T.R. Knight posted a photo of himself straightening a smiling Dane's bowtie, writing that his "generosity and humor will always be a guide."

Dane is survived by his wife and daughters. His role in Euphoria Season 3 — premiering April 12 on HBO — will stand as one of his final performances.