
American actor Eric Dane, known to the general public for his role as surgeon Mark Sloan in the successful series Grey's Anatomy, has died at the age of 53 after a serious illness.
The news was reported by American media and confirmed by his family, who announced that the actor passed away on Thursday afternoon, at the end of a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
"It is with a broken heart that we announce that Eric Dane passed away on Thursday afternoon, after a courageous fight against SLA," the family said in a statement, quoted by the CBS television network and other media in the United States.
The actor had made the diagnosis public last year, revealing that he was suffering from the degenerative neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which progressively affects the nervous system and weakens muscles.
Eric Dane became internationally known thanks to his role as Dr. Mark Sloan, a character who left his mark on one of the most watched medical dramas on television.