Janell Shirtcliff Shares Intimate Tribute as Eric Dane’s Death Ripples Through Family, Friends and a Recent Romance

Who feels the impact first: Janell Shirtcliff, Eric Dane’s daughters and the circle of friends who rallied during his illness. janell shirtcliff used social media to lay out candid snapshots of their relationship just days after Dane’s death, offering a personal view that shifts public focus from headline grief to the close, practical and emotional ties around the actor.

Janell Shirtcliff’s posts and the immediate human cost

Janell Shirtcliff — a photographer known for portraits of Post Malone, Jenna Ortega and Dua Lipa — shared a series of Story posts on social media on Feb. 21 that highlighted private moments with Eric Dane. The images and clips included a black-and-white shot of him smiling while getting a tattoo on his left arm, a picture of him in a white T-shirt and a tan cowboy hat beside a horse, a PDA moment in which he kissed the side of her head on a stairway, and a selfie of him leaning toward her shoulder. One short clip showed one of Janell’s children directing an impromptu photo shoot, asking him to look toward their mom and to smile.

How that intimacy intersects with public milestones and a recent romance

The posts trace back to a romance that reportedly debuted in June, described as beginning two months after Dane publicly shared his ALS diagnosis. The pair attended the Los Angeles premiere of Dane’s crime drama Countdown together, arriving hand-in-hand and sharing a laugh on the red carpet. An outlet reached out to their representatives at the time for comment but did not hear back.

Medical trajectory, public advocacy and shifted priorities

Dane had announced an ALS diagnosis in April 2025; by June he had lost use of his right arm and described the right side of his body as no longer working while his left side remained functional for a time. He focused significant energy on advocacy, joining the board of directors at Target ALS and remaining actively involved in awareness and research efforts. He portrayed a firefighter living with ALS in a November episode of the show Brilliant Minds, and in January he was forced to cancel an appearance at the ALS Network’s Champions for Cures and Care Gala because he was not well enough to attend.

Family status, past marriage and legal matters that persisted

Despite the apparent courtship with Janell, Dane remained legally married to estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart. The pair separated in 2017 and Gayheart filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences; she sought spousal support and joint legal and physical custody of their daughters, Billie and Georgia. Dane spoke in a final interview with Brad Falchuck for a Feb. 20 episode of a program about the depth of his longtime feelings for Gayheart, noting her importance as the mother of his children.

Friends stepping in: housing and other private supports

Friends provided practical help during Dane’s decline. One well-known actor opened a Los Angeles home to Dane, offering a pay-what-you-can or essentially rent-free arrangement for a residence above the Sunset Strip so that Dane had one less immediate financial worry. The two had met through mutual friends years earlier. That same benefactor reportedly extended a similar offer to another actor, Mickey Rourke, who had been evicted in January after owing almost $60, 000 in overdue rent; Rourke had not accepted the offer and had turned down donations for a fundraiser set up by his manager.

• Key points to hold: Dane died following a battle with ALS at age 53 and spent his final days surrounded by friends, his devoted wife and his daughters Billie and Georgia, who were described as the center of his world.
• His public timeline included an April 2025 diagnosis, rapid progression by June, on-screen work in November and a canceled January gala appearance due to illness.
• Janell Shirtcliff’s social-media posts on Feb. 21 offered intimate, candid images that reframed how many will remember Dane in his final chapter.
• Practical support from friends included flexible housing; legal and family dynamics from his marriage to Rebecca Gayheart remain part of the public record.

Here’s the part that matters: the combination of close personal moments, public advocacy work and visible support from friends changes the immediate story from private loss to a network of people and practical care that surrounded Dane in his last months.

What’s easy to miss is how those photos and small moments — a child directing a shoot, a kiss on the head, a cowboy-hat portrait — reshape public memory, shifting it toward daily humanity rather than only illness or headlines.

Short timeline drawn from the public details

• April 2025 — Dane announced his ALS diagnosis.
• June (same year) — He had lost use of his right arm; his reported romance with Janell Shirtcliff is said to have debuted in June, two months after the diagnosis.
• Feb. 19 — Dane died at age 53 following his battle with ALS; Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 mark a final interview and Janell’s social-media Story posts that surfaced private moments.

The real question now is how those close-in memories — and Dane’s advocacy work with Target ALS — will influence ongoing awareness and support for research. Recent updates indicate these are active threads that will continue to evolve as friends, family and colleagues process the loss.