Rebecca Gayhearts Heartfelt Tribute to Eric Dane

Dane was among a group of shock omissions, including Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues star James Van Der Beek and French screen icon Brigitte Bardot. 

He had secretly recorded a final message for his daughters to be released posthumously in a Netflix special entitled Famous Last Words: Eric Dane.  

'Billie and Georgia, these words are for you: I tried. I stumbled sometimes, but I tried,' he said, speaking directly to the camera. 'Overall, we had a blast, didn’t we?'

Dane then shared the four lessons he had learned over the course of his life that he wanted to impart to his daughters before he died.

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‘First, live now, right now in the present. It's hard, but I learned to do that,’ he said. ‘For years, I would wander off mentally, lost in my head for long chunks of time, wallowing in worry and self-pity, shame and doubt. I replayed decisions, second-guessed myself. "I shouldn't have done this. I never should've done that."' 

However he ultimately declared: 'No more,' a change in mindset that he characterized as a decision he made ‘out of pure survival'.

He added: ‘Second, fall in love. Not necessarily with a person, although I do recommend that as well. But fall in love with something,’ Dane said. 

Explaining that he had discovered acting at around his daughters' age, he said: ‘Find your passion, your joy. Find the thing that makes you wanna get up in the morning.’

His third dictum was to 'choose your friends wisely,' to 'find your people and allow them to find you and then give yourselves to them,' inasmuch as the 'best of them will give back to you. No judgement. No conditions. No questions asked.'

Sharing his gratitude for the friends who ‘stepped up’ when he became ill, he urged his daughters: ‘Just show up. And love your friends with everything you have. Hang on to them. They will entertain you, guide you, support you and some will save you.'

His fourth and final exhortation was to 'fight with every ounce of your being and with dignity. When you face challenges, health or otherwise, fight.' 

Dane told Billie and Georgia: ‘Never give up. Fight until your last breath. This disease is slowly taking my body, but it will never take my spirit. So when something unexpected hits you, and it will, because that's life, fight and face it with honesty, integrity and grace, even if it feels or seems insurmountable.’

The San Francisco-born actor's voice broke as he reflected: ‘I hope I've demonstrated that you can face anything. You can face the end of your days. You can face hell with dignity. Fight girls, and hold your heads high.'

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He concluded by saying '‘Billie and Georgia, you are my heart. You are my everything. Good night. I love you. Those are my last words.’ 

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