Eric Dane (born Eric T. Melvin, November 9, 1972) is an American actor. After appearing in television roles throughout the 2000s with his recurring role as Jason Dean in Charmed being the best known, he became famous for playing Dr. Mark Sloan on the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, as well as films, co-starring in Marley & Me (2008), Valentine's Day (2010), and Burlesque (2010). He starred as Captain Tom Chandler in the post-apocalyptic drama The Last Ship. He currently stars as Cal Jacobs in the HBO series, Euphoria.
Dane was born in San Francisco, California, to a homemaker mother and an interior designer/architect father, William Melvin. He is of English, German, Finnish, Russian-Jewish and Austrian-Jewish ancestry. When Dane was 7 years old, his father died of a gunshot wound. Dane has a younger brother, and they were raised in their mother's Jewish religion (Dane had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony). He attended Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, from 1987 to 1990, and San Mateo High School in San Mateo, California, from 1990 to 1991, where he graduated. Dane was an athlete in high school, playing on the boys' varsity water polo team, but pursued a career in acting after appearing in a school production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.