Rebecca Gayheart is an American actress/model who started her career as a teen model in the 1980’s and acting career from 1990. with ‘Whatever Happened to Mason Reese?’ Rebecca has performed in numerous other films, TV series and stage plays. She has had her ups and downs in life with a life-altering accident involving death and prison.
Rebecca is currently married to Eric Dane, or is she? Is Rebecca’s married life with her husband already ending in divorce? What about their children? Learn all of it with her bio and net worth.
Early Life and Introduction
Rebecca Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky, on August 12, 1971. She grew up in Kentucky alongside her three other siblings, two elder and one younger. She was born to the couple, Father Curtis and mother Floneva, as their third children. Rebecca is of Irish, Italian, and German descent, and she spent her early life in Pine Top, Kentucky.
Gayheart attended Knott County Central High School while in Pine Top, and there she starred in a stage play where she would undertake the role of Lizzie Borden. Rebecca later attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. She appeared in commercials to make a living while she was studying.
Rebecca first starred in a short film directed by Brett Ratner, who was her long-time partner in 1990. Brett and Rebecca dated from 1986 to 1999; they met while Rebecca was only 15.
The Accident and Aftermath
The Accident
After becoming reasonably successful in acting, appearing in movies and TV series throughout the ’90s, she had a life-changing moment in 2001. Rebecca hit a 9-year-old boy in a car accident, and the boy died.
On June 13, 2001, Rebecca struck 9-year-old Jorge Cruz Jr. as the boy ran after a ball onto the street. She hit the boy after the car in front of her suddenly stopped, and she swerved to avoid the car and pass it from its left side, she didn’t know why the car had stopped, but it was too late by the time she had realized. 9-year-old Jorge died in the Los Angeles Children’s hospital the next day.
Jorge Cruz and Silvia Martinez, the parents of the boy, were devasted, and so was Rebecca, unable to fathom what was happening. She paid for Cruz’s hospital and funeral expenses. Young Jorge’s parents filed for a wrongful-death lawsuit on 6 August 2001 against Rebecca.
Rebecca pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge. She got a $2,800 fine and 750 hours of community service, a one-year suspension of her license, was sentenced to three years’ probation. She was ordered to make a public service announcement as well.
Aftermath
After the accident, Rebecca went into depression and had PTSD from the accident. She contemplated suicide for a whole year and made several attempts as well.
Nearly 18 years after the accident, Rebecca finally opened up on Laura Cathcart Robbins’ friends, podcast,
“The Only One in the Room.” She said, “I did not cope very well after; I didn’t want to live after that accident. … I couldn’t handle it at all, so I spent about a year just trying to kill myself, basically by doing every self-destructive thing a person can do because I didn’t understand … any of it.”
Even now, she is trying to live with the fact and move on with life. She thanks her daughters for being the light, motivating her to move forward, do better in the future, and forget the past. She says,
“I still have those questions, but today I am able to ponder those questions and still realize that I deserve to be happy and that I am meant to be on this planet and that I have a purpose and I’m making living amends for that, even though it was an accident.”
Meeting Eric Dane, Marriage and Divorce
Eric Dane replied in an interview when asked how he met Rebecca became a thing,
“It’s probably one of the least interesting stories in the world. It went basically like this: ‘You wanna go out?’ ‘Yeah, sure.’ Ten months later, we were married.” Though the relation started with simple words and the courting period was only ten months, their marriage lasted for 14 years.
Rebecca became Eric Dane’s wife on 29 October 2004. Perhaps, they needed each other or more, Rebecca needed Eric. She had to go through a horrible experience and probably wasn’t over it. With Eric’s help, Rebecca slowly got into living her normal life, or so it appeared.
Eric and Rebecca have two children together.
Last year in 2018, Rebecca filed for Divorce with Eric. They had decided to separate the same year too, Rebecca says Co-parenting with Eric is ‘not easy all the time.’
Children with Eric Dane
Rebecca and Eric have two beautiful daughters together. She gave birth to her first daughter when she was 38 on March 3rd, 2010. Their first daughter’s name is Billie Beatrice Dane. She is currently nine years old.
Rebecca had her second daughter at the age of 40; her name is Georgia Geraldine Dane. She was born on December 28, 2011, and is currently eight years old.
Rebecca considers her daughters the light of hope in her life; she had felt empty since the accident in 2001 but now understands the feeling of being a parent and loving her child. She is still very sorry for the bereaved family, but she is trying to move her life forward with and for her daughters.
Rebecca Gayheart Net Worth
Rebecca is currently 48 years old and has had a long enough career. Throughout her career as an actress and a model, she has amassed a net worth of $5 million.
Eric Dane, her husband, has a net worth of $7 million, so the difference in their finance doesn’t seem significant. But, this will probably change after the divorce hearings are finalized.
Rebecca Gayheart Wiki
| Name | Rebecca Gayheart |
| Date of birth | August 12, 1971 |
| Siblings | Elizabeth(b.1964), Curtis Wayne(b.1967) and Rachel(b.1979-d.2017) |
| Education | Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute |
| Partner(s) | Brett Ratner (1986-1999) |
| Spouse(s) | Eric Dane (m.2004 – sep.2018) (Filed for divorce) |
| Children | Two daughters with Eric Dan, Billie Beatrice Dane and Georgia Geraldine Dane |
| Net Worth | $5 million |
| Height | 1.7m (5ft 7 inches) |
| Star/Zodiac sign | Leo |