James Van Der Beekthe movie and tv actor finest identified for enjoying the title character Dawson Leery on The WB’s “Dawson’s Creek,” has died after a public battle with colorectal most cancers. He was 48.
His loss of life on Wednesday, February 11, was shared by his household by way of Instagramwho wrote, “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek handed peacefully this morning. He met his closing days with braveness, religion, and style. There’s a lot to share concerning his needs, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. These days will come. For now we ask for peaceable privateness as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and good friend.”
Van Der Beek had been identified with most cancers in 2023, and went public with the sickness in 2024. Van Der Beek was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1977. After getting his begin in theater, he had visitor roles on TV sequence like “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Because the World Turns” earlier than turning into the sequence common and lead on the generational coming-of-age sequence “Dawson’s Creek,” created by Kevin Williamson.
Van Der Beek just lately since his prognosis starred on TV sequence together with Prime Video’s faculty comedy “Overcompensating” and The CW’s “Walker” reboot. Many bear in mind him for his flip as Dawson Leery, a teenage budding filmmaker in Massachusetts within the sequence reverse Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson. However he introduced comedy chops later in his profession to “Don’t Belief the B—- In Condo 23,” the beloved two-season cult comedy on ABC in 2012-2014. Van Der Beek performed a model of himself on that present, a pattern he carried all through his profession to touch upon and subvert his TV movie star standing. He additionally made an impression in movie with main roles in “Varsity Blues” as quarterback Mox, and in Roger Avary’s Bret Easton Ellis adaptation “The Guidelines of Attraction” as a sexy, poisonous faculty pupil.
Van Der Beek additionally appeared on “One Tree Hill,” “How I Met Your Mom,” “Pose,” “CSI: Cyber,” and “Felony Minds,” amongst different sequence. He lent his voice to 69 episodes of the Disney Channel household animated sequence “Vampirina” and even appeared on Season 28 of “Dancing with the Stars.” Even additional embellishing his unpretentiousness, the beloved star competed as Griffin on “The Masked Singer” in 2025 even regardless of his most cancers prognosis. He made that prognosis public in November 2024 and continued to work all through final yr.
His movie roles additionally included reprising Dawson Leery within the unique “Scary Film,” plus an English dubbing function in Hayao Miyazaki’s “Fortress within the Sky,” Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day,” Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing,” and a number of “Jay and Silent Bob” movies as himself for Kevin Smith. He was particularly beloved for his function as a world-famous DJ on the Vice scripted sequence “What Would Diplo Do” from 2017.
He’s survived by his spouse, Kimberly Brook, in addition to six kids. He was beforehand married to Heather McComb from 2003 to 2010. A GoFundMe marketing campaign to help Van Der Beek’s surviving household is ongoing.