James Van Der Beek, who rose to fame as Dawson Leery in the hit teen drama Dawson’s Creek, has died aged 48 following a battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer.
His wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, confirmed he “passed peacefully” after facing his illness with “courage, faith and grace”.
Van Der Beek became a household name in 1998 when Dawson’s Creek premiered on The WB. The series, which ran for six seasons, followed a tight-knit group of teenagers navigating love, ambition and loss in a small coastal town. It defined a generation of late-1990s television and launched the careers of Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams.
After the show ended in 2003, Van Der Beek transitioned into film and television roles that broadened his image beyond the sensitive teen lead. He starred in the American football drama Varsity Blues and the dark comedy The Rules of Attraction, before later embracing self-aware roles, including a fictionalised version of himself in Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.
In November 2024, he publicly revealed his cancer diagnosis, saying the disease had been discovered following a routine colonoscopy the previous year. He spoke candidly about the emotional and physical toll of treatment, while continuing to appear publicly and advocate for cancer awareness.
He is survived by his wife and their six children.
Van Der Beek’s portrayal of Dawson Leery remains one of the most recognisable roles of 1990s television — a character whose earnest ambition and emotional vulnerability helped shape the era’s coming-of-age storytelling.
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