American actor James Van Der Beek has died

James Van Der Beek, star of the 1990s teen drama series Dawson's Creek, died Wednesday at the age of 48 after battling cancer.

"Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed away peacefully this morning. He lived his final days with courage, faith, and dignity," his wife Kimberly wrote on Instagram.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to raise $500,000 to support Van Der Beek's widow and six children. Less than an hour after the campaign was launched, more than $200,000 had been raised.

In 2024, Van Der Beek announced his diagnosis of colon cancer, which was detected during a routine colonoscopy a year earlier. "I have been dealing with this privately, undergoing treatment and focusing on my overall health more than ever before," he wrote on social media that year.

The actor continued to document his battle with cancer on social media until his death.

In addition to the aforementioned series, Van Der Beek starred in more than 60 films and television series, such as 1999's Varsity Blues and 2002's The Rules of Attraction.

(reuters, luc)