{"id":1971,"date":"2026-02-12T13:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T13:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/?p=1971"},"modified":"2026-02-12T13:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T13:04:22","slug":"james-van-der-beek-dies-following-battle-with-colon-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/?p=1971","title":{"rendered":"James Van Der Beek dies following battle with colon cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The actor revealed in 2024 that he was undergoing treatment for colorectal cancer, and last year, he talked about the \u201chardest year\u201d of his life.<\/p>\n

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James Van Der Beek surprise video appearance at Dawson\u2019s Creek fundraiser reunion<\/p>\n

Fans who attended a Dawson\u2019s Creek reunion fundraiser at a New York theater on Monday, September 22, were surprised when James Van Der Beek, who has colorectal cancer, made a video appearance at the event. Credit: @misterdine via Storyful<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger, I used to define myself as an actor, which was never all that fulfilling, and then I became a husband\u2026 it was much better, and then I became a father\u2026 that was the ultimate,\u201d he said to his 1.6 million followers\u00a0on Instagram last year.<\/p>\n

The father-of-six pointed out that during his cancer battle he was forced to \u201clook my own mortality in the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

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FILE \u2013 James Van Der Beek at Prime Video\u2019s \u201cOvercompensating\u201d premiere held at the Hollywood Palladium on May 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores\/Variety via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI had to come nose to nose with death,\u201d he remarked. \u201cAnd all those definitions that I cared so deeply about were stripped from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was away for treatment, so I could no longer be a husband who was helpful to my wife,\u201d Van Der Beek continued. \u201cI could no longer be a father who could pick up his kids and put them to bed and be there for them. I could not be a provider because I wasn\u2019t working.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his\u00a0cancer journey, the actor admitted he began to question if he was \u201cjust a too-skinny, weak guy, alone in an apartment with cancer\u2026 what am I?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am worthy of God\u2019s love simply because I exist,\u201d Van Der Beek shared. \u201cAnd if I\u2019m worthy of God\u2019s love, shouldn\u2019t I also be worthy of my own?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I move through this healing portal toward recovery,\u201d Van Der Beek said, \u201cI wanted to share that with you because that revelation that came to me was in no small part to all the prayers and the love that had been directed toward me.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Van Der Beek\u2019s legacy<\/h2>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

Born on March 8, 1977, in Connecticut,\u00a0Van Der Beek won the title role of Dawson Leery in WB\u2019s \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek.\u201d The show\u2019s 1998 debut was a success that\u00a0helped to establish the network and its cast. The series ran for six seasons and was syndicated worldwide.<\/p>\n

In 1999, he also starred in the teen football drama \u201cVarsity Blues.\u201d He won an MTV Movie Award for his role.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0James Van Der Beek makes surprise virtual appearance at \u2018Dawson\u2019s Creek\u2019 reunion<\/p>\n

He made appearances in several other projects, including, \u201cUgly Betty,\u201d \u201cCriminal Minds,\u201d \u201cHow I Met Your Mother,\u201d and \u201cOne Tree Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Der Beek also co-created, wrote, produced and starred in \u201cWhat Would Diplo Do?,\u201d in which he portrayed producer and DJ Diplo. The movie scored 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

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Griffin sent home on \u2018The Masked Singer\u2019<\/p>\n

Griffin was sent home on \u201cThe Masked Singer\u201d and revealed as a \u201990s teen icon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Van Der Beek joined the cast of the 28th season of \u201cDancing with the Stars,\u201d and in 2025, he competed on Season 13 of \u201cThe Masked Singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Der Beek married business consultant Kimberly Brook in 2010. The couple have six children together.\u00a0 He was previously married to actress Heather McComb until their separation in 2009.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and six children, Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn and Jeremiah. A\u00a0Van Der Beek GoFundMe account\u00a0was created to support the family.<\/p>\n

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The Source:<\/b>\u00a0This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press, previous FOX Local reporting contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The actor revealed in 2024 that he was undergoing treatment for colorectal cancer, and last year, he talked about the \u201chardest year\u201d of his life. James Van Der Beek surprise … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1972,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1971\/revisions\/1972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}