Eric Dane’s death has left a massive hole in people's lives -- not just for his family, but across Hollywood -- and here at TMZ too, where he was a familiar face we’d catch out and about over the years.

Roll the clip ... we ran into Eric everywhere from 2008 through 2022, owning sidewalks in every candid moment like the true A-lister he was.

A couple years after our last run-in, Eric revealed he’d been diagnosed with ALS last April -- the nervous system disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Still, he kept working to the very end, recently filming scenes for Season 3 of "Euphoria."

Eric was 53.

RIP