Who was James Van Der Beek? Biography, Career, Death and Net Worth
James Van Der Beek (March 8, 1977–February 11, 2026) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dawson Leery on The WB’s Dawson’so Creek (1998-2003).
He also played a fictionalised version of himself on the cult ABC sitcom Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23 (2012-2013), FBI agent Elijah Mundo on CSI: Cyber (2015-2016), and Matt Bromley in the first season of the FX drama Pose (2018).
Following his diagnosis of stage 3 colon cancer, James Van Der Beek died at the age of 48 on February 11, 2026.
James Van Der Beek Biography
David Van Der Beek was born on March 8, 1977, in Cheshire, Connecticut, as the eldest of three children to Melinda (née Weber; 1950-2020), a dancer and gymnastics teacher, and James William Van Der Beek, a cellular phone executive.
He was of Dutch, German, English, Scots-Irish, and French origin; his surname means “from the creek” in Dutch.
Career
Van Der Beek played Reuben in his middle school’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. At the age of 15, he begged his mother to accompany him to New York City to meet with an agent and pursue a career in acting.
He made his professional debut off-Broadway at the age of 16 in the 1993 New York premiere of Edward Albee’s play Finding the Sun with the Signature Theatre Company, playing “Fergus”. Both he and the show, directed by Albee, garnered good feedback. A decade later, in 2003, he returned to Off-Broadway with the drama Rain Dance.
At 17, while still a Cheshire Academy student, he appeared in the musical Shenandoah at the Goodspeed Opera House, had his feature film debut as a vicious bully in Angus (1995), and played a minor role in the independent film I Love You, I Love You Not (1996).
He attended Drew University in Madison, New Jersey on an academic scholarship and sang in an all-male a cappella group. However, he left the university when Dawson’s Creek began production.
James appeared in Nicky Silver’s play My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine at the Vineyard Theatre in midtown Manhattan, New York, and had a supporting role in the independent film Cash Crop, which was shot in the spring of 1997 and was initially titled Harvest before being released in 2001.
In early 1997, Van Der Beek auditioned for three television pilots, including one for the WB’s Dawson’s Creek.. He earned the title role of Dawson Leery, and the show’s 1998 premiere was a smash hit that helped establish the network and its ensemble.
The sitcom aired for six seasons and was distributed globally. In 1999, he starred in the teen football drama Varsity Blues, which opened at number one in the United States for two weeks and earned him an MTV Movie Award.
Around this period, he was awarded one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” and appeared in various films, including Texas Rangers, Scary Movie, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, in which he played himself as Jay opposite Jason Biggs as Silent Bob.
In 2002, he played Sean Bateman, the younger brother of American Psycho protagonist Patrick Bateman, in Roger Avary’s film version of Bret Easton Ellis’s The Rules of Attraction. The picture was a box-office failure but gained a cult following on DVD.
Van Der Beek starred in Clive Barker’s direct-to-DVD horror The Plague, which was critically criticised. After Dawson’s Creek finished in 2003, he went to off-Broadway with Lanford Wilson’s Rain Dance. He completed an unproduced script named Winning and appeared on various television shows, including Ugly Betty.
In 2007, he appeared in two episodes of Criminal Minds as serial killer Tobias Hankel, who kidnaps and drugs Spencer Reid. He first appeared on How I Met Your Mother in 2008 as Simon Tremblay, one of Robin Scherbatsky’s ex-boyfriends, then returned for two additional episodes in 2013.
On March 4, 2015, Van Der Beek made his debut as Senior Field Agent Elijah Mundo on CSI: Cyber. In 2017, he starred in the British comedy show Carters Get Rich.[20] He appeared in the film Downsizing (2017) alongside Matt Damon and portrayed Boris Hauntley in the Disney Junior series Vampirina.
Van Der Beek co-created, wrote, produced, and starred in “What Would Diplo Do?” as producer and DJ Diplo. It was his debut production as a showrunner. The show launched on Viceland to strong reviews for both the writing and his performance; the L.A. Times described it as “The Veep of DJ Culture,” while Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 90% rating.
In 2019, Van Der Beek was cast as Matt Bromley on the FX drama Pose, where he appeared for one season. He joined the 28th season of Dancing with the Stars, partnering with professional dancer Emma Slater. A good performance, he often finished near the top of the leaderboard and was largely regarded as a frontrunner until he was eliminated in the quarterfinals, finishing fifth.
He disclosed that his wife, Kimberly, had miscarried 48 hours before that night. His eviction, which came after the judges’ lowest score of the night, sparked controversy among fans.
Van Der Beek competed as “Griffin” on season thirteen of The Masked Singer in 2025, and his costume included wings that opened during performances. Clues referred to his previous illness. He was ousted in the “Group B Finals: Grand Ole Opry Night,” and host Nick Cannon shocked him by putting his wife, Kimberly, and their children on stage.
In 2026, he will appear posthumously in the Legally Blonde prequel television show Elle.
Van Der Beek Wife
Van Der Beek and actress Heather McComb were married from 2003 until their separation in April 2009. He filed for divorce later that year, which was finalised in 2010.
On August 1, 2010, Van Der Beek married business consultant Kimberly Brook in a small ceremony at the Kabbalah Center near Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, Israel. The couple has six children.
He spoke multiple times about Brook’s miscarriage in November 2019, barely a month after announcing her pregnancy. On November 22, 2021, after the birth of their sixth child, he revealed that she had miscarried twice at 17 weeks or later. Van Der Beek announced in September 2020 that they would be leaving Los Angeles and going to Texas.
Death
Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colon cancer on August 31, 2023, he did not publicly announce his condition until November 2024. He said that he had “been privately dealing with this diagnosis and [has] been taking steps to resolve it” with the help of his family.
In November 2025, he revealed that he would auction off items from Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues to help pay for his cancer treatment. Van Der Beek passed away on February 11, 2026, at the age of 48.
Van Der Beek Net Worth
James Van Der Beek had a net worth of $3 million when he died. He was best recognised for his role as Dawson Leery on “Dawson’s Creek” and enjoyed a great career in film and television.
Social Media
Instagram: @vanderjames
