The heartbreaking news of James Van Der Beek’s death was announced in an Instagram post on his official account on Wednesday, February 11. The actor fought a long battle with cancer and was 48 at the time of his passing. His loving family shared a beautiful tribute to him in the post’s caption. It is a reminder of how loved the actor was.
James loved deeply, and what he shared with his second wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, was special. But he was also married before, to Heather McComb. This is a look back at their relationship.
James Van Der Beek & Heather McComb’s Relationship
The “Dawson’s Creek” actor and McComb were married from 2003 until 2010. They got engaged in 2003 and married on the Fourth of July weekend in Malibu the same year, People reports. When they announced their split in June 2009, a rep for James said they ended on good terms.
“It was totally amicable and they remain good friends,” the rep said.
GettyJames Van Der Beek Meets Kimberly Van Der Beek
It was not long after his divorce that James met and married his second wife, Kimberly, while on vacation in Israel. The pair had an incredible love story, highlighted by the loving posts they shared on social media and by the beautiful comments James made about his wife and her support in interviews. What they shared was unconditional love.
On August 1, 2020, James shared an insight into his feelings about his divorce by honoring Kimberly with an emotional anniversary post on Instagram. “Ten years ago today this woman made me the happiest I’d ever been,” he wrote. “A year prior to that, I’d been famous, been wealthy, been married, been divorced, been less-than-wealthy, been single… and I was in Israel, on a trip with an organized group, when it hit me: I was done being single. I wanted a real relationship. A soul mate. Someone with whom I could build a family.”
He continued, “I was mid-revelation, rattling all this off to a friend of mine when a voice interrupted us, wanting to ask him a question. I was annoyed. Who the hell was stepping all over my moment? I turned around… it was @vanderkimberly. Three days later, I asked her what she was looking for in a relationship. Her answer: ‘I’m not looking for a relationship.’ Six months later we were living together. Two weeks after that we were pregnant, and almost exactly one year to the date after she’d first interrupted me (on the spot where we’re standing in the last pic)… we were married.”
Remembering James Van Der Beek’s Life
In a December 2024 interview on “Good Morning America,” James spoke lovingly about Kimberly. “She’s really taught me what unconditional love is,” he said, People reports. “[Cancer] has put me in a position of having to ask for help [and] having to receive help. The beautiful blessing of that has been seeing how many people in my life have shown up.”
Her last post on Instagram was of just the two of them and was a celebration of their love, and then came the heartbreaking announcement of James’s death. Fans and loved ones have flooded the post with condolences.
The caption reads, “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity, and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
