The 56-year-old actor used to share screen with the actress in the 80s and married her for two years.
- Apr 1, 2014
AceShowbiz - Robin Wright Penn's first husband Dane Witherspoon has died at the age of 56. The former soap opera star's cause of death is still unknown.
The sad news was delivered by actor A. Martinez who shared the screen with Robin and Dane on NBC's "Santa Barbara". He wrote on Facebook on Saturday, March 29, "Dane passed this morning. People who watched Santa Barbara in its earliest days will remember him as Joe Perkins, a character to which he brought a quiet grace and deep, bittersweet sense of soul."
Martinez continued, "He was a singular standup guy, loved and admired by many. My first thought, upon meeting him in 1984: 'This is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.' That beauty went all the way to his core."
Dane was later fired from the show several months after filming began. He was married to Robin from 1986 to 1988 when she was in her early 20s. He went on marrying actress Tracy K. Shaffer but divorced her in 2011.
"Dane was a most compelling man, and it must have been very hard on him to drift away from the path he first imagined," Martinez added in his tribute. "We'd do well to hold his kin in our thoughts, and imagine them finding a way to make the most of the lessons of his life."
