It’s a sad commentary on health care in America that even a famous actor has trouble scraping together money to pay for his cancer treatment. James Van Der Beek will be selling off his show business memorabilia to help pay for his cancer treatments.
Van Der Beek is to this day best known for starring as the titular Dawson on Dawson’s Creek, which aired for six seasons on the WB from 1998 to 2003. If any character on the show is a stand-in for series creator Kevin Williamson, that would have to be Dawson, an aspiring filmmaker who would eventually make a TV show called The Creek.
Dawson’s Creek was a popular show. Its series finale “shattered some ratings records for the WB,” according to Rick Kissell for Variety. Estimates for Van Der Beek’s payments per episode vary widely. After the show ended, he had guest rôles on various shows. But the highest profile post-Dawson main cast credit I see on his IMDB page is CSI: Cyber.
Van Der Beek was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. Kate Reilly reports for NBC News that
James Van Der Beek is selling memorabilia from throughout his film and television career to help with the financial cost of his cancer treatment.
The 48-year-old actor was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2023. All of the proceeds from the auctioned items will go towards his medical costs, People reported in an exclusive interview with Van Der Beek.
The “Dawson’s Creek” star has partnered with Propstore, an entertainment memorabilia company, to give fans the opportunity to buy wardrobe items, props and set pieces.
[…]
His collection will include the cleats he wore in the cult favorite 1999 teen football film “Varsity Blues,” as well as several signature items from the beloved TV drama “Dawson’s Creek,” in which Van Der Beek played the title character from 1998 to 2003.
The necklace Dawson gave Joey (Katie Holmes) for prom is estimated to bring in anywhere from $23,200 to $46,500, and Dawson’s pilot episode outfit is expected to sell for $1,700 to $3500, according to the Propstore website.
“I’ve been storing these treasures for years, waiting for the right time to do something with them, and with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it’s clear that the time is now,” Van Der Beek told People.
In September, the original cast of “Dawson’s Creek” — including Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams — reunited in New York City for a reading of the show’s pilot episode to help raise funds for Van Der Beek’s treatment. “Hamilton” creator and star Lin Manuel Miranda stepped in to play Dawson after Van Der Beek became too ill to perform.
I watched every episode or almost every episode when the show first aired. But unlike other shows I watched around that time (such as Star Trek: Voyager on UPN), I never felt the need to rewatch any episodes of Dawson’s Creek after it ended its run.
So I had completely forgotten that Jen (Michelle Williams) died of a heart condition. What I remember very clearly is that in the final season of the show, Dawson had saved up some money to make his first movie but it wasn’t enough, so he entrusted it to Pacey (Joshua Jackson). Then Pacey wasted that money and his own savings on a very ill-advised stock tip. That damaged the friendship between these two characters. I don’t quite recall if they were friends again in the show’s series finale.
I hope James Van Der Beek makes a full recovery, or at least that his cancer goes into remission.
I don’t have any numbers on how many people in the United States have a diagnosis similar to Van Der Beek’s. I’m guessing thousands if not a million. And surely most of them don’t have valuable assets they can afford to sell off to pay for their medical care.