James Van Der Beek | Entertainment News, Photos, and Videos

James Van Der Beek took to Instagram on Monday (July 13) to announce that his mother Melinda sadly passed away last week at the age of 70.

The 43-year-old actor was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars last year and was very open about his mother’s influence on his love of dance.

“My mom crossed over last week. Even though we knew this was coming – and had actually thought we were at the end nearly a year and a half ago – I’m still in shock,” James wrote in his moving tribute. “I’m grateful she’s no longer in pain, I’m sad, I’m angry, I’m relieved… all at once and in different moments. Just trying to hold space and allow for it all.”

James continued, “To thousands of kids, she was ‘Miss Melinda,’ a gymnastics teacher with a big heart, a creative spirit and a mantra: ‘There’s no such word as can’t!’ To my kids, she was Grammy M… a magical grandma with a big laugh and a basement full of costumes and Christmas lights. And to me… she was my mom.”

“She gave me life. She taught me how to tumble. Drove me to my first auditions. She believed in me based on nothing but her own intuition and she passed on a craziness that has been crucial to not just my success, but my own personal happiness,” James wrote. “I don’t know what the grieving/healing process looks or feels like from here on out… all I know is anytime my kids – or any of her students – want to dress up, or get on a stage, or dance, or even just think of her… they’ll have a little extra love from the other side backing them up.”

James also shared a slideshow of personal family photos, which you can view below.

Just last month, James and his family suffered another tragic loss.

James Van Der Beek has announced the devastating news that his wife Kimberly has suffered another miscarriage.

The couple previously went through a very public miscarriage in November 2019 while he was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. This is her fifth miscarriage in nine years.

James and Kimberly decided not to be public about their pregnancy this time around, but sadly they lost the baby at 17 weeks into the pregnancy.

“After suffering a brutal, very public miscarriage last November, we were overjoyed to learn we were pregnant. This time, we kept the news to ourselves. But last weekend, once again, 17 weeks in… the soul we’d been excited to welcome into the world had lessons for our family that did not include joining us in a living physical body,” James wrote on Instagram.

“We rushed @vanderkimberly to the hospital by ambulance for another harrowing night of blood transfusions. And as I stood by, grateful for the good people who navigated the maze of regulations to save her life – but helpless to do much for the woman I loved other than massage her feet and try to keep her warm (with my #DWTS robe, ironically) – something kept running through my head, again and again, which I now feel compelled to share: We’ve got to take better care of each other,” he added.

“The world is in pain right now. There’s denial, shock, numbness, anger – all the old patterns we cling to when deep trauma is unearthed. And there are no words to ease that pain… to make the process hurt less or to solve it quickly. But the way out of it? Starts with an open, broken-hearted contemplation of this question: How can we take better care of each other?” James said. “And to all the families who have gone through this… you are not alone. 🌈.”

James and Kimberly are the parents of five children – Olivia, 9, Joshua, 8, Annabel, 6, Emilia, 4, and Gwendolyn, 2.

The opening night performance of the new Broadway musical Girl from the North Country had so many stars on the red carpet on Thursday (March 5) at the Belasco Theatre in New York City.

It was date night for married couples Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita, and Michael C. Hall and Morgan Macgregor.

More stars in attendance included James Van Der Beek, Ben Platt and his former Dear Evan Hansen co-star Michael Park, Corey Stoll, Brooke Shields, Jesse Eisenberg, Tony Shalhoub, Bernadette Peters, Jane Krakowski, Martha Plimpton, Rosie O’Donnell, Kathy Najimy, Mary-Louise Parker, Brian D’Arcy James, Alysia Reiner, Sophia Anne Caruso, and Wesley Taylor.

Girl from the North Country, which features the songs of Bob Dylan, is now playing on Broadway. The New York Times gave it a rave review and noted it as a Critic’s Pick.

35+ pictures inside from opening night of the new musical… More Here! »

James Van Der Beek will be starring in a upcoming production of the classic musical Bye Bye Birdie in Washington, D.C.

The 42-year-old actor will be playing the role of Albert Peterson in the one-week production at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, according to People.

Albert is the “the neurotic New York–based songwriter who finds himself in panic when his client — rock and roll teen idol Conrad Birdie — is drafted into the Army.”

Also in the cast will be American Housewife‘s Carly Hughes as Rose Grant and Harvey Fierstein as Albert’s mother Mae Peterson.

Dear Evan Hansen‘s Mallory Bechtel is playing Kim MacAfee, The Prom‘s Caitlin Kinnunen is playing Ursula Merkle, and Kim’s parents will be playing Ann Harada and Reg Rogers.

The production is running from April 23 through April 28.

Kelly Rowland adds a cool pop of red to her look for the premiere of Bad Hair during 2020 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray on Thursday night (January 23) in Park City, Utah.

The 38-year-old singer and actress stars in the new film opposite James Van Der Beek, Michelle Hurd, Jay Pharoah, Elle Lorraine, Ashley Blaine and more for the event, which shines a light on black hair.

During an interview with Variety, Kelly opened up about a moment she shared with her son, Titan, that relates to the flick.

“I come downstairs and my son’s like, ‘Mommy, I really love your hair.’ And I said, ‘Thank you baby.’ And it was just interesting… because I think it was his first time seeing me receive like, you know, my natural hair.”

She added, “It’s beautiful and it looks effortless and that’s what we wanted… It made it look easy, and I think that for so long we were told as black women, ‘Well, I don’t know what to do with that,’ or ‘This is hard.’ It’s always a scrunched face or a complaint when it comes to taking care of our natural hair and this was a new easy solution.”

Bad Hair centers on an ambitious young woman, who in 1989, gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.

FYI: James wore a Falconeri sweater.

35+ pictures inside of Kelly Rowland, James Van Der Beek and more at the Bad Hair premiere…

James Van Der Beek is opening up about returning to the Dancing With The Stars ballroom just a week after being eliminated.

The 42-year-old actor was sent home during the semi-finals, which came just a day after his wife suffered a miscarriage.

During the finale, James took to the floor for a final dance despite being eliminated.

“It was great to be back and dancing. This group is a really tight group of dancers. All the celebs have been so supportive. I’m so glad I got to see everybody,” James told USA Today.

He added, “Emma [Slater] and I really appreciated the reception we got the second we stepped on the floor. It really warmed my heart. It’s so appreciated.”

READ MORE: See James Van Der Beek‘s body transformation after being on DWTS!

James Van Der Beek is going shirtless to reveal how his body has changed in the last few months while competing on Dancing With the Stars!

The 42-year-old actor shared two selfies, one that he took after six months of Muy Thai fight training and another that he just snapped after dancing for six days a week.

“Fight training vs. dancing… – I’d been training in Muy Thai three days a week for about six months (for the next project I’m writing) when I hit pause to dance six hours a day. Now I can rhumba 🕺🏼,” James wrote on Instagram.

While he looks great in both images, James is considerably more ripped in the new photo!

READ MORE: Ally Brooke Shares Update on James Van Der Beek After His Shocking ‘DWTS’ Elimination