James Van Der Beek was done with Los Angeles by 2020.
The Dawson’s Creek star, who died February 11, 2026 at age 48, made a permanent exit from Beverly Hills that September after what he called “the toughest 10 months” of his life.
The Crisis That Changed Everything
Two late-term pregnancy losses hospitalized Kimberly Van Der Beek twice. The couple spent Christmas fearing she had a tumor. Van Der Beek’s mother died. A business partner betrayed him. Then the pandemic shut down the world.
“In the last ten months, we’ve had two late-term pregnancy losses… my mom died,” Van Der Beek wrote before leaving California.
The Timeline:
- September 2020: Family leaves Beverly Hills
- Weeks-long road trip: 1,500 miles with 5 kids and pets
- Destination: 36-acre Austin, Texas ranch
- 2021: Sixth child Jeremiah born in Texas
Why Texas
Kimberly had visited Austin on an anniversary trip and meditated under an oak tree. She told Austin Life magazine the state had “the capacity to heal”.
Van Der Beek felt it too—the same energy he’d experienced filming Varsity Blues there at 21, before fame, before six children, before cancer.
“We wanted to give them space and we wanted them to live in nature,” he explained in 2021.
Life on the Ranch
The family documented their journey out of LA, stopping at the Grand Canyon and rural New Mexico. One video showed a paraglider soaring over open land—Van Der Beek’s visual answer to why they left.
By 2022, the actor called the move “really centering” for himself and his children: Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, and Jeremiah.
“The kids can watch the seasons change,” he told People. “It’s been grounding, and a different kind of education that we never could have offered them in a classroom”.
The Final Chapter
Van Der Beek lived in Texas for nearly six years before dying from bowel cancer on February 11. His wife Kimberly announced his death just one day after People published fresh details about their Austin ranch and the traumas that drove them there.
Why It Matters
Van Der Beek represents a growing number of Hollywood figures who left Los Angeles during the pandemic—but his reasons were rooted in family tragedy, not politics or taxes. The 36-acre ranch became a sanctuary where his children experienced their father’s final years outside the Hollywood machine. His decision to prioritize healing over career access gave his family irreplaceable time before his death at 48.
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