Patrick Dempsey

He married Rochelle ‘Rocky’ Parker, who was an actress, acting coach and the mother of his best-friend, in 1987. She was 26 years his senior. The couple divorced in 1994.

In 1999, he married Jill Fink, with whom he has three children; Tallulah Fyfe and twins, Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen.

Apart from his acting career, he initiated the ‘Patrick Dempsey Center’, a cancer center at Central Maine Medical Center. The inspiration for starting this organization came after his mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and suffered nearly five relapses in her life.

Patrick Galen Dempsey was born on 13 January 1966, to Amanda and William Dempsey, in Lewiston, Maine. His father was an insurance salesman and his mother was a school clerk.

He studied at St. Dominic Regional High School. At the age of 12, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. It was around this time, young Dempsey is believed to have been ‘the most insecure’.

From a very young age, he was adept at juggling, winning a national juggling competition. He was also an accomplished skier and while in high school, he won the Maine state slalom championship.

He left high school in Lewiston to pursue acting and got the role of ‘David’ in the San Francisco production of ‘Torch Song Trilogy’. He performed in several plays including bagging the lead role in ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ and ‘The Subject was Roses’.

In 1985, he starred in ‘Heaven Help Us’, a romantic film followed by ‘Meatballs III: Summer Job’ the next year. He was also seen on television in ‘A Fighting Choice’ and ‘Fast Times’.

He got his first major role in the 1987 movie, ‘In the Mood’. The same year he also starred in the romantic film, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, which cemented his lover-boy image.

In 1989, he was cast as a pizza boy who supplied ‘more than just pizzas’ in the romantic comedy, ‘Loverboy’. At this point of time in his life, he became a heartthrob with a horde of adoring fans. He was also cast as ‘Christopher Wooden’ in ‘Happy Together’ along with Helen Slater.

1991 proved to be an extremely busy year for the budding actor with a number of projects in his kitty. He appeared in ‘Mobsters’ and ‘Run’, two films which proved his versatility in acting. Two years later, he played a young John F. Kennedy in a two part TV mini-series, ‘JFK: Reckless Youth’.

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is a popular American medical drama which featured Dempsey in the lead role of ‘Dr. Derek Shepherd’, the irresistible neurosurgeon. Considered one of the ‘highest-rated shows of all time’, the series ran for 10 seasons and became the recipient of a number of important awards. Dempsey was praised for his screen presence and acting abilities which earned him a number of nominations and important awards for his role.