Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Galen Dempsey was born on January 13, 1966, in Lewiston, Maine, and was raised in the nearby towns of Turner and Buckfield. His mother, Amanda, worked as a school secretary, and his father, William, was an insurance salesman. Dempsey has two older sisters. He attended Leavitt Area High School, Buckfield High School, St. Dominic Regional High School, and, after relocating to Houston, Willowridge High School. He was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12. As a youth, he competed in juggling, finishing second in the Juniors category at the 1981 International Jugglers' Association Championship, behind Anthony Gatto.

Dempsey's path into acting began in 1983 when he was invited to audition for a stage production of Torch Song Trilogy. His audition succeeded, and he spent four months touring with that company in Philadelphia. He subsequently toured in Brighton Beach Memoirs, taking the lead role in a production directed by Gene Saks, and his Broadway appearance in that production came in 1984. He also performed with the Maine Acting Company in On Golden Pond, and in 1990 appeared off-Broadway in a revival of The Subject Was Roses at the Roundabout Theatre in New York, playing the role of Timmy alongside John Mahoney and Dana Ivey.

His film career began in earnest at age 21 with In the Mood, opposite Beverly D'Angelo. He followed that with Meatballs III: Summer Job alongside Sally Kellerman in 1987, and the teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love that same year with Amanda Peterson. Some Girls with Jennifer Connelly came in 1988, and in 1989 he led both Loverboy with Kirstie Alley and Happy Together with Helen Slater.

Through the 1990s, Dempsey built a television presence, including a three-episode role on Will & Grace as Will Truman's closeted sportscaster boyfriend and four episodes of Once & Again as Aaron Brooks, a schizophrenic character whose portrayal earned Dempsey an Emmy nomination in 2001 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. In 1993, he played a young John F. Kennedy in the two-part television miniseries JFK: Reckless Youth, and in 1991 he portrayed real-life mob boss Meyer Lansky in Mobsters. He also appeared in the three-episode finale season of The Practice. In 2000, he played Detective Kincaid in Scream 3.

His film profile rose further with a high-profile supporting role in Sweet Home Alabama in 2002 opposite Reese Witherspoon, and in 2004 he co-starred in the HBO production Iron Jawed Angels alongside Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston.

Dempsey became widely recognized for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, which he joined in 2005 and continued through 2015, returning again from 2020 to 2021. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama for the role in 2006. Before being cast, he had auditioned for the role of Dr. Chase on House. He also reprised the character in two episodes of the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice. In January 2014, he signed a two-year contract to continue on the series through its potential eleventh and twelfth seasons.

During his time on Grey's Anatomy, Dempsey maintained an active film career. In 2007, he appeared in the Disney film Enchanted and in Freedom Writers, reuniting with Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in Brother Bear 2 that year. Made of Honor followed in 2008, and Valentine's Day in 2010. He starred as Dylan Gould in Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011, and that same year starred in and produced Flypaper. In 2016, he appeared in Bridget Jones's Baby with Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth, and in 2017 he participated in the short film Red Nose Day Actually, playing the husband of Laura Linney's character. He starred in and produced The Art of Racing in the Rain in 2019. His later film credits include Thanksgiving and Ferrari, both in 2023. In 2026, he began playing the lead role of Angelo Doyle in the Fox crime drama Memory of a Killer.

Beyond acting, Dempsey is an avid motorsports competitor who maintains a collection of sports cars and vintage cars. He has raced in events including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona sports car events, and the Baja 1000 rally-raid. Prior to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, he stated that he would walk away from acting if he could in order to dedicate himself fully to racing. He has received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, and was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2023.