Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is a Golden Globe Award-nominated American actor who first became prominent in Hollywood during the late 1980s.

Dempsey, an Irish-American, was born in Lewiston, Maine and grew up in Turner, Maine, the youngest of three children born to Amanda and William Dempsey, an insurance agent. Dempsey attended St. Dominic Regional High School for his senior year, where his mother worked as a secretary, but dropped out before he graduated. He was an adept juggler, tying for second in a national juggling competition. Dempsey also spent some of his school years in the town of Buckfield, Maine, where he attended Buckfield High School in the Maine School Administrative District #39 for his freshman through junior years. His mother was secretary to the high school principal there and still resides in the area.

Dempsey was diagnosed with Dyslexia at age 12. He told Barbara Walters on her 2008 Oscar's special that he thinks dyslexia "made him what he is today." “It’s given me a perspective of — you have to keep working,” Dempsey tells Walters. “I have never given up.”

Dempsey was discovered by an agent and invited to audition for a role in the stage production of Torch Song Trilogy. His audition was successful, and he spent the following four months touring with the company in San Francisco. Dempsey also appeared on MTV on a show Overnight Success by Teri DeSario, where he dances and juggles. Dempsey's first major feature film role was at age 21 with Beverly D'Angelo in the movie In The Mood, the real life WW2 story about Ellsworth Wisecarver who had relationships with older married women which created a national uproar. This was followed by the teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love in 1987 with actress Amanda Peterson. In 1989, he had the lead role in the film Loverboy with actress Kirstie Alley and Happy Together with actress Helen Slater. Although the teen comedy and romance roles led to Dempsey being somewhat typecast for a time, he was able to avoid playing the same character as his career progressed. Dempsey had a high-profile role as one of the suitors for Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. He also had a role as Detective Kincaid on Scream 3. He is expected to return in a possible Scream 4 . Dempsey's most recent roles include the 2007 Disney film Enchanted, and the Paramount Pictures film Freedom Writers where he reunites with his Iron Jawed Angels co-star Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in Brother Bear 2.

Most recently, Dempsey has starred in Made of Honor.

Dempsey has received significant public attention for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd in the drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to landing the role of Derek Shepherd, Dempsey auditioned for the role of Dr. Gregory House on another medical show, House. Initially a midseason replacement, the show was very well received and has become a highly rated program. Media attention has been focused on Dempsey's character Derek, often referred to as "McDreamy", for his sex appeal, and the character's romance with intern Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo). Dempsey was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama at the 2007 Golden Globes for the role. In 2006 Dempsey signed a contract with ABC raising his salary to $225,000 per episode. His success on the show has led to him becoming a spokesman for Mazda and a model Versace. He has also been the spokesman for several recent State Farm advertisements. He is currently working with Avon to launch a fragrance, due out in November 2008, which is called Unscripted.

Dempsey has been married twice. In 1987, he married actress and acting coach Rochelle "Rocky" Parker, who appeared with Dempsey in the film In the Mood. At the time of their marriage, Dempsey was 21 years old, while Parker was 48, with a son, Corey Parker, who was one year Dempsey's senior. The couple divorced in 1994.

On July 31, 1999, Dempsey married Jillian Fink, a Connecticut resident and founder of Delux Beauty. They met when Dempsey entered Fink's salon for a haircut. Fink still trims his locks. The couple has three children: a daughter, Talula Fyfe, born on February 20, 2002, and twin sons Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick, born on February 1, 2007.

Dempsey enjoys auto racing in his spare time, having driven the pace car in the Indianapolis 500, and raced in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. He is currently the co-owner of IndyCar Series team Vision Racing. In 2008 he will be competing in 5 of the 12 Rolex Sports Car Series racing series races.

Dempsey was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12. As a result, he is forced to memorize all his lines in order to perform, even for auditions where he was unlikely to get the part.