Patrick Dempsey

Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans
Born	Patrick Galen Dempsey (1966-01-13) January 13, 1966 Lewiston, Maine, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, race car driver
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Rocky Parker ​ ​ (m. 1987⁠–⁠1994)​ Jill Fink ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	3

Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver, best known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd ("McDreamy") on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. He saw early success as an actor, starring in a number of films in his early 20s, including Can't Buy Me Love (1987) and Loverboy (1989). In the 1990s, he mostly appeared in smaller roles in film and television, before landing a lead role in Sweet Home Alabama (2002), a surprise box office hit. He has since then starred in a number of other films, including Enchanted, Made of Honor, Valentine's Day, Flypaper, Freedom Writers and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Dempsey, who maintains an exclusive sports and vintage car collection, also enjoys auto racing in his spare time. He has competed in prestigious pro-am events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car race, and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 off-road race. Prior to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, Dempsey declared that he would "walk away" from acting if he could and dedicate himself full-time to motorsports.

Early life

Dempsey was born in Lewiston, Maine, and grew up in Buckfield, Maine. His mother, Amanda (née Casson), was a school secretary, and his father, William, was an insurance salesman. He attended Buckfield High School and St. Dominic Regional High School. He was an adept juggler, tying for second in a national juggling competition. He was also an accomplished skier and while in high school won the Maine state slalom championship.

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

Acting career

Early career

Dempsey was discovered by an invitation 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 Philadelphia. He followed this with another tour, Brighton Beach Memoirs, in the lead role, which was directed by Gene Saks. Dempsey has also made notable appearances in the stage productions of On Golden Pond, with the Maine Acting Company, and as Timmy (the Martin Sheen role) in a 1990 Off-Broadway revival of The Subject Was Roses co-starring with John Mahoney and Dana Ivey at the Roundabout Theatre in New York.

Dempsey's first major feature film role was at age 21 with Beverly D'Angelo in the movie In The Mood, the true World War II story about Ellsworth Wisecarver whose relationships with older married women created a national uproar. This was followed by the teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love in 1987 with actress Amanda Peterson and Some Girls with Jennifer Connelly in 1988. This film was a flop. In 1989, Dempsey had the lead role in the films Loverboy with actress Kirstie Alley and Happy Together with actress Helen Slater.

1990s and 2000s

Dempsey made a number of featured appearances in television in the 1990s; he was cast several times in pilots that were not picked up for a full season, including lead roles in the TV versions of the films The Player and About A Boy. However he received good reviews as he portrayed real-life mob boss, Meyer Lansky in 1991, when Mobsters was put on the screen. His first major television role was a recurring role as Will's closeted sportscaster boyfriend on Will & Grace. He went on to play the role of Aaron Brooks, Lily & Judy's psychologically unbalanced brother, on Once & Again. Dempsey received an Emmy nomination in 2001 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Aaron. In 1993, he played a young John F. Kennedy in the 2-part TV mini-series JFK: Reckless Youth. In 2000, he also had a role as Detective Kincaid in Scream 3.

Dempsey had a high-profile role as the fiancé of Reese Witherspoon's character in Sweet Home Alabama. In 2004, he co-starred in the highly acclaimed HBO production Iron Jawed Angels, opposite Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston. He also appeared as special guest star in The Practice for its 3-episode finale season (8x13-8x15), as a married man who murdered his lover.

In 2007, Dempsey starred in the Disney film Enchanted, and the Paramount Pictures film Freedom Writers where he reunited with his Iron Jawed Angels co-star Hilary Swank. He also voiced the character Kenai in Brother Bear 2. Dempsey's most recent roles include the 2008 film Made of Honor as Tom and the 2010s romantic comedy Valentine's Day; the latter film follows five interconnecting stories about Los Angelinos anticipating (or in some cases dreading) the holiday of love.

Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the prize-winning novel The Art of Racing in the Rain in July 2009, for Dempsey to star in. The project has not been able to find a director. Dempsey starred as Dylan Gould in the 2011 movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

On November 1, 2012, Deadline.com reported that Dempsey is set to star in the romantic comedy Wonderful Tonight playing opposite Amanda Seyfried.

Grey's Anatomy

Main article: Grey's Anatomy

Dempsey has received significant public attention for his ongoing 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 well received and has become a highly rated program. Dempsey's character, Derek Shepherd is often referred to as "McDreamy" and has received press attention for his sex appeal, and his chemistry with Grey's Anatomy co-star Ellen Pompeo was well received by fans and critics. Dempsey also appeared in two episodes of the Grey's spinoff Private Practice, playing the same character as in Grey's Anatomy.

Dempsey was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series–Drama at the 2006 Golden Globes for the role. His success on the show has led to his becoming a spokesman for Mazda and State Farm Insurance. BuddyTV ranked him #1 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011".

Promotional work

He has been the face of L'Oreal and Versace and was featured in ads for Serengeti sunglasses. In November 2008 he launched an Avon fragrance named Unscripted, and due to its success, a second fragrance named Patrick Dempsey 2 was launched in October 2009. On September 29, 2012, Mexican cable company Cablemás, Megacable and Mexico city's Cablevisión launched an advertising campaign featuring Patrick Dempsey as the love interest of a domestic worker who comes across his profile on an online dating site. Starting 2013, Patrick Dempsey is the face of Silhouette, promoting eyewear fashion from Austria.

Auto racing

Dempsey at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

In 2014, Dempsey told Reuters in the Hockenheimring support paddock at the German Grand Prix that motor racing was not just a hobby, and had become as much a part of who he is as acting. He said, "It’s all-consuming in many ways. I couldn’t imagine not racing right now. It really keeps me motivated. It’s all I think about on a daily basis." Dempsey, who maintains an exclusive sports and vintage car collection, has enjoyed auto racing in his spare time for several years, and declared before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013 that he would like to compete full-time, telling Eurosport:

I would like to make that [motorsports] a complete priority and just focus on this full-time. If I could just walk away from acting, I think I could do that very easily, and just focus on the driving, I would love that more than anything else.

He has competed in prestigious pro-am events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car race, and Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 off-road race. He was a co-owner of the Vision Racing IndyCar Series team and current owner of Dempsey Racing, which is presently racing two Porsche 911 GT America's in the Tudor United Sports Car Series . He participated in this series as often as his schedule allowed, although insurance restrictions kept him from driving competitively while also filming a motion picture. In 2009, he raced a Team Seattle Advanced Engineering Ferrari F430 GT in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans's GT2 class, and finished ninth in class.

Dempsey announced he would race the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona along with other races throughout the season in a Mazda RX-8. Dempsey finished in third place in the GT Class of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In 2012, Dempsey competed in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Racing-Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, which, after five successful racing seasons in Europe, was to make its debut on American tracks.

Dempsey also formed the Dempsey Racing team to compete in the American Le Mans Series. The team fielded a full-time Oreca FLM09 in the Prototype Challenge class as well as a Lola B12/80 coupe in the Prototype 2 class (with Patrick himself driving) from Laguna Seca onward.

After debuting at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, Dempsey returned to France four years later and competed in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Dempsey and his co-drivers finished 29th overall and fourth in-class.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2004	Panoz Racing Series (GT class)	TBA	2	0	0	0	0	9	9th
2006	Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race (Pro class)	TBA	1	0	TBA	TBA	1	N/A	2nd
2007	Rolex Sports Car Series (GT class)	Hyper Sport	1	0	0	0	0	21	82nd
2008	Rolex Sports Car Series (GT class)	Hyper Sport	9	0	0	0	0	143	30th
2009	Rolex Sports Car Series (GT class)	Dempsey Racing	7	0	0	0	0	143	20th
	24 Hours of Le Mans (GT2 class)	Advanced Engineering Team Seattle	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	9th
2010	Rolex Sports Car Series (GT class)	Dempsey Racing	4	0	0	0	0	89	29th
	Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (ST class)	Freedom Autosport	1	0	0	0	0	9	90th
2011	Rolex Sports Car Series (GT class)	Dempsey Racing	11	0	0	0	1	226	11th
2012	Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (GS class)	Multimatic Motorsports	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Rolex Sports Car Series (GT class)	Dempsey Racing	9	0	0	0	0	138	24th
	American Le Mans Series (LMP2 class)	Dempsey Racing	5	0	0	0	2	53	3rd
	Maserati Trofeo World Series	TBA	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2013	American Le Mans Series (GTC class)	Dempsey Racing/Del Piero	10	0	0	0	3	87	7th
	24 Hours of Le Mans (GTE Am class)	Dempsey Del Piero-Proton	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
2014	United SportsCar Championship (GTD class)	Dempsey Racing	8	0	0	0	1	134*	18th*
	24 Hours of Le Mans (GTE Am class)	Dempsey Racing-Proton	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
	Porsche Supercup	Porsche AG	1	0	0	0	0	0‡*	NC‡*

^‡ Not eligible for points.
* Season in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2009	Advanced Engineering Team Seattle	Don Kitch, Jr. Joe Foster	Ferrari F430 GT2	GT2	301	30th	9th
2013	Dempsey Del Piero-Proton	Joe Foster Patrick Long	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	GTE Am	305	29th	4th
2014	Dempsey Racing-Proton	Joe Foster Patrick Long	Porsche 911 RSR	GTE Am	329	24th	5th

Complete Rolex Sports Car Series results

(key) (Results are overall/class)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points
2007	Hyper Sport	GT	Mazda RX-8 GT	Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor	DAY	MEX	HOM	VIR	LGA	LIM	WGL	MDO	DAY	IOW	BAR	MON	MIL 27/10	82nd	21
2008	Hyper Sport	GT	Mazda RX-8 GT	Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor	DAY 39/24	HOM 27/14	MEX	VIR	LGA	LIM	WGL 36/19	MDO 24/12	DAY 25/11	BAR 28/14	MON 26/9	NJ 33/19	MIL 26/14	30th	143
2009	Dempsey Racing	GT	Mazda RX-8 GT	Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor	DAY 35/22	VIR	NJ 15/7	LGA 22/10	WGL 21/7	MDO 18/6	DAY 26/11	BAR	WGL	MON	MIL	HOM 28/11		20th	143
2010	Dempsey Racing	GT	Mazda RX-8 GT	Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor	DAY 13/6	HOM 21/7	BAR 21/10	VIR 23/12	LIM	WGL	MDO	DAY	NJ	WGL	MON	MIL		29th	89
2011	Dempsey Racing	GT	Mazda RX-8 GT	Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor	DAY 14/3	HOM 31/18†	BAR 18/8	VIR 21/13	LIM 20/11	WGL 15/9	ELK	LGA 23/13	NJ 16/9	WGL 22/11	MON 21/11	MDO 21/11		11th	226
2012	Dempsey Racing	GT	Mazda RX-8 GT	Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor	DAY 21/10	BAR 21/13	HOM 21/14†	NJ	BEL 25/16	MDO 18/10	ELK 17/11	WGL 26/16	IMS 31/21	WGL	MON	LGA 23/13	LIM	24th	138

^† Did not complete sufficient laps in order to score points.

Complete Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge results

(key) (Results are overall/class)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
2010	Freedom Autosport	ST	Mazdaspeed3	C	DAY 47/22	HOM	BAR	VIR	LIM	WGL	MDO	NJ	TRO	MIL	90th	9
2012	Multimatic Motorsports	GS	Aston Martin Vantage	C	DAY 63/32	BAR 72/32	HOM	NJ	MDO	ELK	WGL	IMS	LGA	LIM	NC‡	0‡

‡ As Dempsey was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Maserati Trofeo World Series results

(key)

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	DC	Points
2012	JAR 1	JAR 2	ALG 1	ALG 2	ALG 3	IMO 1	IMO 2	IMO 3	LEC 1	LEC 2	SON 1 6	SON 2	SON 3 Ret	SHA 1	SHA 2	NC‡	0‡

‡ As Dempsey was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete American Le Mans Series results

(key) (Results are overall/class)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
2012	Dempsey Racing	LMP2	Lola B12/87	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	M	SEB	LBH	LGA 30/4	LIM 7/3	MOS	MDO 9/4	ELK 9/2	BAL	VIR	ATL Ret	3rd	53
2013	Dempsey Racing/Del Piero	GTC	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	Y	SEB 29/6	LBH 26/6	LGA 21/2	LIM 30/7	MOS 25/4	ELK 27/4	BAL 16/4	AUS 23/3	VIR 23/6	ATL 23/2†	7th	87

^† Did not complete sufficient laps in order to score points.

Complete United SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Results are overall/class)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2014	Dempsey Racing	GTD	Porsche 911 GT America	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	C	DAY 50/24	SEB 42/15	LGA 27/20	BEL	WGL 23/4†	MOS 27/11	IMS 34/9	ELK 40/13	VIR 10/3	AUS 41/14	ATL 49/18†	24th*	153*

^† Did not complete sufficient laps in order to score points.
* Season in progress.

Complete Porsche Supercup results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
2014	Porsche AG	ESP	MON	AUT	GBR	GER 23	HUN	BEL	ITA	USA	USA	NC‡	0‡

‡ As Dempsey was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Tully's Coffee

In January 2013, Dempsey announced that his company (Global Baristas) had secured the winning bid to purchase Seattle-based Tully's Coffee, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. Dempsey's bid of $9.15M was enough to secure Tully's over the bids of six others including Starbucks. Dempsey's company will control 47 Tully's locations in the Seattle area, but not the online business which had been purchased by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in 2009.

Following a legal dispute with investor group Global Baristas owner Michael Avenatti, Dempsey left the group, in effect officially leaving his managerial positions with Tully's. Dempsey filed a lawsuit on behalf of Global Baristas, claiming Avenatti borrowed $2 million against Tully's assets without informing Dempsey, rather than fully financing the coffee chain as was promised, calling the 15 percent interest rate on the loan “exorbitant” and sued for Avenatti to fund Tully's operations and meet its working capital needs, as well as for any damages owed the company. Soon after, Avenatti’s office issued a second statement saying the partnership was dissolved and that Dempsey wished the lawyer and the company “all the best”. Avenatti has stated the dispute was a "misunderstanding" and will continue operating with other investors and new management.

Personal life

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

Entertainment Weekly put Dempsey's hair on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "What made Grey's Anatomy a mega-medi-hit? It could have something to do with creator Shonda Rhimes' scalpel-sharp writing…or McDreamy's impossibly luxurious man hair. Just saying." In 2005, People magazine ranked him second in its annual list of "Sexiest Men Alive" and again in 2006.

Marriages and family

Dempsey has been married twice. In 1987, he married actress and acting coach Rochelle "Rocky" Parker. She appeared with Dempsey in the film In the Mood. The couple divorced in 1994.

On July 31, 1999, Dempsey married Jillian Fink. The couple have three children, daughter Tallulah Fyfe (born February 20, 2002) and twins, Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen (born February 1, 2007).

Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing and Dempsey Challenge

In 1997, Dempsey's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which subsequently relapsed five times. On March 24, 2014, his mother died in Lewiston, Maine, at the age of 79. In response to his mother's bouts with cancer, Dempsey helped start the Patrick Dempsey Center at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. In October 2009, when Dempsey introduced the first Dempsey Challenge, registration was closed after reaching the goal of 3,500 cyclists, runners and walkers. The event raised more than $1 million for the cancer center. His mother had been in the crowd as Dempsey finished his 50-mile ride. The Challenge has since become an annual October event presented by Amgen in the Lewiston–Auburn area.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Stuff	Underground Stuff buyer #2	Uncredited
	Heaven Help Us	Corbet
1986	Meatballs III: Summer Job	Rudy Gerner
1987	Can't Buy Me Love	Ronald Miller	Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy
	In the Mood	Ellsworth 'Sonny' Wisecarver
1988	Some Girls	Michael
1989	Loverboy	Randy Bodek
	Happy Together	Christopher Wooden
1990	Coupe de Ville	Robert 'Bobby' Libner
1991	Mobsters	Meyer Lansky
	Run	Charlie Farrow
1993	Bank Robber	Billy
1994	With Honors	Everett Calloway
1995	Outbreak	Jimbo Scott
1997	Hugo Pool	Floyd Gaylen	Limited release
1998	Denial	Sam
1998	Jeremiah	Jeremiah
2000	Scream 3	Det. Mark Kincaid
2002	Sweet Home Alabama	Andrew Hennings
	The Emperor's Club	Older Louis Masoudi
2004	Iron Jawed Angels	Ben Weissman
2006	Brother Bear 2	Kenai	Voice, Direct-to-video (replaced Joaquin Phoenix)
2007	Freedom Writers	Scott Casey
	Enchanted	Robert Philip	Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Amy Adams)
2008	Made of Honor	Tom Bailey
2010	Valentine's Day	Harrison Copeland
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Dylan Gould
	Flypaper	Tripp	Also producer

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Fast Times	Mike Damone	7 episodes
	Disneyland	Kellin Taylor	Episode: A Fighting Choice
1989	The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!	The Plant	Voice, Episode: Super Plant/The Pied Koopa
1993	J.F.K.: Reckless Youth	John F. Kennedy	Miniseries
1996	A Season in Purgatory	Harrison Burns	Miniseries
1997	20,000 Leagues Under the Sea	Pierre Arronax	TV movie
1998	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	TV movie
1998	Crime and Punishment	Raskolnikov	TV movie
2000–2001	Will and Grace	Matthew	3 episodes
2000–2002	Once and Again	Aaron Brooks	4 episodes Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2001	Blonde	Cass	TV Movie
2003	Lucky 7	Peter Connor	TV movie
	Karen Sisco	Carl Wilkens	Episode: Blown Away
2004	Iron Jawed Angels	Ben Weissman	TV movie
	The Practice	Dr. Paul Stewart	3 episodes
2005–present	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Derek Shepherd	225 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Drama Series (2006) People's Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star (2007, 2008) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2005, 2006) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Drama Series (2006, 2008) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series (2005) Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Male TV Star (2009)
2009, 2012	Private Practice	Dr. Derek Shepherd	2 episodes

External links

• Official website
• Patrick Dempsey at Emmys.com
• Patrick Dempsey at Le Mans
• Patrick Dempsey career summary at DriverDB.com