PATRICK DEMPSEY Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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PATRICK DEMPSEY

Name: Patrick Galen Dempsey                                                           
Born: 13 January 1966 Lewiston, Maine, U.S.                                           
                                                                                       
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. He       
is also known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd (Dr. McDreamy) on       
the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. During the 2000s, he also appeared in several       
film roles, including The Emperor's Club, Freedom Writers and Enchanted.               
                                                                                       
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 MSAD (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 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. 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 The Subject Was Roses, which showed 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 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 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 were put on the screen. His first major television       
role in tv series was a recurring role as Will's closeted sportscaster boyfriend       
on Will & Grace. He went on to play the role of Aaron Brooks, Sela Ward's             
psychologically unbalanced brother, on Once & Again. In 1993 he was convincing         
as a young John F. Kennedy in the 2-part TV mini-series "JFK: Reckless Youth."         
Dempsey received an Emmy nomination in 2001 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a           
Drama Series for the role of Aaron. In 2004, he co-starred in the highly               
acclaimed HBO production, Iron Jawed Angels, opposite Hilary Swank and Anjelica       
Huston.                                                                               
                                                                                       
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. 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 .