ACTOR BIO

Sure he was a bit nerdy in the ‘80s, but that is precisely why we think the man who plays Dr. McDreamy himself is even MORE intriguing today.

Patrick Dempsey’s portrayal of Dr. Derek Shepherd has earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and a People's Choice Award. In addition he has garnered two Golden Globe nominations and received a 2006 Screen Actors Guild nomination.

Dempsey's movie career keeps him just as busy: He starred in the romantic comedy Made of Honor, Disney's Enchanted (opposite twice-Oscar-nominated Amy Adams) and the critically acclaimed Freedom Writers, alongside Oscar winner Hilary Swank.

Dempsey became well known as the unlikely heartthrob of such classic '80s nostalgia films as Can't Buy Me Love and Loverboy. Other films include Sweet Home Alabama, Scream 3, With Honors, Outbreak, Hugo Pool, The Treat, The Palace Thief, Heaven Help Us, Happy Together, Some Girls, Coupe De Ville, Run, Mobsters and In the Mood.

On television, Dempsey nabbed an Emmy nomination in 2001 for his portrayal of Aaron Brooks, Sela Ward's psychologically unbalanced brother, in the critically acclaimed Once and Again. In 2003 he made a memorable guest appearance on NBC's hit Will & Grace as Will's love interest, and in 2004 he co-starred in HBO's highly-acclaimed Iron Jawed Angels, opposite Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston.

Dempsey has also starred in the NBC movie based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, opposite Ben Kingsley; appeared in the television miniseries 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with Michael Caine; co-starred with Oliver Reed in the biblical epic, Jeremiah, and could also be seen in JFK: Reckless Youth, A Season in Purgatory, Blood Knot, The Right to Remain Silent, Shallow Grave and Blonde.

Dempsey was born and raised in Lewiston, Maine. He first appeared on stage as David in the San Francisco production of Torch Song Trilogy. Other early stage work included On Golden Pond for the Maine Acting Company, the international touring production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, directed by Gene Saks, and The Subject Was Roses at the Roundabout Theatre in New York. He also took the stage in The Pasadena Playhouse run of The Importance of Being Earnest as Algernon Moncrieff.