Patrick is an American actor married to Jillian Fink, who almost got divorced in 2015. Let's look at the story of his life and his wife.
Patrick Dempsey has been ruling hearts and screens since the 90s. He is attractive, gorgeous, charismatic and has a huge fan base. His character in Grey’s Anatomy is widely popular and acclaimed.
Patrick is an American actor and race car driver, who goes by the moniker McDeamy ever since he was cast in the role of a doctor in Grey’s Anatomy. He is a motorsports and sports car enthusiast and often claims that he would leave acting if he could pursue motorsports full-time.
Patrick was born on January 13, 1966, in Lewiston, Maine, in a modest household. His parents were simple people, and Dempsey had a troubled childhood. His mother worked as a school secretary, and his father was an insurance salesman and carpenter. Patrick is the youngest of his three siblings, and despite his battle with dyslexia as a child, he is a household name today.
As a child, Patrick struggled with dyslexia, which made studying difficult, and so he became fond of sports. He found his confidence in skiing and became an ace skier. He competed professionally and emerged as one of the top three skiers in Maine. He was also an excellent juggler and toured with the New England Vaudeville Circuit with his own act by the age of 15.
Patrick had a natural talent for dance, acting, and performing arts, which contributed a lot to his career in acting. Dempsey won the Talent America Contest in 1981, through which he was caught by an agent and offered to audition for the part of a gangly youngster for the San Fransico production of Torch Song Trilogy. He later toured with the acting company for months. He went on to perform with the Maine Acting Company in On Golden Pond and the international touring production of Brighton Beach Memoirs.
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Patrick has been a heartthrob since his films of the late 1980s, but he disappeared after gaining fame as the famous wannabe lady killer 'Ronald Miller' in Can't Buy Me Love, released in 1987. However, Dempsey made a banging return as 'Dr. Derek Shepherd on the hit show Grey’s Anatomy.
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Patrick debuted with a feature film in 1985 in which he played a catholic school boy alongside Andrew McCarthy in Heaven Help Us. Patrick also made his television debut with Fast Times at Ridgemont High spinoff Fast Times as 'Mike Damone' that aired in 1986. Patrick got his breakthrough with Can't Buy Me Love, in which his character, a nerdy high school senior who mows lawns to earn extra money and seems to enjoy it, earned him a huge female fan following. The role made him quite popular with the teens during that time, as he perfectly fit the kind of trendy boy-next-door image through his role. He also earned the Young Artist Award in 1987 for the same.
In 1987, he sealed his fate in the acting industry as the high school rom-com actor with Loverboy. In Loverboy, he played a pizza deliveryman who secretly delivered more than just food to his customers. The film leaned heavily on cheeky humour and fantasy, pairing Dempsey with established actresses like Carrie Fisher, Kirstie Alley, and Kate Jackson, and reinforcing his image as a playful, mischievous romantic lead who could balance innocence with sex appeal.
Patrick had created his image as a nerdy high school boy, famous among the teens, and to get out of a rut, he needed something different that would show the audience his range as an actor. So, he went on to pursue the role of one of the three brothers reunited for a cross-country road trip in, Coupe De Ville in 1990. Alongside Christian Slater and Richard Grieco, Patrick played the role of gangster 'Meyer Lansky' in Mobsters in 1991 and portrayed a law student sharing screen with Kelly Preston in Run in 1991 as well.
Patrick also rocked his image of the idol teen by marrying his manager, Rocky Parker, at just the age of 21, while she was 48 at the time. The relation was appalled by many and took the fans by surprise. Being his professional coach and confidant as his manager, their relationship soon became romantic, and when they got married, a huge media scrutiny followed. Nonetheless, the marriage ended after 7 years in 1994, reflecting upon which Dempsey said that he was naïve, young and impressionable, caught up in the whirlwind of fame and the need for stability early in his life.
What should have been fulfilling and encouraging soon felt restrictive to Patrick, and so when he broke off his marriage and returned to the industry, he had very limited options to choose from. In 1994, he was seen with Joe Pesci and Brendan Fraser in a supporting role in With Honours, a role that helped him cast away from under the shadow of the idol teen romantic boy. Patrick explored the darker, deeper, renewed and newfound side to his acting skills with A Season in purgatory in which he portrayed the role of a man drawn into the morally murky cover-up of a murder.
Patrick’s attempt as the adult heartthrob in Will & Grace completely changed the perspective of the audience about Dempsey. In the three-episode production, he plays the love interest of Eric McCormack. Soon after, Dempsey delivered a deeply emotional performance on the acclaimed ABC drama Once and Again, playing 'Aaron' the brother of Sela Ward’s character, who struggles with schizophrenia. His portrayal was widely praised for its honesty and compassion, earning him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Patrick highlighted his charming, witty, playful, and physically appealing personality in Sweet Home Alabama, where he played Reese Witherspoon’s charming fiancé. The role solidified his role as a leading man in Hollywood.
In 2005, Dempsey started the role of 'Dr. Derek Shepherd' or 'Dr. McDreamy' in the popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. His romance with Ellen Pompeo’s character won the viewers over. Patrick’s role as 'Dr Derek' won him the Screen Actor’s guild award and a People’s Choice award. In 2007, he picked a light, kids' movie, Enchanted, where he played a barrister who develops feelings for the historical princess who has been transported to the present from the past by a wicked queen.
Patrick has an undying love for motor sports, catering to his need to own a sizeable collection of sports and classic vehicles. He has participated in famous Pro-AM competitions such as Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 off-road race, Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2015, he competed with his own Dempsey Racing Proton-Team and teammates Patrick Long and Marco Seefried in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR.
Patrick first married Rocky Parker in 1987, but the two separated after 7 years in 1994. In 1999, he married Jillian Flink, who is a makeup artist, and they share three children. In January 2015, Flink filed for a divorce after a prolonged rough patch, but after nearly a year of the couple’s therapy and working on the issues of conflict between the two, the couple did not separate.
Jillian Fink has been married to Patrick Dempsey for 25 years, and the two are stronger than before after a rough patch in their marriage. She is a renowned makeup artist, and while her husband makes a name for himself on the screen, she does her best work off-camera.
Jillian met Patrick at her hair salon in Los Angeles in 1994, and the two have shared major milestones since. They share three beautiful children, namely Talula, Darby and Sullivan. When Patrick was named Sexiest Man Alive, Jillian celebrated the news with pomp and show, and an adorable Instagram post followed her celebration.
Apart from being an ace makeup artist and owning a hair salon in Los Angeles, she is known for her entrepreneurial ventures as well. Jillian launched her signature lip gloss for the cast of Charlie’s Angels, and her products were also used in Sweet Home Alabama starring her husband Patrick aong with Reese Witherspoon. She has worked with some of the top names of the industry, like Kristen Stewart, Kate Winslet, Emma Roberts and apart from being professionally involved with them, she is also a good friend and is often seen out and about with them.
Fink created her own cosmetics lines, hair and skin care products. Her first line of cosmetics was named Delux Beauty, a range of beauty productsthat were designed in a way that they were to be applied by hands not makeup tools. Her second line of cosmetics was named Jillian Dempsey Line that came out in 2014 with one remarkable key difference from her first line. She said:
“With my first brand, Delux Beauty, I couldn’t afford to do anything that was natural,” Jillian explained to Beauty Independent. “The cost of goods would have been too high. I wanted to make my current brand cruelty-free and vegan, utilizing natural and organic materials where I could find ingredients and making it really easy to use.”
Patrick has an estimated net worth of USD 85 million, through films, motorsports, endorsements, commercial campaigns and other entrepreneurial ventures.
Patrick Dempsey remained every girl’s fantasy through the 90s and is still a Hollywood beloved for many.
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