Patrick Dempsey

Born: January 13th, 1966
Where: Lewiston, Maine, USA

The versatile actor (he can count juggling among his skills) only really tasted major success as neurosurgeon Dr Derek Shepherd in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

Movie remained fairly anonymous rom-com fare until he hitched himself to above average projects including the amiable Disney outing Enchanted.

Born into an Irish-American family, he was the youngest of three children born to an insurance agent and a school secretary.

He attended Buckfield High School in Maine and was at St Dominic Regional High School for his senior year, but dropped out before he graduated.

Extra-curricular pursuits included dancing (he attended classes from the age of seven) and he was also an adept juggler, tying for second in a national competition.

When he was 15 he developed his own act and toured the New England Vaudeville Circuit as a juggler, unicyclist, comedian and magician.

Dempsey was discovered by an agent and he successfully auditioned for a role in a stage production of Torch Song Trilogy, taking it to San Francisco.

Subsequent appearances included the MTV show Overnight Success (as a juggler) and he also embarked on another stage tour with Brighton Beach Memoirs.

He made his big screen debut in the comedy drama Heaven Help Us alongside Donald Sutherland but his subsequent outings were notable for their lack of success.

He starred in the Disney TV Movie A Fighting Choice with Beau Bridges and was signed up for a TV series based on Fast Times At Ridgmont High. It flopped.

He fared slightly better as a womaniser in the Woo Wood Kid, a movie which mirrored his private life as a 21-year-old marrying his 48-year-old manager.

(he was later to attribute this rash decision - the pair soon divorced - to destroying his confidence and trashing hi career).

He scored again with 1987's Can't Buy Me Love, playing a nerd who offers Amanda Petersen's chearleader $1,000 to pose as his girlfriend for a month.

The rom-com Loverboy saw Dempsey cast as a pizza delivering stud wooing the likes of Carrie Fisher and Kirstie Alley.

Breaking away from the rom-com leads, In A Shallow Grave saw him playing a battle-scarred soldiers returning to his sweetheart from war.

His career appeared to stall and he was cast in a number of 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 alongside Christian Slater as real-life mob boss, Meyer Lansky, in the 1991 movie Mobsters.

In 1993, he was convincing as a young John F Kennedy in the TV mini-series JFK: Reckless Youth and went on to have supporting roles in the likes of Outbreak and the lead in the comedy Bank Robber.

In 2000, he starred in the horror spoof Scream 3 and also played the love interest of Will in the hit comedy Will & Grace.

Dempsey had a high-profile role as one of the suitors for Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama and also starred opposite Julie Roberts in Freedom Writers.

His career saw a marked improvement with the role of Robert Phillip in the genuinely engaging Enchanted opposite Amy Adams.

On the small screen, he received significant public attention for his role as Dr Derek Shepherd in the drama Grey's Anatomy (he lost out to Hugh Laurie for the role of Dr Gregory House in House).

Dempsey was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series at the 2007 Golden Globes.

Recent work includes the rom-com Made of Honor with Michelle Monaghan.