Handsome Dempsey, best known for his role as Dr. Derek (McDreamy) Shepherd on ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, will next be seen on the FOX thriller Memory of a Killer, in which he plays a hitman who develops early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Fans can tune in to the two-night premiere on Sunday, Jan. 25, and Monday, Jan. 26. As FOX has described, Dempsey’s character Angelo lives a double life as both a New York City hitman and an upstate photocopier salesman and father. But losing his memory will complicate Angelo’s plans to continue juggling his two worlds.

Now 59, Dempsey is playing a dark role after mostly standing out in heartthrob parts in Grey’s and such movies as Can’t Buy Me Love, Enchanted, and Bridget Jones’s Baby. The actor has raked in the Hollywood cash with a career that began more than four decades ago. And he’s been just as successful in love, recently celebrating his 26-year wedding anniversary!

How did Dempsey begin acting, who are his wife and kids, what is his net worth, and how does he spend his money? Read on to find out more!

What is Patrick Dempsey’s net worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the actor’s net worth is $85 million. Dempsey’s bank account is healthy due to the medical drama. The Hollywood Reporter reported that by the end of his time on Grey’s Anatomy, Dempsey made roughly $400,000 an episode – about $9.6 million for a 24-episode season.

What was Patrick Dempsey’s early life like?

Patrick Dempsey was born Patrick Galen Dempsey on January 13, 1966, in Lewiston, Maine. He was raised by insurance salesman father William and school secretary mother Amanda; Dempsey has two sisters and a half-brother. “I came from a rural community, not a lot of opportunity, you know, hard-working, middle-class people,” he told The Independent. Young Patrick suffered from dyslexia. He dropped out of high school as a senior and only received his diploma after becoming famous.

How did Patrick Dempsey become an actor?

The future Grey’s Anatomy star started out as a juggler! Stage acting soon followed and he appeared in touring productions of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy and Neil Simon‘s Brighton Beach Memoirs. Roles in movies followed, including Heaven Help Us (1985), A Fighting Choice (1986), and Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986).

Dempsey’s breakthrough was in 1987’s romantic comedy Can’t Buy Me Love. He followed that up with big roles in In the Mood (1987), Some Girls (1988), Loverboy (1989), and Happy Together (1989). Other key roles were in Scream 3 (2000), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), The Emperor’s Club (2002), and Iron Jawed Angels (2004).

Who did Patrick Dempsey play on Grey’s Anatomy?

McDreamy, of course! From 2005-2015, fans went crazy for gorgeous Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd on Grey’s Anatomy. As Grey’s Anatomy Universe Wiki explained his character arc, Derek was a renowned neurosurgeon and board director at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. He married Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and they had two daughters and a son. After being hit by a truck, Derek died from his injuries in season 11, stunning longtime viewers. But from 2020-21, Dempsey appeared on episodes of the show in dream sequences while Meredith battled COVID-19. “I thought it was a beautiful way to close it,” Dempsey told Variety about the iconic TV couple.

Has Patrick Dempsey been married?

Dempsey shocked fans at age 21 in 1987 when he married his much older manager, Rochelle “Rocky” Parker, 48. They divorced in 1994 and she died in 2014.

The star told ABC’s Barbara Walters in 2006 about the 26-year age gap, “I think I needed a mother. There were a lot of negative things that I’m still undoing from it. She had a son one year older than me.”

But an age-appropriate second marriage followed. Dempsey walked down the aisle with makeup and hair stylist Jillian Fink on July 31, 1999. They share daughter Talula, born on February 20, 2002, and twin sons Darby and Sullivan, who came into the world on February 1, 2007.

In January 2015, Dempsey and Jillian, now 59, announced they were separating. But the next year, they confirmed they were back together.

Dempsey told People, “Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of. I didn’t feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. That’s where it started.”

Now, a decade later, they couldn’t be closer. Fans were thrilled when Dempsey took to Instagram last July to share a gorgeous photo from their wedding day and gush in the caption, “26 years ago today. I can’t imagine life without you.”

How has Patrick Dempsey spent his money?

Accomplished race car driver Dempsey, who has competed in such events as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, splurges on vintage cars.

Real estate is another interest. Dempsey and his wife purchased a 5,547 square foot Malibu house in 2009 for $7 million and sold it for $15 million. The Dempseys bought a $3.1 million home in 2006 and sold it for $2.571 million in 2009. In 2014, they spent $1.925 million for a home in Venice Beach. Two years later, they bought a 4,415-square-foot mansion in Malibu for $6.4 million.

The actor explained to virginradio.co.uk, “We’ve always been good with real estate and property, like I started off very early, investing in a small home, and fixing it up doing a lot of the work myself, and then flipping it to a bigger home. So I feel really comfortable with that.”

However, philanthropy is most important to him. After his mother was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 (she passed away in 2014), Patrick founded the Dempsey Center at Central Maine Medical Center which provides free support for those impacted by cancer. “That’s what life is about,” he told The Independent about his work. “Being altruistic and giving back. Everything else is a distraction.”