Business F1 Top 20 Petrolheads: Patrick Dempsey, Restless but Passionate
27 January 2024 2 min read 5 images
Photo credit: Business F1, Porsche, 24 Hours Le Mans
Patrick Dempsey, now 58 years old, has had a successful career, confirming the tenacity often attributed to those born under the sign of Capricorn. His breakthrough in acting came relatively late, at 39, with the highly successful American medical drama "Grey's Anatomy." This success not only brought him fame but also financial fortune, enabling him to pursue a long-held dream of becoming a race car driver. Dempsey, familiar with racing from his younger days, established his own team at 42. He competed for several years clinching a podium at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans in the demanding GTE-AM Class and his team won the race in 2018.
Dempsey has always been open about his racing ambitions. He once remarked during his peak acting years, "It's the only thing I think about every day. It’s just so much more satisfying to me than acting. I would give it up in a second to just race.”
But the stardom that came in 2005, when he landed one of the leading roles in the American weekly soap "Grey's Anatomy" as the dreamy medical hero, Dr. Derek Shepherd, "happily blocked" him from this dream.
Blocked, but not forever: Dempsey eventually realized that the intense filming schedule of "Grey's Anatomy" interfered too much with the motor racing he could finally afford to practice. Despite being considered too valuable to the series to risk injury, he chose to pursue his true passion.
After an impressive 11-year stint, Dempsey bid farewell to the show that had brought him fame and fortune. He said at the time: " It’s 10 months, 15 hours a day. Doing that for 11 years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right.”
Dempsey left the series in 2015, after Dr. Shepherd was killed in a car accident: "I don't think there was a way to get him out without him dying," the producer said. A truly definitive choice.
The time spent in "Grey's Anatomy" had netted him a substantial fortune and he was therefore ready to race and buy cars for his collection, a second hobby that speaks volumes about his passion.
From that moment, Dempsey became a regular on the racing circuit, from the 24 Hours of Le Mans to the 24 Hours of Daytona. In 2006, he expanded his involvement by becoming co-owner of the Vision Racing IndyCar Series team and later establishing Dempsey Racing.
Dempsey has a deep affinity with Porsches and has been a Porsche enthusiast all his life. His first vintage purchase was a dark blue Porsche 356 Speedster. It's exactly the same Porsche 356 Speedster driven by Kelly McGillis in the original Top Gun movie. His personal collection includes a variety of Porsche models suited for daily driving, such as the 911SC and GT3RS, with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR race car being his favourite.
No less significant for him is his relationship with Ferrari. Therefore, it's no surprise that Dempsey had a prominent role in Michael Mann's film about Enzo Ferrari's biography, where he appeared alongside Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz. He plays Piero Taruffi, the legendary Italian driver who raced into old age, nicknamed "the silver fox" for his white hair. Taruffi raced for Ferrari in Formula One from 1951 to 1955, winning the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix and finishing third in the 1952 World Championship. Taruffi won the 1957 Mille Miglia for the team at 51 years old and represents an important part of the film. During filming he stated: "I'm having a lot of fun, I get to drive a lot of fast cars.” In reality, it was the joy of entering history thanks to his acting talent.
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