Sexiest Man Alive Through the Years

Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey was declared the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine yesterday. As the glory days of the TV series that made Dempsey famous are well in the past, media observers reacted confused and even bewildered by the magazine's choice. While People did not address this, Dempsey himself said in an interview with the outlet about receiving the honor: "“I was completely shocked, and then I started laughing, like, this is a joke, right?"

Dempsey is the 35th "Sexiest Man Alive" since the series began in 1985. Like most honorees, he is a actor and an American. At the age of 57, Dempsey is second-oldest recipient of the award after Sean Connery, who was lauded in 1989 at the age of 59. Only 14 percent - or five winners total - have been in their fifties so far at the time of being chosen as "Sexiest Man Alive". Dempsey reappeared on Grey's Anatomy in 2020 and 2021 and recently starred in the movies Bridget Jones's Baby, Disney's Disenchanted and Ferrari, the latter playing into his passion for auto racing. The Maine native is married and has three kids, one aged 21 and twins aged 16.