List of characters from Grey's Anatomy

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From left to right: Dr. Mark Sloan, Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, Dr. George O'Malley, Dr. Meredith Grey, Dr. Miranda Bailey, Dr. Christina Yang, Dr. Isobel Stevens, Dr. Derek Shepherd, Dr. Preston Burke, Dr. Alex Karev, Dr. Richard Webber, Dr. Calliope Torres

The following is a partial list of characters from the television series Grey's Anatomy:

[edit] Main characters

[edit] The Interns

• Dr. Meredith Grey: (Ellen Pompeo) Meredith is the eponymous character of the series and her voice-over is usually the narration at the beginning and end of the show. She has good medical instincts and a great ability to empathize with her patients. A graduate of Dartmouth College, she is the daughter of Ellis Grey, a renowned doctor and trailblazing female surgeon. Meredith has had a difficult and complicated relationship with her mother, who is now suffering from a advanced stage of early-onset Alzheimer's. Her father, Thatcher, left the family when she was very young (around the age of five) and started a family with his new wife, Susan Grey. The night before her first shift as an intern at Seattle Grace, she picks up a one-night stand at a bar. She discovers that the man, Derek Shepherd, is an attending neurosurgeon and her superior. He leaves her to reconcile with his estranged wife, Addison. Their ongoing attraction to each other leads to an unexpected tryst at a hospital-sponsored prom and a reunion. Meredith was hesitant to restore their relationship because of the baggage from their pasts. During the ferry collision rescue and recovery operations, Meredith was attempting to help a leg-gash victim when he panicked and accidentally knocked her into the water. She struggled to stay afloat and swim ashore, but succumbed to the cold water. She is failed to be revived and flatlines. While experiencing her “afterlife”, she decides to live and her mother simultaneously passes away of cardiac arrest.

• Dr. Cristina Yang: (Sandra Oh) A doctor of Korean descent and a native of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Cristina is incredibly focused and driven (even more so than the others) and is always excited about the chance to scrub in on a surgery. Her aggressive and cut-throat abilities as a surgeon can be both a strength and downfall at times. Despite her technical proficiency, her personality can be harsh. Sometimes, she is unable to relate to patients and have proper bedside manner. She is a graduate of Smith College, Stanford University medical school, and has a PhD from University of California, Berkeley. She became romantically involved with Preston Burke, her superior. She became pregnant, and he only learns of it after he breaks up with her and she has an ectopic pregnancy, which had to be aborted. She loves Burke, but is somewhat reserved emotionally. Burke was shot and subsequently had surgery to repair damage in his right arm, he developed a tremor which threatened his surgical career. Cristina risked her own career to help him, assisting in his surgeries, taking over when his hand tremored, and even taking over his surgical schedule. She had a crisis of conscience and confessed the details of their scheme to the Chief of Surgery. This threw their relationship into jeopardy and they engaged in a cold war, refusing to speak to each other. Cristina eventually caved in and talks to Burke. His first words back to her is a proposal of marriage. After some hesitation, she agrees, but refuses to wear his ring. Her emotional reservations can be attributed to the fact that her father died in a car accident and watched him bleed out before help arrived. Her mother Helen, remarried to Dr. Saul Rubenstein, an oral surgeon.

• Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens: (Katherine Heigl) Izzie is the blonde roommate of Meredith and George. She grew up in nearby Chehalis, Washington living in a trailer park, paying her way through medical school as an underwear model. When meeting a pregnant teenage girl from her hometown, she revealed that she had a daughter at 16 whom she subsequently gave up for adoption. Her daughter, Hannah (Izzie named her Sarah, the family renamed her Hannah), who is now eleven, was adopted by a presumably upper-class family that once lived in Santa Barbara but has since moved; Izzie doesn't currently know her daughter's whereabouts. Izzie’s emotional involvement climaxed when she began a romantic relationship with heart transplant patient, Denny Duquette. She cut the power to his LVAD (left ventricular assist device) in order to move him to the top of the UNOS donor list. Denny’s transplant surgery was a success and he proposed marriage to her and she accepted. Despite the successful surgery, he dies of a stroke. Izzie admits to cutting the LVAD and quits the surgical internship program. Dr. Bailey asked Izzie to stay in the program and she found that Denny had left her a large inheritance, $8.7 million. She spends the money on a teenage scoliosis patient’s surgery fees and a free medical clinic at Seattle Grace named for Denny Duquette. She has realized that she tends to get emotionally involved with her patients but still wants to be a surgeon, and will strike an appropriate balance between the two.

• Dr. George O'Malley: (T.R. Knight) Often the most emotional of the male doctors, he sometimes gets into arguments with others despite his more positive personality. Despite his lack of confidence, he has shown great skill as a surgeon. George is a graduate of Oregon Health and Sciences University. He had one girlfriend before, a nurse named Olivia, from whom he contracted syphilis. He had a long standing crush on fellow intern, Meredith since he met her. After their sexual encounter, their friendship suffered. He began dating Dr. Callie Torres, an orthopedic surgeon at, but his tendency to put his friends first led her to end the relationship. During the breakup, Callie slept with Mark Sloan. During a camping trip, he witnessed one of Dr. Burke's hand tremors. He confronted Cristina with his suspicions about Burke's problems after his father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and a leaking aortic valve that would require surgery. Concerned about Burke's current abilities as a surgeon, he contacted Dr. Erica Hahn to perform his father's valve replacement. His relationship with Callie was strained when he learned of and confronted her about her liaison with Mark Sloan, but as his father's condition deteriorated, George slowly allowed Callie to re-enter his life. George suffered a devastating loss when the difficult decision was made to take his father off life support after complications from cancer surgery left him in multi-system organ failure. To grieve his father’s death, he became a sort of sex machine causing Callie much distress. Later, he said that he would be happy to live with her and that he loved her. He proposed to her and they eloped in Vegas.

• Dr. Alex Karev: (Justin Chambers) A former wrestler at the University of Iowa. Alex became a wrestler because his father, a musician and drug addict, used to physically abuse his mother. In one incident, he beat up his father after his father hit his mother. His father ended up in the hospital and left Alex and his mother after his release. Alex prides himself on his honesty, which often lacks tact and can verge on being brutal. However, Alex does have a moral code and is the only doctor who tells the truth as it is. Alex had an on and off relationship with Izzie until she caught him sleeping with Nurse Olivia; they later got back together when Izzie had sex with him in a supply room in the midst of a bomb scare. After Denny Duquette returned to the hospital with a failing heart, Izzie realized that she didn't have to settle for Alex. He showed an interest in plastic surgery when a visiting Mark discussed his career prospects in Seattle. However, Alex has shown signs of distaste with plastic surgery since serving as Dr. Sloan's intern. Although he often initially appeared disinterested when working with Addison in neonatal surgery, it appears he is more passionate than he knows, perhaps having talent in the area. His feelings for Izzie have not diminished since their romantic relationship ended, impulsively kissing her in the stairwell. Izzie has yet to get over Denny and tells him she cannot commit in a relationship with him just yet, and he understands that. There are also signs of a blossoming relationship between Addison and him when Addison kisses him in Joe's bar. However, he tells her that he only wants to work with her professionally and is not interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with her. He rescued a pregnant amnesiac Jane Doe from a ferryboat accident and has since built a trust with the patient.

[edit] The Residents

• Dr. Miranda Bailey: (Chandra Wilson) A graduate of Wellesley College, Miranda Bailey is a resident surgeon who is also in charge of the five interns, Bailey earned the nickname "The Nazi" for her tough personality. After trying for seven years to get pregnant, she gave birth to son, William George Bailey Jones (whom she calls Tuck, presumably after his father) during a bomb scare. George O'Malley was influential as her labor coach, and she thanked him by giving her son George's name. At the same time, her husband of ten years, Tucker Jones, was in surgery with Dr. Shepherd ("(As We Know It)"). She is currently adjusting to being a parent, while at the same time handling her career. In season 3, she received a lot of flak for not being able to control her interns which led to the cutting of Denny Duquette's LVAD wire. For a while, her confidence in juggling both her family and career was badly shaken, after she was slammed during the Morbidity and Mortality conference. While her confidence has somewhat been restored, she still feels bad about not spending enough time with her son; once making a late-night call to sing "God Bless the Child" to him. Disillusioned by how little she can help patients as a surgeon, she decides to open a free clinic at Seattle Grace. She faced initial difficulties getting support from the attendings, but after talking with the Chief, manages to force the attendings into lending their support. Bailey received help from Izzie in that Izzie donated her $8.7 million that Denny bequeathed to her to Bailey's clinic (Izzie finally deposited the check in season 3's Six Days after an intense moral dilemma). As a thank you Bailey names the clinic the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic. The clinic has since opened, and she is satisfied that the clinic will change people's lives for the better. It has been insinuated that we will see her battling with Dr. Sydney Heron for the position of Chief Resident in the future.

• Dr. Calliope Iphegenia "Callie" Torres: (Sara Ramírez) An orthopedic surgeon whose relationship with George O'Malley began during the second season (first appearance: "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"). She lived in the basement of the hospital. She told George "I love you" ("17 Seconds") and later revealed that this was the first time she said that to a man. Webber found out she was living in the basement of the hospital and kicked her out ("I Am a Tree"). She temporarily moved in with George, but he was uncomfortable with how quickly their relationship was progressing, so she left and moved into the Archfield Hotel. Callie made an effort toward reconciliation by inviting George to her hotel room one evening, but he stands her up to go to Izzie. The same night, Callie went to Joe's, where she met Mark Sloan and invited him back to her room instead. After a brief fling, she refused Sloan's continued advances, but also discouraged George from chasing after her, even though she was still in love with him. When George's father was admitted to the hospital, Callie provided emotional support in spite of her strained relationship with George, bonding with his brothers and communicating the seriousness of their father's illness to his brothers. George rejected her help initially, stating that they had already broken up, but with encouragement from his father, George gradually began allowing Callie back into his life and family circle. She has since been proposed to by George and they married in Vegas. Alex Karev and Sydney Heron, upon learning of the marriage, dubbed her "Callie O'Malley." She has also become good friends with Addison Montgomery, and the two often confide personal problems to each other. It has been revealed that her parents are quite wealthy, making her an heiress.

[edit] The Attendings

• Dr. Derek Shepherd: (Patrick Dempsey) Head of neurosurgery at SGH, the interns have nicknamed him "McDreamy" for his good looks. His mother's maiden name is Maloney. He has four sisters (whom he describes as "very girly" in Episode 102 - The First Cut Is the Deepest), two of whom are Nancy, an OB/GYN (who appeared in Episode 306 - Let the Angels Commit) and, possibly, Kathleen, a psychiatrist. All his sisters are doctors. His father died when Derek was very young, although his family is still large, with Derek's nine nieces and five nephews. He once had an accident while riding a motorcycle, causing a scar on his forehead, and he never rode them again. He was in a relationship with Meredith beginning in the first season, but abruptly ended it when his estranged wife, Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd, arrived in Seattle. He had left her behind in New York City after catching her in bed with his best friend, Mark Sloan. He tried to work things out with Addison, but was in love with Meredith. He and Meredith had sex during the hospital prom and he left Meredith's panties in his tux. When Addison discovered them, she called Mark Sloan, who came to Seattle in what she later called a 'transcontinental booty call' ("I Am a Tree"). He left Addison and vied with Finn Dandridge for Meredith's affection, before finally giving in and conceding Finn was the better guy. Meredith ended up picking him, because he was 'The One', but after finalizing the divorce and learning that Addison and Mark had had a relationship, not the one-night stand he had been led to believe, Derek took his sister Nancy's advice and expressed a desire to take some time for himself before resuming his relationship with Meredith. After a brief camping trip, Derek decides to start over from the beginning with Meredith, beginning with their introductions at Joe's bar. Their relationship hit a slight bump when Meredith's snoring interfered with his sleep, but smoothed out after she gave him wax ear plugs. He is currently embroiled in a race to be the next Chief of Surgery with Burke, Addison and Mark. When Meredith fell into the water while tending to the wounded at a ferry accident, Derek was the one that rescued Meredith from the water and tried to revive her with CPR during the ambulance ride. The Chief refused to let him continue working on her, and made a distraught Derek wait outside, while the other doctors tried to revive her. Meredith was revived soon after, leaving Derek immensely relieved.

• Dr. Preston Xavier Burke: (Isaiah Washington) The chief cardiothoracic surgeon at Seattle Grace. After completing pre-medical studies at Tulane University, Burke graduated first in his class from Johns Hopkins Medical School, not because he was necessarily the most talented nor the smartest, but because he worked the hardest. He was once the interim chief of surgery while Dr. Webber was healing from his own brain surgery. He began a relationship with intern Cristina but broke it off because he feared it would ruin both of their reputations. Her miscarriage brought them back together. He and Cristina now live together in his perfectly-kept apartment. He plays the trumpet and enjoys jazz music. In the second season finale he was shot, affecting his control of his right-hand. His temporary fix to this possibly long-term problem was to work together with Cristina during every one of his surgeries so that she could take over in case he might have trouble with his hand. The arrangement fell apart after Cristina, reacting to growing stress after George caught onto their secret, went to the Chief and confessed everything. Initially, he was engaged in a cold war with Cristina, but he has since proposed to her and she has accepted his proposal. Until their secret was revealed, Burke was set to become the next Chief of Surgery, but now he has to compete with his fellow attendings for the position. He has since recovered, after being operated on by Derek.

• Dr. Richard Webber: (James Pickens, Jr.) The current Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace. During their residency at Seattle Grace, he had an affair with Meredith's mother, Ellis Grey, although both were married. Although Ellis left her husband, Richard could not bring himself to leave his wife, Adele (he would learn decades later, however, that Adele had known about the affair all along and stayed with him anyway). He confessed in a later episode that he ended the affair because he believed that Ellis deserved better and that he had too much baggage. After completing his residency, Richard left Seattle Grace to complete his fellowship. There are continuity errors regarding where exactly Richard built his career; at one point he states that with the exception of his fellowship, he spent his entire career at Seattle Grace. However, it is also established that he both taught and befriended Addison and Derek, presumably in New York (the majority of references within the show, as well as additional sources, indicate that a good portion of Richard's career was spent in Manhattan, rather than Seattle). He is a recovered alcoholic ("Superstition"). His niece-by-marriage, Camille Travis, is dying of ovarian cancer. Adele asked him to retire, forcing him to choose between his career or their marriage. He tried to skirt around it, but Adele, tired of waiting, made her choice and left him. He moved out and was sleeping in his office for a short time, but now has a room at the same hotel as Callie. Since learning of Ellis's illness, Richard had been visiting her regularly, but upon deciding to attempt a reconciliation with Adele realized that he could no longer continue his emotional affair with Ellis. Richard had planned to retire and recommend Preston Burke as his successor, but after the secret of Burke's tremor and cover-up came out, that plan was put to a stand-still. Nevertheless, he has told the hospital board of his retirement and has yet to name his successor; Derek, Preston, Addison and Mark all eagerly clamouring for the post. He attempts to patch things with his wife, but is stunned to find out that she has moved on, forcing him and his wife to get a divorce. Shortly after that to the amusement of the male attendings, Richard dyed his hair in order to get back into the dating scene.

• Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery (formerly Montgomery-Shepherd): (Kate Walsh) A highly regarded neonatal surgeon, Addison is also a board certified OB-GYN with fellowships in maternal-fetal medicine and medical genetics, she did two years of study on cystic fibrosis. She has been called "McHot" by the male interns. She was married to Derek for eleven years before having an affair with his best friend, plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Sloan, which prompted Derek to leave New York for Seattle. In spite of her chosen speciality and Derek's large family, Addison admits to Miranda Bailey that when she and Derek discussed having children, she realized she wasn't ready. After she and Derek initially separated, Addison remained in New York and lived with Mark for two months, during which she became pregnant and aborted Mark's baby. The relationship ended when Mark cheated on Addison and Dr. Webber brought her to Seattle Grace for a consult on a difficult case (and, presumably, to break things up between Derek and Meredith). Richard was aware of Derek and Addison's strained relationship, though not the cause of it ("Yesterday"). She decided to stay on as head of neonatal surgery at Seattle Grace, signing a lucrative 2 year contract, and she and Derek decided to work things out. After finding out about Derek's affair with Meredith, in a drunken haze, Addison called Mark Sloan to Seattle. Derek and Addison agreed that their marriage was over and started divorce proceedings. She asked Mark Sloan to go back to New York, but he stayed, expressing his desire to continue their relationship. Addison continues to rebuff him. When the divorce was finalized Addison dropped the "Shepherd" from her last name. A possibility of a relationship between she and Alex Karev has been hinted at, when she kisses him in Joe's bar. Even after he rejects her affections, she continues to lust after him from afar. She has expressed immense interest in being the next Chief of Surgery.

• Dr. Mark Sloan: (Eric Dane) A top-tier plastic surgeon, he grew up with the Shepherd family and used to be Derek's best friend until Derek caught him in bed with his wife Addison. He professed his love to Addison and attempted to bring her back to New York; she refused and stayed in Seattle (Episode 218 - Yesterday). Addison also revealed (by telling Derek ("Oh, The Guilt"), that after Derek left for Seattle, she and Mark continued their relationship until she caught Sloan cheating on her. Their relationship was not only complicated by his infidelity, but by the abortion of Addison's pregnancy with his child. The interns have given him the nickname "McSteamy" (to complement Derek's "McDreamy") for his rugged good looks. He flew out for sex at Addison's request ("I Am a Tree") and has since been hired at the hospital. Mark has described himself as "self-destructive and self-loathing to an almost pathological degree", and apparently has a history of womanizing that not only includes Addison and his former tennis partner's wife, but Callie Torres and Derek's sister Nancy, who told her brother that "everyone sleeps with Mark. It's practically a rite of passage." Mark has shown disdain for the responsibility of teaching the interns, delegating menial tasks such as DMV calls and dry-cleaning pick-up to Alex Karev. Mark has a unique relationship with Meredith Grey due to their roles in the dissolution of the Shepherds' marriage; he has dubbed them members of the "Dirty Mistresses' Club", but during Derek's absence from the hospital, he also made numerous suggestions to Meredith to move on (the implication being 'with Mark'), describing Derek as a "poisoned well". Mark has shown interest in mending his friendship with Derek, but progress has been slow and the relationship remains estranged. He was set to leave Seattle Grace after failing to adapt well, but decides to stay after learning from Meredith that the Chief would be stepping down. He is now in a competition with Dr. Montgomery. If both can abstain from sex for 60 days they will give their relationship a shot.

• Dr. Colin Marlow:

[edit] Recurring characters

• Nurse Olivia Harper: (Sarah Utterback) A nurse at the hospital. She had relationships with George and Alex. Alex gave her syphilis which she then unknowingly gave to George after breaking up with Alex. After that, Alex began a relationship with Izzie, who then found him cheating on her with Nurse Olivia. The female interns occasionally insultingly refer to her as "Syph Nurse."

• Joe the Bartender: (Steven W. Bailey) The owner of the Emerald City Bar - across from the hospital - where the doctors often go for a drink, and is also where Derek and Meredith met. Derek and Burke performed a stand-still surgery to clip an aneurysm in Joe's brain. Joe and his boyfriend Walter also attended the Thanksgiving Izzie hosted at Meredith's house, and went on a camping trip with Drs. Shepherd, Burke, Webber, Karev and O'Malley. During this trip, Joe revealed during a discussion with the Chief that although he and Walter had been "on-and-off" for about ten years, they were now committed and considering the possibility of children.

• Thatcher Grey: (Jeff Perry) Thatcher is Meredith Grey's father and the ex-husband of Ellis Grey. They were married for about seven years before his wife began having an affair with Richard Webber. Eventually, Ellis's affair and time away from home put too much strain on their marriage and Thatcher left. Meredith was a small child at the time of the divorce, and roughly twenty years would pass before they saw each other again. Thatcher blames Ellis somewhat for his estrangement from Meredith, saying Ellis was "cold" and wouldn't let him know Meredith. After the disintegration of his first family, Thatcher married his second wife, Susan, and had two more daughters, Lexie and Molly.

• Susan Grey: (Mare Winningham) Susan is married to Thatcher Grey, and is the mother of his two youngest daughters, Lexie and Molly. Her husband describes her as a "mother lion". She was always aware of Thatcher's first wife and daughter, and has reached out to Meredith and offered to include her in their family, although Meredith has not responded warmly to her invitation.

• Molly Grey Thompson: (Mandy Siegfried) Molly is 22 years old and the half-sister of Meredith Grey. She and her older sister, Lexie, are Thatcher Grey’s daughters by his second (and current) wife, Susan. She proposed to her husband, Eric, before he was shipped out by the military to be stationed in Iraq. Originally a patient at Mercy West, Molly transferred to Seattle Grace at 32 weeks pregnant, and Addison operated to repair a congenital diaphragmatic hernia on Molly’s baby. She later gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Laura.

• Dr. Finn Dandridge: (Chris O'Donnell) The former veterinarian of Meredith, Addison and Derek's dog, Doc. He was also the newest love interest for Meredith for some time before she broke up with him for Derek. His wife, Liz, died in a car accident. The interns have given him the nickname "McVet", in accordance with Derek Shepherd's nickname. His last name "Dandridge" is a reference to the film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, written by creator Shonda Rhimes for the HBO network.

• Adele Webber: (Loretta Devine) The outspoken wife of Dr. Webber, she has been shown to perceive much more than her husband might expect — whether it is about the past of her own marriage, or the current state of the Shepherds'. She endured her marriage silently and without complaints, but she finally had enough when Richard put his other hospital patients above her dying niece. When Richard failed to return home on the night of the prom, she made an appointment to see him at the office, but was blown off because of another hospital emergency. It proved one too many, however, and she gave him an ultimatum: her or the hospital. Richard tried to avoid making the choice, but Adele was tired of his indecision, and left him. When Dr.Richard Webber quits his job as the Head Of Surgery, he returns to Adele to find out that she has moved on and is involved with another man. She is also in the process of divorcing Richard.

• Louise O'Malley: (Debra Monk) Louise was married to her husband Harold for 40 years before his death, and they have three sons: Jerry, Ronnie, and George. Louise is a teacher and a devoted wife and mother. She has shown an intense interest in her youngest son's life, even asking Izzie for details on George's personal relationships. George seems to find her a little overbearing, and is often embarrassed by her good-natured gestures, such as setting out breakfast for the interns during rounds and offering to iron his scrubs.

• Dr. Erica Hahn: (Brooke Smith) Dr. Hahn is a long-time rival of Burke in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, dating back to their days at Johns Hopkins Medical School, where she graduated second after Burke. She is a cardiothoracic attending surgeon at Seattle Presbyterian. In Season 2, she and Burke fought over a donor's heart because of faulty information from Izzie pertaining Denny's condition, and she was contacted for a consult on Harold O'Malley's valve replacement. She and Burke have a love-hate friendship over their competition, and though she would die before saying it in front of him, Dr. Hahn respects and admires Burke tremendously, and she told Cristina that if she ever learned anything from Burke, she would be "half the surgeon that Burke is, and that's pretty damn good".

• Nurse Tyler: (Moe Irvin) Nurse Tyler is one of the members of the nursing staff at Seattle Grace. He is currently working at the emergency room.

• Dr. Sydney Heron: (Kali Rocha) A fourth-year resident at Seattle Grace, known for her extremely perky personality. She initially appeared as Bailey's substitute when Bailey was on maternity leave and clashed with Cristina, who finds Sydney's positive attitude unbearable. She later served as Izzie's peer counselor and revealed that her perky persona actually originated from a nervous breakdown she suffered after losing a patient of her own. She is in competition with Bailey for the position of chief resident, and tried to show her skills by assuming control of the free clinic during the ferry crisis.

[edit] Deceased Characters

• Denny Duquette: (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) A heart transplant patient who falls in love with surgical intern, Dr. Izzie Stevens. Izzie sacrificed her career by cutting his LVAD wire to worsen his condition so that he would receive a heart from a patient whose intended recipient was ahead of Denny on the list by seventeen seconds. He proposed to Dr. Stevens shortly before dying of a stroke in the final episode of season two. He left Izzie with a check for $8.7 million in episode 3.04, What I Am, which Izzie finally deposited in Season Three's Episode "Six Days" after an intense moral dilemma. Izzie used the funds to help Dr. Bailey create the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic. Denny once again retuned in "Some Kind Of Miracle" when Meredith had her brush with death.

• Harold O'Malley: (George Dzundza) The father of George O'Malley and two other sons, Jerry and Ronnie, the O'Malley patriarch was a truck driver with a passion for vintage cars. He was married for 40 years to his wife, Louise, and took great pride in all his sons. In addition to taking his sons turkey hunting every Thanksgiving, Harold also took the boys on frequent camping trips during their childhood. His diagnosis with esophageal cancer which had spread to his stomach, in addition to a leaking aortic valve, was a huge blow to the O'Malley clan. Harold underwent surgery to replace his aortic valve, and later underwent a second surgery to determine the extent of the cancer. Prior to the second surgery, he had asked Drs. Webber and Bailey to remove the tumor regardless of the risk in order to give him a chance to fight the cancer. The surgery proved too much for his body, and after several days, he went into multi-system organ failure, which prompted the family to take him off of life support.

• Dylan Young: (Kyle Chandler) During the bomb scare at Seattle Grace, Dylan was the head member of the bomb squad who helped Meredith calm her nerves as she held the bomb located in a living body. His sharp words annoyed her, but Meredith grew to understand what his job required him to do, and it was a scary one. Once he calmed her down, and she was able to take the bomb out of the patient, she handed it to Dylan. On his way out the door, the bomb explodes, killing Dylan in the process. When Meredith dies after a fall into the ocean, she wakes up in "the afterlife" and sees Dylan and Denny (Izzie's late fiance).

• Dr. Ellis Grey: (Kate Burton) Mother of intern Dr. Meredith Grey and former surgeon. During their residency, she had an affair with current SGH Chief of Surgery, Dr. Richard Webber. She was married about 30 years ago to Thatcher Grey, who left the family when Meredith was young, partly as a result of Ellis's affair. After her divorce and break-up with Richard, Ellis moved with Meredith to pursue a position at Boston General. Her distinguished career included tenures at the Mayo Clinic and for the U.N., and she is noted for pioneering an operation called the laparoscopic Grey Method. She was suffering from Alzheimer's and resided at the Roseridge Home for Extended Care. Her case was advanced, and she most often thought she was still completing her residency. As a result, she seldom recognized her daughter, but delighted in visits from Richard Webber. When Richard decided to salvage his marriage to Adele, Meredith was forced to break the news to Ellis that he would not be visiting anymore, which caused her to relive their initial break-up. She briefly became lucid ("Wishin' and Hopin'") and had a fight with Meredith, which was the last thing she remembered. While Meredith's life lingered in the balance after drowning, Ellis flatlined and was unable to be revived. And though her relationship with Meredith hadn't always been strong (She told her daughter that she was just 'ordinary' after finding out about Derek in her one day of lucidity), everything was set right and Meredith's feelings were fine with her mother's death when, as Meredith was hanging between life and death, she saw her mother's spirit who told her she was 'anything but ordinary'.

[edit] External links

• Relationship chart of Grey's Anatomy characters
• Official blog of Joe the bartender
• Official blog of nurse Debbie