Patrick Dempsey was just 18 when he met 44-year-old that would become his wife

In 1984, aspiring actor Patrick Dempsey rocked up to rehearsals of a brand-new play in which he'd landed the lead role, only to come face-to-face with the woman he'd later marry.

He'd been cast in a production called Brighton Beach Memoirs alongside Rochelle 'Rocky' Parker, who played his auntie.

Dempsey was just 18 years old at the time, and he'd set his sights on a large-scale career in showbiz, while Parker worked as a part-time actress, part-time stage coach. She was also a 44-year-old mother-of-three when they first met.

Despite playing family in the production, the palpable chemistry they struck up reportedly continued long after the audience had left the theatre, and the pair embarked on a passionate love affair.

Dempsey was just 18 when they met (Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)

The couple dated for three years - during which Dempsey hired Parker as his official manager, and reportedly forged a close friendship with Parker's son, Corey - and in 1991, they tied the knot.

The future Grey's Anatomy star was 21 when he and Parker, 48, exchanged vows. According to reports, their marriage was kept a secret for several years in a bid to avoid criticism over their 26-year age-gap.

While working together professionally, Dempsey landed his first major feature film role in the wartime blockbuster In The Mood, subsequently going on to land the lead in coming-of-age hit, Loverboy.

Within years, he'd become an established Hollywood name in TV and film, appearing in Sweet Home Alabama, Iron Jawed Angels, and Scream.

By 1994, however, his relationship with Parker was said to have taken a dark turn, with Parker filing for divorce, citing 'irreconcilable differences'.

The couple were born 26 years apart (Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)

The rumour mill alleged they'd butted heads professionally, while Hollywood gossip suggested infidelity one one of their parts, neither of which have ever been confirmed.

During the proceedings, Parker claimed Dempsey had assaulted her on the set of the 1987 movie, Can't Buy Me Love. She later retracted this allegation, however, claiming she'd been 'advised to make' them by her legal representatives.

Only on a handful of occasions has the actor addressed his first marriage, which he described during a 2006 interview with Barbara Walters as a 'Freudian nightmare that is public knowledge'.

He continued: "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."

Three years after the pair's divorce, Dempsey married make-up artist Jillian Fink, going on to father three children with her.

Dempsey later remarried (James Gourley/Stringer/via Getty)

Though they later planned to divorce amid some marital tensions, the couple stuck with it and have been together ever since.

In 2014, Parker died of lung and throat cancer at just 74.