In 1987, Patrick Dempsey married Rocky Parker, who was 47 at the time, according to Spock and Christine. Dempsey and Parker, who was a model, actor, and acting coach, had met three years earlier while working on the play "Brighton Beach Memoirs," in which Dempsey played Parker's nephew. The actors got close, with Parker later becoming Dempsey's manager, the International Business Times noted. The year they tied the knot, Dempsey and Parker worked together in the Phil Alden Robinson comedy "In the Mood," though she had only a minor part, according to IMDb.
Dempsey and Parker kept their relationship away from the public eye, fearing judgment over their age gap, according to International Business Times. But the marriage didn't last. In 1991, Parker filed for divorce amid serious allegations. Parker accused Dempsey of physical violence, including breaking her finger after slamming a car door on her hand, according to legal papers obtained by the National Enquirer in 2006 (via TODAY). Parker contended the abuse began early in their relationship. "[While] we were on the set of his [1987] movie 'Can't Buy Me Love' he beat me up because he wanted to see what it was like to beat a woman," Parker alleged.
The divorce was finalized in 1994, as per Spock and Christine. When the Enquirer contacted Parker for comment, she recanted some of the accusations, arguing she had been instructed, presumably by her lawyers, in the heat of their messy divorce.
