American actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan was born on April 22, 1966, in Seattle, Washington. He graduated in 1984 from Lake Washington High School, and he started his acting career on the stage appearing in the musical productions of "Grease" and "West Side Story" before moving to Hollywood. In 1991, he made his film debut in the thriller "Uncaged" and also appeared in "Dillinger and Capone" and "Undercover Heat."

This lead to the recurring roles of Dr. Edward Marcase on the CW series "The Burning Zone" and John Winchester on "Supernatural," but he is most known for his role as Denny Duquette on the hospital drama "Grey's Anatomy," which is set in his home town of Seattle. In his spare time he enjoys painting, writing, reading and spending time with his friends.

Many actors know from childhood that acting is the only job they'll ever want, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a rare exception. He pursued basketball in high school with tremendous success, until a knee injury ended his sports career, and he then trained and worked as a graphic artist for some time. Eventually, however, his interest in acting became overpowering, and Morgan moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting as a career, rather than just an interest.

Starting with the 1991 movie Uncaged, Morgan has appeared in 15 feature films. The bulk of Morgan's work has been in television. He was the star of the 1996-1997 television show The Burning Zone; his character, Dr. Edward Marcase, appeared in 10 out of 19 episodes that season. Since 2000, he has amassed a number of credits in television shows such as ER, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, Angel, Tru Calling, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sliders, The O.C., and Monk.

In 2005 and 2006, Morgan simultaneously appeared in three separate television series: On the CW series Supernatural as John Winchester, the mysterious father of Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles); in a recurring role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy as heart transplant patient Denny Duquette, who carried on a relationship with intern Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and died in the show's second-season finale. (During the third season's three show arc his character made an appearance during Meredith's death scene.); as Judah Botwin, on the Showtime series Weeds. Morgan's three roles are notable in that all three of the characters are now deceased, two of whom died onscreen.

Morgan was cast in a new project by Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. The show, tentatively titled "Correspondents", was to have started production in summer 2007. ABC picked up a spinoff of Grey's Anatomy, called Private Practice, that was also created by Rhimes, and that project has rendered the future of "Correspondents" uncertain. Morgan is also among the cast of a movie that is based on a novel by the Irish novelist Cecelia Ahern, PS, I Love You. The movie was released on December 21 2007. Another 2007 film starring Morgan is The Accidental Husband, which finished filming in New York City in March 2007. Morgan also recently finished filming Days of Wrath, a film about gangland violence in Los Angeles.

It has been confirmed that Morgan will portray The Comedian, a cigar-chomping vigilante, in the upcoming Watchmen, based on Alan Moore's graphic novel.