Who is Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy?

Denny Duquette was a heart patient and love interest of Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor who rose to the limelight for portraying the role of John Winchester in CW's hit paranormal drama, Supernatural. The actor began his acting journey from the very scratch and over the years he has worked in various TV shows and films.

In recent years, Morgan has witnessed a huge growth in his fan following after he was seen portraying the villain Negan in CW's other hit show The Walking Dead. As mentioned above, Morgan is known for playing a variety of roles, however, one of his most beloved roles was in Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy.

Who was Denny Duquette?

Denny Duquette was a heart patient who was seen appearing on the famous medical drama, Grey's Anatomy. The character was shown to have been a patient of Preston Burke for a long time and had been diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy. The only way Duquette could survive was via a heart transplant.

The first time he visited the hospital following a failed heart, Duquette was told that he at that moment could not receive any heart for a transplant and he then left the hospital. In a later episode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was once again portrayed Duquette who was brought back to the hospital following another heart failure. After many attempts, the doctors were able to get Duquette to be stable again.

However, this time it was sure that he definitely needed a heart transplant as his condition was worsening. During his entire stay at the Seattle Grace Hospital, Denny Duquette met doctor Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and the two began having a romantic relationship.

How did Denny Duquette die?

Denny Duquette's death on Grey's Anatomy was regarded as one of the saddest deaths in the medical drama. While on LVAD treatment and his stay in the hospital, Duquette's condition was not getting any better. Duquette passed away after suffering a stroke following his heart transplant.

After many hurdles and proposing to Izzie Stevens, Duquette finally found a heart for a transplant. After the surgery, the character was seen marveling at warm hands and a regular heartbeat and was seen being stable. However, the same night, he died after suffering a stroke.

According to a mourning Izzie, Duquette was prone to clots and she assumes that was the reason behind his sudden death a few hours after the surgery. The entire scene with Izzie laying beside Denny Duquette's cold body was absolutely heartbreaking for many Grey's Anatomy fans.

Did Jeffrey Dean Morgan beg Shonda Rhimes to not kill Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy?

Just like many Grey's Anatomy fans out there, Morgan revealed that he was not ready for his character Denny Duquette's death on the show. During his appearance on Sean Evans' hot-sauce-slathered YouTube series “Hot Ones,” Morgan explained how he begged Shonda Rhimes to not kill his character.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan said, “‘Grey’s Anatomy’ I knew was something special, that’s the one time that I saw my death coming and I was trying everything I could do to get out of that death.” Morgan also added, "That character, Denny, and that love story with Izzie kind of took the world by storm."

“I knew how f---ing lucky I was to be there," Morgan recalled. The Walking Dead star then revealed that he spoke to Grey's Anatomy executive producer Shonda Rhimes and tried to get her to change the script regarding his death. Morgan explained what he told Rhimes, ‘Please don’t kill me! I will do anything." Morgan added, “I did. I begged her.”