ADDISON MONTGOMERY

'Addison Forbes Montgomery' (formerly 'Addison Montgomery-Shepherd') is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. Addison is a board-certified OB/GYN with fellowships in maternal fetal medicine and medican genetics. She is also a neonatal surgeon. She is also the central character of the new ABC series ''Private Practice'' premiering in September 2007. The character is portrayed by actress Kate Walsh.
The character is at the center of a ''Grey's Anatomy'' spin-off, tentatively titled ''Private Practice''. ''The Other Side of This Life, Parts One and Two'' served as the back-door pilot for the spin-off, and the network officially picked up the spin-off on May 15, 2007.

Contents

Background

Character history

''Grey's Anatomy

''Private Practice''

Personality

Background

A highly regarded neo-natal surgeon and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Addison is also a board certified OB-GYN with fellowships in maternal-fetal medicine and medical genetics. She also completed two years of study on cystic fibrosis. In addition, she is also one of only a handful of surgeons in the world who knows how to separate fetal blood vessels.
Addison is an attractive woman and she has been called "McHotty" by the male interns, and has been compared to Isabella Rossellini and a young Catherine Deneuve by Meredith Grey and a patient respectively.
It is implied that, like Mark Sloan, Addison comes from a wealthy background, in contrast to her former husband, Derek Shepherd, whose hard work and determination led him to success.
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 specialty and Derek's large family, Addison admitted to Miranda Bailey that when she and Derek discussed having children, she realized she wasn't ready. After she and Derek initially separated, she 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. Richard Webber brought her to Seattle Grace for a consult on a difficult case (and presumably, to break Derek and Meredith up). Richard was aware of Derek and Addison's strained relationship, though he did not know the cause of it ("Yesterday").

Character history

''Grey's Anatomy

Addison met her future husband, Derek Shepherd, in medical school and completed her residency under the supervision of her now good friend, Dr. Richard Webber, whom she, at one point, avoided for almost a year after he taught her a valuable lesson about not getting too close to her patients by putting her on a case in which the patient would inevitably die.
Addison and Derek became extremely successful in their respective fields and each began their own practice in New York. This strained their marriage. After she was caught cheating with Derek's best friend, Mark Sloan, he moved to Seattle to get away from her. There, he met Dr. Meredith Grey with whom he started a relationship. Addison then arrived in Seattle at Richard's behest, and confronted Derek on his affair by introducing herself to Meredith as his wife. This left Meredith feeling distraught and betrayed, and she ended things with Derek.
After a period of antagonism between her and Derek (in which he continually referred to her as "Satan"), Addison decided to stay on as head of neo-natal surgery at Seattle Grace, signing a lucrative two-year contract after she and Derek decided to make an effort to work things out, but Derek was still in love with Meredith. After finding out that her husband slept with Meredith at the hospital-sponsored prom, however, Addison (in a drunken haze) called Mark Sloan to Seattle. She and Derek then agreed that their marriage was over and started divorce proceedings. She asked Mark to go back to New York, but he stayed, expressing his desire to continue their relationship. Addison rebuffed him.
When the divorce was finalized, Addison dropped the "Shepherd" from her last name. Wanting to make a fresh start, Derek happily relinquished most of their shared properties (their Brownstone in Manhattan overlooking Central Park and a residence in The Hamptons) to her believing that she deserved it under his initial impression that she only had a one-night stand with Mark while he carried an affair with Meredith. Later, Addison divulged the whole truth regarding her infidelity to him which led to an emotionally painful encounter in which Derek told her to get out of his life. Addison is believed to have had a good relationship with the Shepherd family, in particular Nancy Shepherd (McBitchy), but, pending Derek's revelation of the true extent of Addison/Mark's relationship, her closeness to the Shepherds is in doubt.
Since arriving at Seattle Grace, Addison has made many friendships with other characters, most notably Callie Torres and Miranda Bailey. Her friendship with the two ladies has often been based on the fact that they act as each others' confidantes. Callie and Addison often discuss their current relationships and love lives, which has ultimately led to a very close friendship between the two. Addison is also very good friends with fellow attending, Preston Burke, and her ex-husband, Derek Shepherd. She has a strained friendship with Mark Sloan and doesn't have a strong friendship with any of the interns, with the exception of Alex Karev, but that friendship is reminiscent to that of hers with Mark Sloan. She has a father-daughter bond with Richard Webber, and is often portrayed to be very close to him.
A possibility of a relationship between her and Alex Karev has been hinted at, when she kissed him in Joe's bar. Even after he rejected her affections, she continued to lust after him from afar. She has (along with Mark) decided to abstain from sex for 60 days. If Dr. Sloan completes the challenge, she is willing to try a real relationship with him; however, it is she who fails. She engages in a sexual encounter with Alex at the hospital and Mark learns of this after witnessing them stumbling out of an on-call room. She is spared from confessing, however, when Mark lies to her by telling her he had broken their promise long before. According to many of the show's allusions, Addison then decides to pursue Alex Karev. Her advances are once again rejected, however, hinting at the potential departure of Addison though she has expressed immense interest in being the next Chief of Surgery.

''Private Practice''

In the pilot episode, it was revealed that Addison can no longer conceive, as her antral follicle count was only two. She rekindles with her old Medical School friends Dr. Sam (Jackson) Bennett, and his former wife Dr. Naomi Bennett.
Addison is considered one of the best surgeons in her field in the world (patients often travel across the country to receive medical and surgical care from her), but with her relocation to Los Angeles her exact Medical Service is in doubt.

Personality

Although Addison is famous for being difficult and often uncompromising, she has revealed softer aspects of her personality from time to time. She has openly claimed to be the best in her field on various occasions, and has promptly mentioned her resumé to people who have questioned her abilities.
One of the most competitive surgeons, Addison has sometimes challenged her colleagues, most notably Alex Karev, who has spent a long part of his internship with her. However, she also has an excellent bedside manner and, like Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens, is known for becoming emotionally attached to a lot of her patients. Her father-daughter relationship with her mentor, Dr. Richard Webber, has often offered sanctuary to Addison, and has helped her reveal some of her insecurities.
She has chosen to remain honest about her separation from her ex-husband and the details of her infidelity and has confessed to feeling guilty about her affair with Mark Sloan. As her good friend Miranda Bailey has observed, Addison tends to define herself by the men in her life. Her love life is often troubled, and she finds it difficult to commit to any long-term relationship.