Grey's Anatomy has been etched in the annals of television history as a show that has impacted the audience to a tremendous degree. Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey's Anatomy first aired on ABC back in March 27, 2005.
Although based on an original screenplay, the title of Grey's Anatomy alluded to a classic medical textbook written and prepared by two physicians Henry VanDyke Carter and Henry Gray in nineteenth-century England.
The show sheds light on a group of medical interns and their mentoring doctors as they navigate through day-to-day healthcare-related duties at the hospital. The show went on to have record viewer engagement and often stayed at the top of programming lists for enjoying near-perfect ratings.
It was also nominated for and won several Emmy Awards and even went on to win the prestigious Golden Globe in 2007. It also established the talent of Shonda Rhimes and popularized her shows that were based on ensemble casts. The success of Grey's Anatomy propelled the spin-offs Station 19 and Private Practice.
Despite there being no official announcement, the show's pivotal character of Meredith Gray was created as a nod to the general practitioners Henry Gray and Henry VanDyke Carter. Here's everything we know.
Who were the authors of the classic medical text Gray's Anatomy?
As mentioned earlier, the text was prepared by Henry Gray and Henry VanDyke Carter. Henry Gray came from a modest background and was admitted to St. Geroge's Hospital in 1842. He was fifteen years old when he began his medical education and by dint of his merit and hard work was able to cement his seat as a recognized scholar associated with several important publications. He was awarded for his knowledge and made a Fellow of the Royal Society at the tender age of twenty-five.
In his personal life, Gray was an otherwise good-looking doctor, of medium height. In keeping with the 'dandy' fashion sense of the times, Gray was quite a sharp dresser himself, according to the testimonies of those around him. He was also intensely ambitious and strove to reach the higher echelons of his career.
Henry Gray gave birth to the idea that eventually became Grey's Anatomy, descriptive and surgical. The text was illustrated in great detail with impressive artwork to make the comprehension of the content significantly easier. It took a total of three years to get the book published. Gray, on the other hand, didn't live long to see the fruits of his labor and passed away in 1858 at just thirty-one, after succumbing to smallpox.
Who was Henry VanDyke Carter?
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Henry VanDyke Carter belonged to an impoverished family and couldn't afford the cost of learning medicine. Instead, he worked as an apothecary first and then qualified himself to be a surgeon, therefore working as a general practitioner in London.
He most probably met Gray after he entered St. George's Hospital as an apprentice at the age of seventeen. Gray soon found out that Carter was a gifted artist and they collaborated on Gray's first publication titled The Structure and Use of the Spleen as well as on Grey's Anatomy.
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