Richard Webber

Richard Webber, M.D., Ph.D, F.A.C.S is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy. The character was created by Shonda Rhimes and is portrayed by actor James Pickens Jr. since the start of the show in 2005. At the beginning of the show, he is the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital for 12 years. In season 6, he has to resign his position as chief and is briefly replaced by Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Webber takes his position back as chief in season 7 but eventually resigns again in season 8 in order to protect Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). He goes back to being General Surgery attending, although all the staff still calls him "Chief" due to his history. Later, Richard accepts to become the head of the residency program mentoring the residents. In season 17 Richard is appointed Chief of Chiefs of the Catherine Fox foundation. He is a recovering alcoholic and this storyline is exploited in many episodes through the years, especially in seasons 6 and 15. Webber had an affair with Ellis Grey, Meredith's mother, before the beginning of the series and this impacts his relationship with several characters of the series such as his wife Adele (Loretta Devine) and Maggie Pierce, a hospital surgeon who is later revealed to be his daughter. Background Richard Webber was born in 1954, the oldest of three children. His siblings are former hardware store owner Chris Webber, the father of his now-deceased niece, Sabrina and an unnamed younger sister. His mother was a music teacher and former receptionist Gail Webber, who played the cello. Gail (born 1918) died at age 46, when Richard was ten years old (circa 1964). Richard is not close to his younger siblings; they believe he thinks he is better than they are because he is a doctor. It is not known what inspired Webber to become a doctor or surgeon. Richard married his wife, Adele (Loretta Devine) on Valentine's Day. During their residency at Seattle Grace, he had an affair with Meredith's mother, Ellis Grey, although both were married to other people. Although Ellis left her husband, Richard could not bring himself to leave his wife, Adele (he would learn decades later that Adele had known about the affair all along and stayed with him anyway). He confessed in a later episode that he ended the affair because he believed that Ellis deserved better and that he had too much baggage.