U.S. actor Patrick Dempsey reacts on the podium after taking second place with his Poshe 911 RSR in the LM GTE Am category during the Le Mans 24-hour sportscar race in Le Mans, central France June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

LE MANS, France (Reuters) - Actor Patrick Dempsey, better known to millions worldwide in his former role as Dr Derek Shepherd in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, finally made it onto the Le Mans 24 Hours podium on Sunday.

The 49-year-old, whose 'McDreamy' character has been killed off by the ABC television series, finished second in the GTE Am category with fellow-American Patrick Long and Germany's Marco Seefried in a Porsche 911.

Dempsey, who made his Le Mans debut in 2009, had finished fifth in the same class last year after a fourth place in 2013 and had made the podium his big aim.

"It's hard to put into words what this means," the actor told Eurosport television.

"The team did a great job in all the pitstops and Patrick and Marco just drove beautifully through the whole race and into the night when it was really tough," added Dempsey. "To be up there (on the podium) is definitely a dream come true."

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)