Shonda Rhimes is an American screenwriter, director, and producer best known as the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice, and the political thriller Scandal.
Biography
Rhimes was born in Chicago, Illinois to Vera and Ilee Rhimes. Her mother, who was a university administrator, attended college while raising six kids and earned a Ph.D. in educational administration, while her father, who was a college professor and has an MBA, is the chief information officer at the University of Southern California. Rhimes lived in Park Forest South (which is now known as University Park, Illinois) with her two older brothers and three older sisters. She said that she exhibited an early affinity for storytelling and that her time spent volunteering in a hospital while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments.
Shonda attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and film studies and earned her bachelor's degree in 1991. While at Dartmouth, she joined the Black Underground Theater Association and divided her time between directing and performing in student productions and fiction. She also wrote the college newspaper.
After college, she relocated to San Francisco with one of her older siblings and worked in advertising for McCann Erickson. She then moved to Los Angeles to study screenwriting at the University of Southern California. While there, Debra Martin Chase hired her as an intern and Rhimes credits her early success in part to mentors like a prominent African-American producer, who hired her for an internship at Denzel Washington's production company, Mundy Lane Entertainment.
Roles
Guest Starring Roles
Talk, News and Game Show Appearances
| Series
|
Episode
|
Airdate
|
| Tavis Smiley |
|
March 28, 2005
|
| Nightline |
|
March 20, 2006
|
| The Oprah Winfrey Show |
On Location: Oprah on the Set of Grey's Anatomy |
November 17, 2006
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
January 18, 2007
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
February 5, 2009
|
| The Brian McKnight Show |
Episode 110 |
November 28, 2009
|
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! |
Behind the Scandalabra |
April 17, 2014
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
May 14, 2014
|
| Omg! Insider |
|
June 12, 2014
|
| Omg! Insider |
Fourth of July Special |
July 4, 2014
|
| Omg! Insider |
|
August 7, 2014
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
August 23, 2014
|
| Good Morning America |
|
September 18, 2014
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
May 12, 2015
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
September 3, 2015
|
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! |
Show 2309 |
September 24, 2015
|
| Good Morning America |
|
November 9, 2015
|
| The Ellen DeGeneres Show |
|
November 9, 2015
|
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert |
Show 41 |
November 11, 2015
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
January 25, 2016
|
| Entertainment Tonight |
|
February 11, 2016
|
Producer
Staff Producer
Episodes Produced
Writer
| Series |
Episode |
Airdate |
Credit
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
1x01 - A Hard Day's Night |
March 27, 2005 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
1x02 - The First Cut Is the Deepest |
April 3, 2005 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
2x05 - Bring the Pain |
October 23, 2005 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
2x09 - Thanks for the Memories |
November 20, 2005 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
2x16 - It's the End of the World (1) |
February 5, 2006 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
2x17 - As We Know It (2) |
February 12, 2006 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
2x27 - Losing My Religion (3) |
May 15, 2006 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
3x01 - Time Has Come Today |
September 21, 2006 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
3x15 - Walk on Water (1) |
February 8, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
3x16 - Drowning on Dry Land (2) |
February 15, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
3x17 - Some Kind of Miracle (3) |
February 22, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
3x22 - The Other Side of This Life (1) |
May 3, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
3x23 - The Other Side of This Life (2) |
May 3, 2007 |
|
| Private Practice |
1x01 - In Which We Meet Addison, a Nice Girl from Somewhere Else |
September 26, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
4x01 - A Change Is Gonna Come |
September 27, 2007 |
|
| Private Practice |
1x05 - In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead |
October 24, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
4x09 - Crash into Me (1) |
November 22, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
4x10 - Crash into Me (2) |
November 22, 2007 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
4x16 - Freedom (1) |
May 22, 2008 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
4x17 - Freedom (2) |
May 22, 2008 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
5x01 - Dream a Little Dream of Me (1) |
September 25, 2008 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
5x02 - Dream a Little Dream of Me (2) |
September 25, 2008 |
|
| Private Practice |
2x01 - A Family Thing |
October 1, 2008 |
|
| Private Practice |
2x08 - Crime and Punishment |
December 3, 2008 |
|
| Private Practice |
2x18 - Finishing |
March 12, 2009 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
5x22 - What a Difference a Day Makes |
May 7, 2009 |
|
| Private Practice |
3x01 - A Death in the Family |
October 1, 2009 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
6x24 - Death and All His Friends |
May 20, 2010 |
|
| Private Practice |
4x07 - Did You Hear What Happened to Charlotte King? |
November 4, 2010 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
7x18 - Song Beneath the Song |
March 31, 2011 |
|
| Private Practice |
5x08 - Who We Are |
November 17, 2011 |
|
| Scandal |
1x01 - Sweet Baby |
April 5, 2012 |
|
| Private Practice |
5x22 - Gone, Baby, Gone |
May 15, 2012 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
8x24 - Flight |
May 17, 2012 |
|
| Scandal |
1x07 - Grant: For the People |
May 17, 2012 |
|
| Scandal |
2x08 - Happy Birthday, Mr. President |
December 6, 2012 |
|
| Private Practice |
6x13 - In Which We Say Goodbye |
January 22, 2013 |
|
| Scandal |
2x22 - White Hat's Back On |
May 16, 2013 |
|
| Scandal |
3x01 - It's Handled |
October 3, 2013 |
|
| Scandal |
3x18 - The Price of Free and Fair Elections |
April 17, 2014 |
|
| Scandal |
4x01 - Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia |
September 25, 2014 |
|
| Grey's Anatomy |
11x21 - How to Save a Life |
April 23, 2015 |
|
| Scandal |
4x22 - You Can't Take Command |
May 14, 2015 |
|
| Scandal |
5x01 - Heavy Is the Head |
September 24, 2015 |
|
| Scandal |
5x21 - That's My Girl |
May 12, 2016 |
|
| Scandal |
6x01 - Survival of the Fittest |
January 26, 2017 |
|
Director
Shorts Directed
- Blossoms and Veils (2007)
Specials Directed
Creator
Awards and Accolades
- Nominated: Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (2006)
- Grey's Anatomy: It's the End of the World (1)
Trivia
Social Media
