Isaiah Washington, the actor who played cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Preston Burke on “Grey’s Anatomy,” lost his wife of 29 years, Jenisa Washington, in June 2025, when a massive hemorrhagic stroke killed her, he confirmed. The loss stayed out of public view for 16 months before he addressed it in an Instagram post on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.
“Yes…the rumors are true. My dear wife of 29 years collapsed suddenly on May 31, 2025 and passed away on June 9, 2025. It came as a huge shock to me and our entire family,” Washington wrote in the Instagram post, which he placed beneath a photograph of his late wife.
“She succumbed to a massive hemorrhagic stroke and never recovered,” he wrote. He added: “I don’t know if this is an appropriate post, because Jenisa Washington was extremely private, but I guess I just have to be reprimanded from her on the other side.”
Washington said speculation about his family was what finally pushed him to speak. The post drew nearly 45,000 reactions. In his closing lines, he counted the 16 months his wife had been gone, and he noted that three remarkable children survive her to carry on her legacy. The couple had three children: Isaiah V, Tyme and Iman.
Accounts of their ages differ. Reporting on the post gives Washington’s age as 63 and his wife’s as 56, while another account, updated Oct. 4, lists him at 61 and her at 57.
A Warning About Headaches
In the post Washington urged followers to take their own symptoms seriously. “Listen, y’all…some headaches are not just headaches or migraines, they can be much worse and a warning sign. Get a brain scan if you can and take those headaches seriously,” he wrote.
The Cleveland Clinic explains that a blood vessel in the brain breaks and bleeds during a hemorrhagic stroke, which keeps the brain from getting the blood and oxygen it needs. Brain cells can be damaged or killed by that bleeding, and the strokes require immediate treatment.
29 Years of a Private Marriage
A dinner party in Los Angeles brought the two together in 1995. His wife’s full name was Jenisa Marie Garland, and Washington was briefly married and divorced at 21 before meeting her. They married on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1996.
Jenisa Washington worked in fashion and later founded the Impact Circle Foundation, a nonprofit that supports underserved families. Over the decades that followed she largely stayed away from the cameras that followed her husband, making two joint red-carpet appearances: her red carpet debut at the ABC TCA party in July 2005 and the 2006 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Her long absence drew attention from fans and parts of the press.
“For me, being married and having children did change a lot of my trajectory,” Washington told Fox News Digital in 2022, speaking about how his professional life took a back seat.
Actor-comedian Reggie McFadden died at 57, and Washington honored him in a tribute post on Monday, Oct. 5, crediting him as the friend “who introduced me to her in 1995.”
The Role That Made Him Famous
“Grey’s Anatomy” premiered in 2005 and stars Ellen Pompeo. Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang drew Burke into an on-screen romance that fans came to regard as one of the show’s signature pairings. A heated on-set argument with co-star Patrick Dempsey, in which Washington used a homophobic slur aimed at T.R. Knight, who played George O’Malley, got him fired in 2007.
In 2013, Washington said he was “shunned” after losing the role. Of the forced break in his career, he said: “I became a better husband, a better father and a better artist.” His 2014 return was a Season 10 episode in which Burke ran into Cristina Yang during her lecture in Switzerland. The show returns for Season 23 on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 10/9c on ABC.
Washington starred in the science-fiction series “The 100” from 2014 to 2020. He also appeared in “P-Valley,” “Bionic Woman,” “The Cleaner,” “Law & Order: Los Angeles” and “Survivor’s Remorse.” His film credits include “Blackbird,” “Dead Trigger,” “Cut Throat City” and the Brazil-U.S. co-production “Área Q.” He announced his retirement from acting in 2023 before appearing in multiple movies.
Condolences From Fellow Actors
Messages came from across the industry in response to the post. Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis commented, “So very sorry Isaiah.” Actress Debi Mazar wrote, “My condolences, Isaiah. To you and your family.”
Singer Nicci Gilbert joined actors Tichina Arnold, Michael Beach, Harold Perrineau and LaMonica Garrett in sending condolences to Washington and his family.
