Jennifer Grey, who played ‘Baby’, was expected to see a significant improvement in her job chances. But that was not to be. Instead, a catastrophic event changed everything, forcing her to leave the movie business for good.
Jennifer Grey has spoken up about the traumatic era that has left her damaged for life. There are no significant actors or well-known directors, and the film needs a higher budget. Nonetheless, the producers and cast felt they’d accomplished something monumental the minute Dirty Dancing hit the big screen in August 1987.
For male protagonist Patrick Swayze, popularity came quickly. He rose as a teen idol and sex symbol, appearing in films like Ghost and Donnie Darko.
But his co-star Jennifer Grey was in a bad mood when the film opened, and she quickly vanished. Jennifer Grey disappeared as fast as she emerged amidst the commotion and festivities.
And the actress had been out of the public eye for a long time.
However, in recent years, and in an interview with People Magazine, she has revealed everything about the accident that transformed her life.
But first, let’s go back to Jennifer Grey’s life before the fatal event in the summer of 1987.
Jennifer Gray began dancing classes at a young age. She was born in New York, and it was most likely her father who pushed her into the entertainment world.
Joel Gray, her father, was an actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer.
Jennifer attended Dalton School and concentrated on dance and theatre… At the same time, her life was hardly a rose-colored spectacle. Jennifer had to work as a waitress to make ends meet.
She did, however, land a few TV commercials, including one for Dr. Pepper. Her film début was in the 1984 picture “Reckless.” Her big break came a few years later with “Dirty Dancing,” in which she played Frances “Baby” Houseman.
The film is a classic, and the plot is based on the childhood of author Eleanor Bergstein. Jennifer became a celebrity overnight and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Unfortunately, she was never able to enjoy tremendous success.
Grey was in Ireland with then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick just before the film’s debut in August 1987.
However, the pair were engaged in a horrible car accident when Broderick smashed into another vehicle while driving on the wrong side. In the second automobile, a woman and her daughter were murdered instantaneously.
Broderick was charged with reckless driving, ultimately downgraded to careless driving. On the other hand, Jennifer Grey received just bruises and minor bodily injuries; however, her mental wounds persisted.
Dirty Dancing premiered just a few days later. Despite the film’s success, Grey was unable to enjoy it.
“The juxtaposition of that deep pain, the survivor’s guilt, and being praised as the new big thing just didn’t jibe. “It didn’t feel good to be the town’s toast,” Grey told the Daily Mirror.
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“My head was never the same, nor was my ambition,” she told People.
Hell’s nose job
She struggled with survivor’s guilt and went missing for a few years before appearing in a single Friends episode in 1995.
She’d had plastic surgery by then, and her face looked completely different.
“I went in as a superstar and came out anonymous,” she explained in 2012.
“It seemed like I was in a witness protection program or was invisible. It was the worst nose job ever. I’ll always be that once-famous actress who no one remembers because of a nose job.”
Jennifer, after that, had a sporadic career in Hollywood.
Jennifer made her way back into the mainstream media by 2010.
She won the television show Dancing with the Stars,’ and quickly became a fan favorite. That was something significant to her, according to her.
“It’s as if I’ve starved myself because of what others would think of me.
Grey took another step back into the spotlight in 2018. She is set to appear in ‘Untogether’ and the upcoming comedy ‘Red Oaks’.
Jennifer, we’re so glad you’ve found your passion and joy again!
Who else wants to take a nostalgia-fueled trip back to 1987? See the famous Dirty Dancing sequence below. What wonderful memories!
Please share this news with your Facebook friends. They, like me, undoubtedly watched Dirty Dancing and wondered what happened to Jennifer Grey!
