Jennifer Grey, known for her iconic role as “Baby” in the classic film Dirty Dancing, was expected to have a thriving career. However, a tragic event changed everything, forcing her to step away from the film industry for good.
Now, at 62, Jennifer Grey has opened up about the traumatic period that altered her life forever.
Dirty Dancing was a low-budget film with no big stars or famous directors. Yet, when it hit theaters in August 1987, the producers and actors knew they had created something special. Patrick Swayze, who played the lead role, quickly became a teen idol and sex symbol, starring in major movies like Ghost and Donnie Darko.
Jennifer Grey, however, disappeared from the public eye soon after the film’s release. She vanished just as quickly as she had appeared, lost in the celebration of the film’s success.
Years later, Jennifer shared the full story of the accident that changed her life in an interview with People Magazine.
Let’s look back at Jennifer Grey’s life before the tragic incident in the summer of 1987.
Born in New York in 1960, Jennifer Grey started dance lessons at a young age, encouraged by her father, Joel Grey, a director, photographer, dancer, singer, and actor. She attended the Dalton School, where she studied acting and dancing, and after graduating in 1978, she continued her education at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater.
To make ends meet, she worked as a waitress while searching for acting jobs.
Jennifer landed a few TV commercials, including one for Dr. Pepper, and made her film debut in the 1984 movie Reckless. Her big break came with Dirty Dancing, where she played Frances “Baby” Houseman. The movie, based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s childhood, made Jennifer an overnight sensation and earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
Tragically, Jennifer never got to enjoy her success. Just before the film’s release, she and her then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick were in Ireland. Broderick accidentally drove on the wrong side of the road, causing a horrific car accident that killed a mother and her daughter in the other car.
Although Broderick’s reckless driving charges were dropped, Jennifer was left with minor physical injuries but deep psychological scars. The accident happened just days before Dirty Dancing premiered. Despite the movie’s success, Jennifer couldn’t enjoy it.
“It didn’t feel good to be the toast of the town,” Jennifer told the Daily Mirror, describing the intense grief and survivor’s guilt that overshadowed her success.
The trauma from the accident stayed with her. “My ambition and my head were never the same,” she admitted to People.
In the early 1990s, Jennifer struggled with survivor’s guilt and largely disappeared from the public eye, reappearing in a single episode of Friends in 1995.
By then, she had undergone plastic surgery that drastically changed her appearance. “I entered the operating room as a celebrity and left anonymous,” she said in 2012. “It was the worst nose job ever.”
Following the surgery, Jennifer’s career in Hollywood was sporadic. However, by 2010, she had made a comeback, winning Dancing with the Stars and becoming a fan favorite again. “It’s like having a delicious steak after 23 years on a diet,” she told People, expressing her joy.
In 2018, Jennifer stepped back into the spotlight with appearances in the comedy Red Oaks and the film Untogether.
Jennifer, we’re thrilled to see you back, passionate and happy!
Who else wants to take a nostalgic trip back to 1987? Watch the iconic moment from Dirty Dancing below. What wonderful memories!
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