'Dirty Dancing' Star Vanished After Tragic Accident—20 Years Later Jennifer Grey Returns To Open Up

Nov 26, 2020 by apost team

Dirty Dancing was one of the biggest surprise hits of the 1980s and it catapulted its two stars—Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey—into the limelight. But while Swayze went on to have an illustrious career, Grey receded from the spotlight.

After more than three decades since the release of the movie, Grey has opened up about a tragic accident that changed the course of her life.

It was August 1987 when Dirty Dancing would be released to audiences and become a surprise hit. The movie didn't feature any big stars nor did it have a well-known director. It also wasn't planned to be a big release, rather it was meant to have a one-week theater release and go direct to video. 

Dirty Dancing was such a success that it became the first movie to sell more than one million VHS copies. Meanwhile, the film's soundtrack, a major part of its appeal, was also incredibly successful, with the movie's main song (I've Had) The Time of My Life winning both Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Original Song, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Duet.

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Patrick Swayze also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, having been able to showcase his formal dance training in the movie. As well as acting and dancing in the film, Swayze co-wrote and performed a song from the film's album, She's Like the Wind, which became a top 10 hit and showed off his vocal talents.

With such success, Swayze became a regular Hollywood player, starring in movies such as Road House, Ghost, and Point Break. He earned three Golden Globe nominations during his career, as well as numerous other awards, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997.

But what about Baby? The actress who played the female lead, Jennifer Grey, was also projected to become a star but she didn't have the career Swayze went on to have. Unfortunately, her rise to fame was cut short following unfortunate events that took place just before Dirty Dancing was released, and would haunt her for a few decades. 

This doesn’t mean that Grey has not found her way to lukewarm fame once again today. After appearing in Dancing with the Stars and winning her season in 2010, Grey was finally having the appreciation and acknowledgment that she wasn't able to have when she was younger. Since then, she's taken on more acting roles including on the TV show Red Oaks.  

However, even with the roles she currently has, she remains her character Baby in Hollywood’s hallowed hallways. Dirty Dancing’s intense fame has, in some ways, frozen her image as the spunky Frances Houseman who defies her father as she dances her way into everyone’s heart. The final dance number from the movie, choreographed to I’ve Had the Time of My Life, is widely regarded as one of the most famous dance scenes of all time, according to Hollywood Reporter. It is no wonder that a movie as iconic as Dirty Dancing continues to make an impact in popular culture even today.

During an interview with Glamour Magazine in 2015, while talking about her role in Red Oaks, she was asked whether she knew she had chemistry with Swayze in Dirty Dancing right away. “I did Red Dawn with him before, but no, I didn't. I was cast before he was. He came in [to test] along with a bunch of other guys. I didn't think we had chemistry. But you either do or you don't. It's a weird thing, though. It doesn't have to do with whether you like someone or not. It's just you either have it or you don't,” she responded. 

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the 80s in 2016 in another interview, Grey said, “the '80s were great. When they were talking about it being sucky, they clearly weren't having the same '80s I was having; I was having the time of my life!”

She gave a nod to her iconic role here and continued: 

“I was big in the '80s, so that was good! I thought the '80s was a very exciting time. At the time, it felt like it was a loss of innocence but looking back now, it just looks like preschool compared to where we are now in terms of innocence. I think it was a really exciting time. The fashion was terrible, the hair was terrible, but the music was great.”

Those of us who have lived through the 80s can certainly vouch for this. Grey also spoke about working with Swayze, whose role in the movie became the catalyst that catapulted him into a significant Hollywood career. “He smelled really good, his skin was really nice. He was really strong and he was very protective and his heart was very much in it,” Grey said. She went on:

“It was our second movie we'd done together within a short time — we did Red Dawn first and then Dirty Dancing. He was a great dancer and he was fearless. His fearlessness with my fearfulness... together was like a marriage where you have two opposites. He'd do anything and I'd be scared to do anything.”

Opposites attract and create the best chemistry; more than just a trite phrase in this case. With the wind in her wings, Grey was on a fast-track lane to fame and a Hollywood career just as distinguished as Swayze after the movie’s release. There may have been high hopes about her, but a series of unfortunate events compounded and damaged her chances far too much. 

While a tragic accident in Ireland led to her struggling with survivor's guilt and had an immediate impact on her just before the release of Dirty Dancing, a botched rhinoplasty dramatically changed her face, which led to an overnight change in how the industry viewed her. She no longer resembled the Baby Houseman people had seen on screen. 

Grey would have two rhinoplasties—the second to correct problems from the first—but the procedures rendered her unrecognizable. She underwent rhinoplasty just before she appeared on the hit show Friends in 1995. Since people couldn't recognize her from her '80s roles, she had no luck landing major parts. She even considered changing her name to start her career anew but decided against it.

Speaking of the botched surgeries in 2012, she said, “I went in the operating theatre a celebrity and came out anonymous.” She joked, “It was like being in a witness protection program or being invisible.” Though she could joke about it decades later, she recognized the reality of what happened to her following the surgeries when she stated, “It was the nose job from hell. I’ll always be this once-famous actress nobody ­recognises because of a nose job.”

However, the most significant event that led Grey to recede from the spotlight happened around the time of Dirty Dancing's release. Grey was involved in a tragic accident that would change the trajectory of her life and contribute to her never becoming the star she could have been.

On August 5, 1987—the same month Dirty Dancing was released—Grey was holidaying in Ireland with her then-boyfriend, none other than Matthew Broderick. The couple wasn't yet public with their relationship, having met on the set of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 

In a horrible turn of events, Broderick had been driving their rental car on the wrong side of the road, when they collided head-on with another vehicle. The mother and daughter in the other car were instantly killed, while Broderick fractured his leg and ribs and Grey walked away with minor injuries. Broderick was charged with dangerous driving but eventually convicted of the lesser sentence, careless driving, and paid a small fine, but the damage was done.

The incident outed them as a couple and mere weeks later, Dirty Dancing was released to the world, propelling Grey into the spotlight. Decades later she spoke of the incident with People Magazine, as reported by Irish Central. She said:

"One minute we're going down the road and music is playing, and the next minute...it's all different. I couldn't be fearless after that."

She goes on to discuss her newfound fame and how it conflicted with the guilt of what she'd been through:

"I became America's sweetheart within five days of the accident. The juxtaposition of that deep sorrow, the survivor's guilt, and then being celebrated as the new big thing just didn't jibe. It didn't feel good to be the toast of the town."

Grey explains her ambition was never the same after the tragic accident, and she stepped out of the spotlight. But finally in 2010, Grey would have her return to the spotlight, taking on new roles and opportunities that showcase her inherent talent. 

Interviews with Grey have illuminated that — even years later — the accident had an impact on how she sees herself and her current career trajectory. Speaking to PEOPLE in November 2020, she said, “I think one of the things I’ve understood as I’ve gotten older is how little I care what other people think of me. What I’m mostly concerned about is how I feel about myself.”

"Your self-esteem shouldn’t be attached to being perfect or judged," she said, recalling what she had learned with age. "What if we all just did what makes us happy?"

We're so happy to see that Jennifer Grey is in a much better place emotionally and that she's been able to finally savor some of the well-deserved fame she earned with her early acting roles.

Did you know the story of Jennifer Grey's career? Let us know in the comments, then be sure to pass this on to the people in your life.