Jennifer Grey, who played ‘Baby’ in the classic film Dirty Dancing, was expected to enjoy a significant rise in her work possibilities.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, a horrific occurrence ruined everything and forced her to leave the film industry for good.
Jennifer Grey has finally spoken up about the awful time that left her permanently damaged after many years.
However, as soon as Dirty Dancing hit theaters in August 1987, the cast and crew knew what they had done.
Patrick Swayze, the male protagonist, became an instant success. He came to stardom as a sex icon and teen idol before appearing in blockbusters such as Ghost and Donnie Darko.
However, when the picture aired, his co-star Jennifer Grey was not in a strong position, and she quickly vanished. Jennifer Grey vanished amid the excitement and festivities.
And the actress lasted a very long time without appearing in the media.
However, she has now spoken out about the accident that changed her life in an interview.
But first, let’s look at Jennifer Grey’s life before the tragic incident in the summer of 1987.
Jennifer Gray began dancing training at a young age. She was born in New York in 1960, and her father may have urged her to seek a career in show business. Joel Gray, her father, was a filmmaker, photographer, dancer, singer, and actor.
Jennifer majored in theater and choreography while attending Dalton School. After receiving her degree in 1978, she began looking for acting employment while enrolling at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. Her life was far from a rose-colored dream but also full of surprises. Jennifer was forced to work as a waitress to make ends meet.
Despite this, she was able to land a few appearances in television commercials, including one for Dr. Pepper. She made her acting debut in the 1984 film “Reckless.” A few years later, she received a big break with the film “Dirty Dancing,” in which she played Frances “Baby” Houseman.
Author Eleanor Bergstein’s background inspired the plot of this acclaimed film. Jennifer became famous overnight and was nominated Best Actress at the Golden Globes.
Regrettably, she was never able to capitalize on her enormous achievement.
Grey and her then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick were residing in Ireland at the film’s release in August 1987.
However, Broderick collided with another car while driving on the wrong side of the road, culminating in a catastrophic automobile accident for the pair. The second vehicle had a mom and her daughter, who died instantly.
The charge of dangerous driving against Broderick was later reduced to careless driving. Jennifer Grey’s physical injuries were modest, such as bruises, but her psychological wounds remained.
Dirty Dancing premiered just a few days later. Despite the film’s popularity, Grey was unable to appreciate it.
The juxtaposition of that tremendous sorrow, the survivor’s guilt, and being praised as the next great thing simply didn’t make sense. Grey claimed that being the talk of the town didn’t feel good.
The actress will never fully recover from the trauma induced by accident.
“My brain was never the same, and my ambition was never the same,” she said.
She struggled with survivor’s guilt, went AWOL for a few years in the early 1990s, and then appeared in one Friends episode in 1995.
She had undergone plastic surgery at the time, and her face was drastically altered.
“I entered the operation room a star and exited unknown,” she stated in 2012.
“It seemed like I was in a witness protection program. It was the worst nose job ever. “I’ll always be the former renowned actress with the nose job no one recognizes.”
Jennifer’s career in Hollywood remained sporadic after that.
Jennifer made her way back into the mainstream media by 2010. She recovered her status as a passionate fan favorite after winning the television competition “Dancing with the Stars.” She claimed it was essential to her.
“It’s like eating a great steak after being on a diet for 23 years,” the celebrity stated.
Grey returned to the forefront in 2018. She will appear in ‘Untogether’ and the upcoming comedy ‘Red Oaks.’
Jennifer, we are overjoyed that you have regained your enthusiasm and happiness!
Who else wants to go back to 1987 and feel nostalgic? See the legendary Dirty Dancing sequence below. What amazing memories!
Please share this with your Facebook friends. They, like me, saw Dirty Dancing and wondered what happened to Jennifer Grey.
