Jennifer Grey - Beyond Dirty Dancing

Jennifer Grey – Beyond Dirty Dancing

Born on March 26, 1960 to show business parents Joel Grey and Jo Wilder, Jennifer Grey made her first debut in the world. She is also the granddaughter of musician Mickey Katz. Attending the Dalton School, a prestigious private school in Manhattan, Grey studied acting and dancing.

Her first onscreen debut was on a Dr. Pepper commercial at age 19. However, things picked up when she landed her first film part in 1984 in the movie Reckless alongside Aidan Quinn, Daryl Hannah and Adam Baldwin.

Jennifer Grey’s movie career

Next Grey appeared in a small role in Red Dawn, telling a tale of a Russian attack on the United States and the beginning of WWIII. Patrick Swayze, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen were the leading actors.

Grey’s first highly public role in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with co-stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Rick, Mia Sara and Ben Stein, set the stage for her career.

After Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Grey auditioned for and landed the role of Frances “Baby” Houseman in the blockbuster hit Dirty Dancing. Co-starring with Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach and Kelly Bishop, the role placed Grey in the sights of media swarms and career heights unknown until this time.

Failed cosmetic surgery

Because of the overnight stardom, Grey decided to undergo a rhinoplasty procedure to smooth out her facial features in the ’90s. The mishandled procedure left her with no choice but to have another surgery, to fix the damage from the first.

Friends, family, and the media didn’t recognize the star, bringing to a close one of the features that made “Baby” who she was. It was such a difference that at this time she thought about changing her stage name too, but eventually decided upon staying with Jennifer Grey.

Jennifer Grey on television

Roles were hard to get at this point in her career. In 1995, she landed a one-episode gig on the popular sitcom Friends. Soon after, she accepted a role in a made for TV movie The West Side Waltz, starring Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli and Kathy Bates.

In 1999, the television series, It’s Like You Know… allowed Grey to laugh at herself, poking fun of her own life in a role as Jennifer Grey, a struggling actress. Unfortunately, the sitcom only lasted two seasons.

Landing a supporting role in 2000, in the romantic film Bounce, allowed Grey to “bounce” back from her canceled sitcom. With such names as Gwenyth Paltrow and Ben Affleck, Grey was on her way to once again making a name for herself, even with her new look.

Grey starred in her next made-for-TV film, Road To Christmas in 2006, with her real life husband, Clark Gregg. Jennifer and Gregg married on July 21, 2001. The couple has one daughter, Stella. Jennifer was engaged, but never married, both Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp.

Several years out of the limelight, she makes her 2010 comeback in 2 popular series. House, starring Hugh Laurie, showed Grey in one episode that aired in October of 2010, as a mother of a sick daughter.

Her second appearance was that of a dancer on the popular series Dancing With The Stars. Spotlighting people such as Pamela Anderson, David Hasselhoff, Michael Bolton, and Bristol Palin, Grey and partner Derek Hough twirled their way into the homes and hearts of millions of viewers.