The actress who played “Baby” in the beloved movie Dirty Dancing, Jennifer Grey, was expected to see a significant boost in her career possibilities.
That was not to be, though. Instead, a terrible accident changed everything and forced her to give up the movie industry forever.
The terrible period in her life that left Jennifer Grey severely traumatized was finally discussed by the sixty-two-year-old Jennifer Grey after many years.
It’s a low-budget movie without a big name director or celebrity cast.
But when Dirty Dancing opened in theaters in August 1987, the actors and producers realized they had accomplished something truly great.
The primary actor, Patrick Swayze, achieved quick success. He became well-known as a sex icon and teenage hero before going on to appear in big-budget films like Donnie Darko and Ghost.
But when the movie first came out, his co-star Jennifer Grey wasn’t feeling well, so she swiftly disappeared from sight. Jennifer Grey disappeared amidst the chaos and celebrations just as quickly as she had appeared.
In addition, the actress spent a considerable amount of time away from the spotlight.
Nonetheless, in a recent interview with People Magazine, she revealed every detail of the accident that changed her life.
First, let’s take a look at Jennifer Grey’s life leading up to the tragic event that happened in the summer of 1987.
Jennifer Gray began taking dancing classes at a young age. Her father most likely urged her to seek a career in entertainment when she was born in New York in 1960. Her father, Joel Gray, was an actor, director, photographer, dancer, and vocalist.
Jennifer attended the Dalton School to study dancing and acting. After graduation in 1978, she began seeking acting roles, and she went on to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. But it wasn’t a rose-colored dance in her life. Jennifer had to work as a waitress to pay the bills.
She did, however, manage to get a couple of TV commercials, including one for Dr. Pepper. Her first motion picture role was in 1984’s “Reckless.” A few years later, she had an incredible breakout role in “Dirty Dancing,” where she played Frances “Baby” Houseman.
The cherished film’s narrative is based on scriptwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s early years. Jennifer became well-known overnight and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
Sad event
Unfortunately, she was never able to enjoy the enormous success.
Just before the movie’s August 1987 premiere, Grey and her then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick were residing in Ireland.
But Broderick was driving on the wrong side of the road when he struck another car, and the pair was involved in a horrifying auto accident. A woman and her daughter were killed instantly when they were in the other car.
Eventually, Broderick’s charges of careless driving were withdrawn. In contrast, Jennifer Grey only suffered minor bumps and bruises, but her psychological scars remained.
A few days later, Dirty Dancing had its premiere. Nevertheless, Grey was unable to enjoy the success of the film.
In the middle of such severe sadness and survivor’s guilt, it just didn’t feel right to be heralded as the next big thing. “It didn’t feel good to be the toast of the town,” Grey reportedly said, according to the Daily Mirror.
The actress’s anguish from the accident will never fully go away.
“My ambition and my head were never the same,” she told People.
The most awful nose job ever
Her struggle with survivor’s guilt caused her to disappear for a while in the early 1990s, but she reappeared in a single Friends episode in 1995.
By then, she had undergone plastic surgery, and her face was radically altered.
“I entered the operating room as a celebrity and left anonymous,” she said in 2012.
It was like being undercover or covered by witness protection. The worst nose job I’ve ever seen. I’ll always be this once-famous actress that nobody knows about because of a nose job.
Jennifer’s Hollywood career was sporadic after that.
By 2010, Jennifer had made a successful comeback to the mainstream media. She was a hit with the public once more after winning “Dancing with the Stars.” She said that was something that was important to her.
I feel like I’ve starved myself out of concern for what people may think of me. “This is like having a delicious steak after 23 years on a diet,” the actor said to People.
In 2018, Grey took another step toward the limelight she had previously left behind. She is expected to star in the upcoming motion picture Untogether and comedy Red Oaks.
Jennifer, we’re so happy to see you back to your passionate, happy self!
Who else has a strong need to go back in time to 1987 at this point? Watch the classic scene from Dirty Dancing down below. What beautiful memories!
Please share this news with your friends on Facebook. Like me, they probably watched Dirty Dancing and wondered what happened to the gorgeous Jennifer Grey!
Tom Cruise thought about becoming a monk while married to “extremely brilliant” woman before Nicole Kidman
Tom Cruise, one of the most well-known American movie actors, became well-known at a very young age. When he acted in the now-classic film “Top Gun,” the actor was just 24 years old.
Fans might not be aware, though, that Cruise was given a dyslexia diagnosis when he was just seven years old. The actor has also been a longstanding follower of the Church of Scientology, and he attributes their help in helping him overcome his dyslexia.
Mimi Rogers, Cruise’s first wife, introduced him to the faith. Since her father was a member, he introduced Cruise to his faith and extended an invitation to a meeting at the Hollywood Scientology facility.
Cruise is a member of the Hollywood Educational Literacy Project’s board of directors. With the use of this learning tool, adults and children can receive free one-on-one instruction.
Cruise claimed that even with many tutors’ assistance, he had made every effort to comprehend the reading material, but he was unable to retain what he had read.
Cruise wasn’t able to acquire the assistance he need until he discovered L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology study tools.
The actor greatly appreciates H.E.L.P. technology because it enabled him to overcome his learning problem by placing the object he was studying in front of him. The idea is to “have an airplane in front of you, if at all possible, while you’re studying an airplane.”
The airplane example is appropriate as Cruise has acknowledged to others that he has always wanted to become a pilot. Despite getting to pretend to be a pilot in “Top Gun,” his dyslexia prevented him from pursuing a career in aviation.
Instyle magazine claims that Cruise and Rogers first spoke in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1986. However, the actress was seeing his friend at the time, so she was powerless to stop it.
Nonetheless, Tom claimed that her “extreme brilliance” piqued his interest. Things moved swiftly once they grew close, and they soon started discussing marriage.
It was not an easy effort, nevertheless, to marry one of the most well-known guys in Hollywood; according to Instyle, they hid the wedding by referring to it as “the project.” The project was carried out in 1987. They seemed to have had a lovely, private ceremony.
The actor claimed that Rogers improved him as an actor and that he couldn’t see himself with anyone else. He continued, saying:
“My wife is the most important person in my life. My best friend is her.
According to Andrew Morton’s unofficial biography of Tom Cruise, the actor filed for divorce on December 9, 1989.
But Mimi gave a detailed account of the circumstances behind her marriage’s dissolution in an interview. She acknowledged that it “bothers” her that her age is frequently mentioned in the media. Tom Cruise was six years her junior.
The well-known actress Rogers maintained, though, that their separation had nothing to do with Scientology, celebrity, or Cruise’s jealously.
The actress disclosed that Cruise had given serious thought to becoming a monk, a career choice that would not work with a married life. As a result, their marriage failed.
Although Cruise maintains the privacy of his personal life, Instyle reports that there are speculations circulating that he dated his “Mission Impossible” co-star Hayley Atwell from 2020 to mid-2022 and is currently unmarried.
Regarding Rogers, she wed producer Chris Ciaffa in 2003; the couple is parent to two kids, Charlie and Lucy.
Following their divorce, Cruise and Rogers announced that the actress had quit Scientology. He continues to be an involved member of the church, for his part.
According to some sources, the church of Scientology played a role in the breakup of Cruise’s two marriages—the first to Rogers and the second to Nicole Kidman.
The actor, who still attends his church, feels that Scientology was a major factor in his success and in helping him get over his dyslexia.
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