Jennifer Grey is an actress whose greatest film to date is her appearance in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. After this success, it was expected that her career would take a significant upswing, but this never happened, because she crashed and never rose to that height again. We may not want to ask what happened, because that is already an open secret.
The actress expressed her regret and admitted that she would make different decisions if the same scenarios happened today so that she could achieve different results. I know that someone is itching to know what could go so wrong that Jennifer Grey’s burgeoning career was interrupted in its heyday. It’s all here… just come along for the juicy details.
Jennifer Grey Bio
Grey is the eldest daughter of Joel Grey and Jo Wilder Brower. She was born to them on March 26, 1960, in Manhattan, New York. Becoming an actress was not an unexpected career path for young Jenny, as the family seemed to be networked in the entertainment industry. Her father Joel, who was an Oscar-winning actor, performed both on stage and on screen, while her mother Joel was an actress and singer in her day. Looking back further, her paternal grandfather, Mickey Katz, was a musician and comedian himself.
The strange man in the family happens to be her brother James Katz, who decided to become a cook and is doing very well. Jennifer Grey attended a private school in Manhattan – the Dalton School – before enrolling at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre to train as an actress after graduating from Dalton in 1978. She left the Neighborhood Playhouse in 1980.
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Career and Net Worth
Jennifer Grey’s showbiz career began with her appearance in Dr. Pepper’s commercial when she was still at the Neighborhood Playhouse School in 1979. She made her film debut five years later when she appeared in Reckless (1984) in a small role as Cathy Bennario.
Another feature film followed in the same year with The Cotton Club and the war movie Red Dawn, in which she further developed her momentum. She played her first major role in 1986 in the comedy-drama Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in which she appeared alongside Matthew Broderick as his jealous sister Jeanie Bueller.
Grey, now a star to watch, landed another hit the following year in Dirty Dancing (1987), where she interpreted the character of Frances Houseman, usually referred to as Baby, the love interest of dance teacher Johnny (Patrick Swayze). The film became a huge success, earning over $10 million in the first ten days and earning her a first prize nomination – Golden Globe – in the category of Best Actress.
After that, she starred in several films, including Murder in Mississippi (1990), Wind (1992), A Case for Murder (1993), Portraits of a Killer (1996), Red Meat (1997), Ritual (2002), The Road to Christmas (2006), In Your Eyes (2014), Red Oaks (2014-), etc.
Overall, none of her roles has brought her the recognition that her role in Dirty Dancing offered her, which is due to a plastic surgery (rhinoplasty) that she underwent on her nose in the 1990s. This became a career-changing decision for Jennifer Grey.
She forced her way back into the limelight, albeit in an unconventional way. Grey participated in the 11th season of the American dance series Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) and was paired with Derek Hough, a professional ballroom dancer. The couple won the competition despite the injuries and the stress the show put on Jennifer Grey. Their net worth cannot be determined at the moment because we have several numbers online. Some put their value at $6 million, while others put it at $10 to $13 million.
Jennifer Grey’s Family – Husband
The actress is married to Clark Gregg, an actor/director with whom she starred in the 2006 TV movie The Road to Christmas. They were married on July 21, 2001, and have a daughter together, who was born later that year – on December 3, 2001. Her daughter’s name is Stella Gregg.
Before she married her husband Gregg, the Dirty Dancing actress had relationships with other actors in the industry. She was engaged to Matthew Broderick from 1987 to 1988, but the couple never made it to the altar. Before Broderick, Michael J. Fox was Michael J. Fox in 1986. Others are William Baldwin between 1988 and 1991, Johnny Depp in 1989, and George Stephanopoulos in 1992.
Did She Have A Plastic Surgery?
Yes, Jennifer Grey had plastic surgery that went really bad. No, not physically, because the sexy actress still looked great after the surgery. But her original look and appeal – that prominent nose – that made movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and Dirty Dancing (1987) a massive success, had disappeared, and she took her chance to become one of Hollywood’s best actresses.
While riding on the fame she had gained from her successive hits in 1986 and 1987, Grey made the worst decision that changed the course of her career. She had a nose job (rhinoplasty) that literally made her unrecognizable. It was a double operation when she was operated on a second time with a knife to correct what she felt was wrong with the first operation, but her original face had disappeared.
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She was neither ugly nor did she look like a monster afterward, she even looked adorable in her new appearance, but her innocence was sacrificed and with it her career. The face that had attracted millions of people all over the world had disappeared without a trace so that the producers could not find the selling point – this defining/distinguishing feature.
Grey considered taking on a completely new identity, as the people close to her could hardly recognize her. When she spoke about this experience, she said: “I went into the operating room as a celebrity – and came out anonymously.
Other Facts About Jennifer Grey
Jennifer Grey had worked as a waitress to make a living while taking acting classes.
She was involved in an accident in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, on August 5, 1987, in which the vehicle she was in swerved off the road into another lane and collided with an oncoming Volvo on the opposite lane. The Volvo’s occupants – a mother and her daughter – were killed while Grey escaped with her boyfriend at the time, Matthew Broderick, who drove the rented BMW.
During an examination 13 years after the accident, her doctor found a cancerous lump, which was removed immediately, saving her from the disease.
Her height is measured at 160 cm (5 feet 3 inches) and her weight is 59 kg. Her other body measurements are 34-24-32 inches for her chest – waist – hip. Her bra size is 34B, her dress and shoe size (US) are 4 and 7 respectively, while her hair and eyes are dark browns.
