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<\/p>\nJennifer Grey, who played \u2018Baby\u2019 in the iconic movie Dirty Dancing, was predicted to enjoy a significant upturn in career prospects.<\/p>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n
However, it wasn\u2019t to be. Instead, a tragic accident changed everything, forcing her to turn her back on the film industry for good.<\/p>\n
Decades later, Jennifer Grey, now 62, finally opened up about the terrible period in her life that left her scarred forever\u2026<\/p>\n
No big actors, not a well-known director, and overall a low-budget movie.<\/p>\n
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Yet, the very moment Dirty Dancing hit the big screen in August 1987, the producers and cast knew they\u2019d accomplished something enormous.<\/p>\n
For male lead Patrick Swayze, the success was instantaneous. He became a teen idol and sex symbol, going on to land roles in big movies like Ghost and Donnie Darko.<\/p>\n
But his co-star Jennifer Grey wasn\u2019t in a good place when the movie premiered and she soon disappeared completely. Amongst the hubbub and celebrations, Jennifer Grey was gone as quickly as she had appeared.<\/p>\n
And the actress was missing from the public spotlight for a long, long time.<\/p>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n
But in recent years, and in an interview with People Magazine, she\u2019s revealed all about the accident that changed her life.<\/p>\n
But first, let\u2019s take a look at Jennifer Grey\u2019s life until that tragic accident in the summer of 1987.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Gray started taking dance lessons from a young age. She was born in 1960 in New York, and it was her father who probably made her take the step into the entertainment industry. Her father, Joel Gray, worked as an actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer.<\/p>\n
Jennifer studied at Dalton School and focused on dance and acting. After graduating in 1978, she began looking for a job as an actress, and she also attended another school, the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. At the same time, her life was not a dance on roses. Jennifer had to take a job as a waitress to pay the bills.<\/p>\n
However, she managed to land a few gigs in TV commercials, including one for Dr. Pepper. Her film debut came in 1984 in the movie \u201cReckless.\u201d A few years later came her tremendous breakthrough with \u201cDirty Dancing,\u201d where she starred as Frances \u201cBaby\u201d Houseman.<\/p>\n
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The film is a classic, and the story is actually based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein\u2019s childhood. Jennifer became a star overnight and received a nomination at the Golden Globe for Best Actress.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, she could never enjoy the enormous success.<\/p>\n
Shortly before the film\u2019s premiere in August 1987, Grey was residing in Ireland with then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick.<\/p>\n
But the couple were involved in a terrible car accident when Broderick, driving on the wrong side of the road, crashed into another vehicle. A mother and her daughter were in the other car \u2013 both were killed, instantly.<\/p>\n
Broderick was charged with dangerous driving \u2013 later reduced to careless driving. Jennifer Grey, meanwhile, suffered nothing more than bruises and minor physical injuries, though her mental scars remained.<\/p>\n
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Jeff Kravitz\/FilmMagic, Inc<\/p>\n
The premiere for Dirty Dancing was mere days later. But, despite the success of the film, Grey simply couldn\u2019t enjoy it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe juxtaposition of that deep sorrow, the survivor\u2019s guilt, and then being celebrated as the new big thing just didn\u2019t jibe. It didn\u2019t feel good to be the toast of the town,\u201d Grey said, as per the Daily Mirror.<\/p>\n
The actress would never fully recover from the trauma brought about by the accident.<\/p>\n
\u201dMy head was never the same, my ambition was never the same,\u201d she told People.<\/p>\n
She struggled with survivor\u2019s guilt and disappeared for a couple of years in the early 90s before appearing in one episode of Friends, in 1995.<\/p>\n
By then, she had undergone plastic surgery and her face was very different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went in the operating theatre a celebrity and come out anonymous,\u201d she said in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like being in a witness protection program or being invisible. It was the nose job from hell. I\u2019ll always be this once-famous actress nobody \u00adrecognises because of a nose job.\u201d<\/p>\n
After that, Jennifer had an on-and-off career in Hollywood.<\/p>\n
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By 2010, Jennifer had forced her way back into the mainstream media. She won the TV show \u2018Dancing with the Stars\u2019 and returned to being a firm fan favorite. According to her, that was something that was important to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like I\u2019ve starved myself because of what people could think about me. This is like eating a delicious steak after having been on a diet for 23 years,\u201d the star told People.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Grey took another step towards the limelight she left. She is set to appear in \u2018Untogether\u2019, as well as new comedy \u2018Red Oaks\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jennifer Grey, who played \u2018Baby\u2019 in the iconic movie Dirty Dancing, was predicted to enjoy a significant upturn in career prospects. Getty Images However, it wasn\u2019t to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"yoast_head":"\n