Jennifer Gray has made her acting debut in the film Reckless from 1984 and had her breakthrough in the comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off from 1986. But the film for which she became and will remain known is Dirty Dancing from 1987 in which she played Frances “Baby” Houseman. She then continued to act, but those films were not a great success, so her role as Baby will remain her greatest.
After having some small roles such as in Reckless and Red Dawn, in which Patrick Swayze also played, Gray had her breakthrough in 1986 as the evil sister Jeannie in the successful film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off alongside Matthew Broderick.
Dirty Dancing
The following year she appeared again with Patrick Swayze Dirty Dancing after appearing together in Red Dawn. In this she played the role of Frances “Baby” Houseman, the biggest role she has had in her career.
Dirty Dancing is a coming-of-age love story: During the summer at a resort in the Catskills, Frances “Baby” Houseman falls in love with the resort’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle. The low-budget film was a surprise hit and was the first film to sell one million copies on video. It is considered a classic and is still very popular today.
Plastic surgery
For her role as Baby, Gray was nominated for a Golden Globe, which she ultimately did not win. This would be the first and last time she was nominated for a major award. Because after her role as Baby she appeared in many films and series, but they never became as big a success as Dirty Dancing.
Despite the success of Dirty Dancing Gray felt that her appearance would place limitations on the types of future roles she would be considered for. After consulting with her mother and three plastic surgeons, she underwent two rhinoplasty procedures in the early 1990s. The second was necessary to correct an irregularity caused by the first operation and turned out to be more extensive than Gray had anticipated. This resulted in a nose that was no longer recognized even by close friends and the dramatic change in her appearance affected her career.
Dancing with the Stars
About the experience she said: “I went into the operating room as a celebrity and came out as an unknown. It was like being in a witness protection program or invisible.” Gray recalled that an airline employee who checked her identity refused to believe that she and the actress the employee knew from Dirty Dancing were the same person. Gray considered changing her name to restart her career, but ultimately decided against it.
Gray did not stop acting and has since appeared in several films and series. For example, she played Mindy in an episode of Friends and had a small role in the film Bounce (2000) with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. She appeared once on Broadway, in The Twilight of the Golds (1993), but otherwise it remained fairly quiet. The most notable thing she has done in her career in recent years is winning a season of the American version of Dancing with the Stars. So she had not forgotten how to dance.
Future
Gray is still acting and has a movie coming out this year. In the film, titled A Real Pain, she stars alongside Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe and Jesse Eisenberg, who wrote and directed the film. A sequel is also still being worked on Dirty Dancing in which Gray would reprise her role as Baby, but not much is known about that yet.
For A Real Pain we still have to wait and see until it comes out, but in the meantime you can see Gray as the iconic Baby in Dirty Dancing. The film is still available for a few days Prime Video and you can also rent and buy the film on, among others Pathé Thuis.
2024-01-03 05:48:47
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