Jennifer Grey will always be associated with the film Dirty Dancing and the character of Baby Houseman. Unfortunately, the second thing many people will think of is the dramatic change to her look when she had rhinoplasty, so prominent it takes up the entire prologue and derailed her career.
"Oh, Jennifer Grey, like the actress," says the woman checking me in at the airline counter. "Well, actually, it is me," I tell her with a small smile.
"No, it's not," she says.
"Yes, it is...See my driver's license?"
"I've seen Dirty Dancing a dozen times," she says. "I know Jennifer Grey. And you are not her."
Daughter of an acting couple (her father is Joel Grey), she grew up surrounded by artists in New York and Malibu. The first 145 pages detail her family history, which although I wished she would finally get her story going, her writing did in fact hit the vibe directly on the head with her accurate descriptions of attitudes of a late 1970's teenager. Being in New York and doing coke at Studio 54 added some rarified glamour to the scene, dating and partying came first over acting or studying. A TV commercial led her to be cast at 24 in the action film Red Dawn with Patrick Swayze, followed by Ferris Bueller's Day Off where she began dating Matthew Broderick.
Dirty Dancing was a role made for her (although she was then 26 playing 17), and I assumed this would be a larger part of the book (it takes 170 pages to get here). The production was famously beset with problems (a 43-day shoot where she did her own makeup and costumes). Her fee for the very low budget film was $50,000 and until the premiere, no one thought it was going anywhere (her agent at a screening telling her "Nobody is ever going to see this movie. So you don't have to worry"). She spent more time on her relationship with Matthew, even declining to do press for the film(!), limiting her career trajectory as Patrick became a star. Jennifer was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role.
A relationship with Johnny Depp followed, but no real film work aside from bit parts, losing out on the lead role in Working Girl, Flashdance, and Cocktail.
Her feeling was more work would come when she corrected her flawed nose, leading to complications.
She worked steadily in films and TV over the years, but can you name one title?
The main focus seems relationships over acting. Poised for super stardom after the classic Dirty Dancing, she chose to go in another direction.
This was well written and interesting to her fans, but remains a quick read of an afternoon for me.
2022 / Hardcover / 339 pages
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