Jennifer Grey Biography

Early Life And Education Of Jennifer Grey

The talented actress was born on March 26, 1960, in New York, the United States to an Academy Award-winning actor Joel Grey and former actress Jo Wilder. Grey’s paternal grandfather Mickey Katz was a comedian and musician. Both of her parents belonged to a Jewish family.  

She attended Dalton School and studied dance and acting. After completing her graduation she joined Manhattan’s Neighbourhood Playhouse School of the Theatre for two years of training as an actress.

Jennifer Grey's Career

Jennifer Grey while attending the acting training class, worked as a waitress to support herself. At the age of 19, she made her commercial debut in an ad for Dr. Pepper before making her film debut in Reckless playing a small role.

The same year Grey played the role of Toni Mason in the movie Red Dawn. During 1985 she played the role of Laura Eller in a series called ABC Afterschool Special. She then portrayed Jeanie Bueller in a movie, Ferris Buller’s Day Off.

Then she reunited with Patrick Swayze her co-star from Red Dawn to play the role of Frances Baby Houseman in Dirty Dancing. Despite being a low budget movie it was a huge hit and sold one million copies on video. 

Later on, she starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom “It’s Like, You Know….” She also appeared with Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli, and Kathy Bates in the CBS Television movie “The West Side Waltz.” She was seen in the episodes of Friends and had a small role in the movie Bounce along with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck.

The proficient actress was also a contestant on season eleven of Dancing With the Stars and also appeared in the movie Lifetime. Apart from acting career she also made her bright career in dancing and stood in for head judge Len Goodman on the show Strictly Come Dancing which was aired on BBC One.

Jennifer Grey's Net Worth

Jennifer Grey is one of the popular Hollywood actresses who is winning millions of hearts since 1979. She has appeared in more than 40 movies to date. As per Celebrity Net Worth, her estimated net worth is $10 million and The Richest claims $6 million. 

Some of her highest grossing movies are enlisted below,

1. Red Dawn (1984)  

Budget=$17 million

Box-office Collection=$38 million

IMDb rating=5.4

Starring= Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Ben Johnson

2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Budget=$5.8 million

Box-office Collection=$70.1 million

IMDb rating=7.8

Starring=Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara

3. Dirty Dancing (1987)

Budget=$6 million

Box-office Collection=$214 million

IMDb rating=6.9

Starring=Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes

4. Bounce (2000)

Budget=$35 million

Box-office Collection=$53.4 million

IMDb rating=5.7

Starring= Ben Affleck, Gwyneth Paltrow, Joe Morton, Natasha Henstridge

Jennifer Grey's Personal Life

Jennifer Grey is a married woman, she tied the knot to actor/director, Clark Gregg on July 21, 2001, in a private ceremony. They shared a daughter, Stella Gregg, born on December 3, 2001. As of 2018, she resides in Venice, California along with her husband and children.     

Previously, she dated an actor, Matthew Broderick, the duo first met in the filming of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She suffered severe whiplash in a car accident in Ireland while vacationing with him. Due to the accident, her spinal cord was compressed and her surgeon placed a titanium plate in her neck to stabilize it.   

The accident was the event which made their love affair public and was the reason for their break up as well. Her most awaited movie of that time, Dirty Dancing hit the silver screen just a few weeks after the accident, catapulting Grey to fame, but she said, survivor's guilt over the accident stopped her from enjoying the film's success. Even, it led her to withdraw from acting for some time.

Grey reportedly had a short-term fling with actor Johnny Depp, Michael J. Fox and journalist George Stephanopoulos as well. In 2010, she participated in Dancing with the Stars but before that she had a physical examination to ensure her health because she has chronic neck problems caused by the car accident years before.     

Plastic Surgery           

Grey underwent two rhinoplasties in the early 1980s which affected her career. Before her surgery, she was popularized by her acting and face but after the surgery, she was highly criticized. The second surgery was necessary to correct stemming problems from the first one because even her close friends failed to recognize her.

Once in an interview she said, she felt an invisible person after the surgery and even considered for changing her name in order to start her career anew, but ultimately dropped the idea.

Below we present the video of Jennifer Grey,