Jennifer Grey life and biography

Jennifer Elise Grey is an American actress. She is best known for playing Frances "Baby" Houseman in the hit film Dirty Dancing (1987) and Jeanie Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

Early life

Born in New York City, Grey is the daughter of stage and screen actor Joel Grey and the former actress/singer Jo Wilder. Grey is the granddaughter of comedian and musician Mickey Katz. She is an alumna of the Dalton School, a private school in Manhattan, and studied both dance and acting.

Grey's Career

Her commercial debut was at the age of 19, in an ad for Dr Pepper. After other small roles, she landed the part of jealous sister Jeanie in the hit 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The following year, she reunited with Patrick Swayze, whom she had played opposite in Red Dawn, for her biggest role ever, Frances "Baby" Houseman in Dirty Dancing.

In the early 1990s, Grey underwent a rhinoplasty procedure that was so botched she required a second plastic surgery to repair the damage. The result was a face so changed that even close friends failed to recognize her, and the major change in her appearance negatively affected her career. Of the experience she said, "I went in the operating room a celebrity – and came out anonymous. It was like being in a witness protection program or being invisible." She briefly considered starting over with a new name to go with the new face, but stuck with her original name. In 1999, she reappeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom It's Like, You Know... portraying a variation of herself, a struggling actress named Jennifer Grey. In an episode of the series, she poked fun at herself with a storyline about a much-publicized nose job.

Grey also appeared with Shirley MacLaine, Liza Minnelli and Kathy Bates in the CBS television movie The West Side Waltz, adapted by Ernest Thompson from his play, an episode of Friends as Mindy, and she had a small role in the 2000 film Bounce with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck. Her sole Broadway theatre credit is The Twilight of the Golds (1993). Grey has recently appeared as Daphne, Meyer's fiancee, on the HBO series John from Cincinnati.

In July 2010 it was announced that Grey would guest-star in an episode of House in October. She will play Abbey, the mother of a sick child.

In August 2010 it was announced that she would be one of twelve celebrities joining the 11th season of Dancing With the Stars. She will be partnering with professional dancer Derek Hough who won Season 7 and Season 10 of the show.

Personal

Following engagements to Matthew Broderick (her on screen brother in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and Johnny Depp, and after dating George Stephanopoulos, Grey married actor/director Clark Gregg (The New Adventures of Old Christine) on July 21, 2001. They have a daughter Stella (b. December 3, 2001) together. The couple co-starred in the Lifetime movie Road to Christmas. Grey lives in Los Angeles, California, with her family.

Grey's filmography

1984
Reckless
Red Dawn Toni
The Cotton Club
ABC Afterschool Specials
1985
Laura Eller
American Flyers
1986
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Equalizer
1987 Dirty Dancing
1988 Gandahar
1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway
1990
Murder in Mississippi
Criminal Justice
If the Shoe Fits
1991 Eyes of a Witness
1992 Wind
1993 A Case for Murder
1995
Friends
Fallen Angels
The West Side Waltz
1996
Portraits of a Killer
Lover's Knot
1997 Red Meat
1998
Outrage
Since You've Been Gone
1999 It's Like, You Know...
2000 Bounce
2001 Ritual
2006 Road to Christmas
2007
John from Cincinnati
Episode: "His Visit: Day Seven"
Episode: "His Visit: Day Nine"
2008
Redbelt
Keith
Phineas and Ferb
2009
Louisa Patel (voice) 1 episode: "Hide and Seek/That Sinking Feeling"
Librarian (voice) 1 episode: "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo"
The New Adventures of Old Christine 1 episode: "Love Means Never Having to Say You're Crazy"
2010 Dancing with the Stars

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