Jennifer Grey, who played ‘Baby’ in the legendary film Dirty Dancing, was expected to see a big improvement in her job chances.

But that was not to be. Instead, a catastrophic event changed everything, forcing her to leave the movie business for good.

Jennifer Grey has finally opened out about the traumatic era in her life that has left her damaged for life…

There are no major actors, no well-known directors, and the film is basically low-budget.

Nonetheless, the producers and cast felt they’d accomplished something monumental the minute Dirty Dancing hit the big screen in August 1987.

For male protagonist Patrick Swayze, popularity came quickly. He rose to prominence as a teen idol and sex symbol, appearing in films as Ghost and Donnie Darko.

But his co-star Jennifer Grey was in a bad mood when the film opened, and she quickly vanished. Jennifer Grey vanished as fast as she emerged, amidst the excitement and festivities.

And the actress had been out of the public eye for a long time.

However, in recent years, she has revealed everything about the accident that transformed her life.

But first, let’s go back in time to Jennifer Grey’s life before the fatal event in the summer of 1987.

Jennifer Gray started dancing lessons at a young age. She was born in New York in 1960, and it was most likely her father who pushed her into the entertainment world. Joel Gray, her father, was an actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer.

Jennifer attended Dalton School and concentrated on dance and theatre. She began looking for work as an actress after graduating in 1978, and she also attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. At the same time, her life was hardly a rose-colored spectacle. Jennifer had to work as a waitress to make ends meet.

She did, however, land a few TV commercials, including one for Dr. Pepper. Her film début was in the 1984 picture “Reckless.” Her big break came a few years later with “Dirty Dancing,” in which she played Frances “Baby” Houseman.

The film is a classic, and the plot is based on the childhood of author Eleanor Bergstein. Jennifer became a celebrity overnight and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

Unfortunately, she was never able to enjoy huge success.

Grey was in Ireland with then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick just before the film’s debut in August 1987.

However, the pair were engaged in a horrible car accident when Broderick smashed into another vehicle while driving on the wrong side of the road. In the second automobile, a woman and her daughter sadly lost their lives.

Broderick was charged with reckless driving, which was ultimately downgraded to careless driving. Jennifer Grey, on the other hand, received just bruises and minor bodily injuries, however her mental wounds persisted.

Dirty Dancing premiered just a few days later. Despite the film’s success, Grey was unable to enjoy it.

“The contrast of that deep pain, survivor’s guilt, and then being praised as the next big thing simply didn’t seem to fit.” “It didn’t feel nice to be the town’s toast,” Grey admitted.

The actress will never recover totally from the trauma caused by the accident.

“My head was never the same, nor was my ambition,” she said.

She struggled with survivor’s guilt and went missing for a few years in the early 1990s before appearing in a single episode of Friends in 1995.

She’d had plastic surgery by then, and her face looked completely different.

“I went in as a superstar and came out anonymous,” she explained in 2012.

“It seemed like I was under witness protection or was invisible.  It was the worst nose job ever. I’ll always be that once-famous actress who no one remembers because of a nose job.”

Jennifer thereafter had a sporadic career in Hollywood.

Jennifer made her way back into the mainstream media by 2010. She returned to being a fan favorite after winning ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ That was something significant to her, according to her.

“It’s as though I’ve starved myself because of what others might think of me.” “It’s like eating a wonderful steak after being on a diet for 23 years,” the celebrity explained.

Grey took another step back into the spotlight in 2018. She will star in ‘Untogether,’ as well as the forthcoming comedy ‘Red Oaks.’

Jennifer, we’re so glad you’ve found your passion and joy again!

Who else wants to take a nostalgia-fueled trip back to 1987? See the famous Dirty Dancing sequence below. What wonderful memories!

Please share this news with your Facebook friends. They, like me, undoubtedly watched Dirty Dancing and wondered what happened to Jennifer Grey!