Friday, September 30, 2011

Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Elise Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She first came to prominence in successful films such as the 1984 war film Red Dawn and the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1987 she starred as Frances "Baby" Houseman in the hit film Dirty Dancing for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. In the early 1990s, Grey underwent a much-publicised rhinoplasty procedure.

She became the winner of season 11 of the American version of Dancing with the Stars in 2010. Grey is the daughter of the Academy Award-winning actor Joel Grey and former actress/singer Jo Wilder.
Jennifer Grey was born in New York City, the daughter of stage and Academy Award-winning screen actor Joel Grey and 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.[citation needed]

Grey's commercial debut was at the age of 19, in an ad for Dr Pepper before making her film debut in Reckless (1984), in a small role. She appeared in a small role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (1984). That year she starred in the war film Red Dawn. She then appeared in the John Badham project American Flyers (1985). By this time she had been linked in with the 'so-called' Brat Pack group of actors.
In 1986 she played the role of jealous sister Jeanie Bueller in the John Hughes comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off opposite Matthew Broderick. The film was very financially successful and received a positive critical reception.

The following year, she reunited with Patrick Swayze, whom she had played opposite in Red Dawn, to play Frances "Baby" Houseman in Dirty Dancing. The story is a coming of age drama that documents a teenage girl's rebellion against her father by starting a relationship with a dance instructor during the family's summer vacation. It was a low-budget film that was intended to be shown in theaters for one weekend only and then go straight-to-video, but it became a surprise hit and achieved massive worldwide success and is now widely considered a classic. It was the first film to sell one million copies on video. Grey's performance was acclaimed and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

In the early 1990s, Grey underwent a rhinoplasty procedure that resulted in a nose that caused even close friends to fail 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 herself. In an episode of the series, she poked fun at herself with a storyline about her 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). On the HBO series John from Cincinnati, Grey portrayed Daphne, Meyer's fiancee. In October she played Abbey, the mother of a sick child in a Season 7 episode of House, Unplanned Parenthood.

Grey was one of the twelve contestants in the eleventh season of Dancing With the Stars. She was partnered with professional dancer Derek Hough. She came out very strong at first, topping the leaderboard very often. However, injuries, stress, and exhaustion took their toll on Grey, and for a couple of weeks she fell behind. In Week 7, however, she improved, tying with previous frontrunner Brandy Norwood. On November 23, 2010, Grey and her partner Hough won the competition.

Grey has been romantically involved with Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp, and George Stephanopoulos. She married actor/director Clark Gregg (The New Adventures of Old Christine) on July 21, 2001. They have a daughter Stella, born December 3, 2001. The couple co-starred in the Lifetime movie Road to Christmas in 2006.

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