Where are the cast of Dirty Dancing now?

16 September 2023, 13:00

Time to get those dancing shoes on...

It's been over 35 years since Dirty Dancing hit our screens and took the world by storm.

The low-budget movie was initially so badly received by test audiences that producers considered releasing it straight to video.

After filming, Jennifer Grey recalled, "When we did it, it felt like it was so under the radar that no one was ever going to see it and we were just torturing ourselves for nothing."

Luckily the initial reaction was short lived and the movie became a huge breakout success, grossing over £214 million - a far cry from the £6 million it cost to shoot.

The title track from Dirty Dancing '(I've Had) The Time Of My Life' by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes has since become one of the world's most famous pop songs and won an Oscar, Golden Globe and a Grammy Award in 1988.

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Shot on location at Mountain Lake Resort, North Carolina, the story of the movie was based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's experiences of summers spent in an upscale resort in the Catskills, New York - while secretly learning to 'dirty dance' at house parties after dark.

Now, it appears a movie sequel set 30 years later with Jennifer Grey returning may actually be in the works, but this is yet to be 100% confirmed.

But just where did all the guests and staff go after Kellerman's shut its doors for the season? Let's find out...

Where are the cast of Dirty Dancing now?

1. Jennifer Grey (Baby Houseman)

   

   A year after her first major film as Matthew Broderick's sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Jennifer's role as Baby in Dirty Dancing earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

   In the early 1990s, Jennifer underwent two nose jobs, radically changing her appearance. She was so unrecognisable that she even briefly considered changing her name and starting her career all over again, but decided against it.

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   Regarding her drastic transformation, Jennifer, 60, later said: "I went in the operating room a celebrity—and came out anonymous. It was like being in a witness protection programme or being invisible."

   The star has had a steady, if under-the-radar, career including playing Jennifer Aniston's friend Mindy in an episode of Friends and won Dancing With The Stars in 2010.

   In 2011 she briefly stood in for head judge Len Goodman on Strictly Come Dancing and most recently Jennifer co-starred in the film Untogether, released in February 2019.

   Jennifer was romantically involved with Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp has a daughter, Stella, 11, with her husband Clark Gregg whom she married in 2001.

2. Patrick Swayze (Johnny Castle)

   

   Like co-star Jennifer, Patrick Swayze was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in Dirty Dancing, and the surprise hit movie propelled him to overnight Hollywood stardom.

   Patrick's next big film role was in Ghost in 1990 with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg and then opposite Keanu Reeves in the smash hit action movie, Point Break.

   He entered rehab for alcoholism in the 1990s and took a break from show business, retreating to his ranch in California to breed horses.

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   When filming Letters From a Killer in 1997, Patrick fell from a horse and broke both of his legs, taking three years to recover fully.

   In 2001 he appeared in Donnie Darko, in 2002 with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron in Little Rock To Reno and co-produced and starred in the fictional dance film One Last Dance in 2003.

   

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   Patrick was in a relationship with wife Lisa Niemi for 34 years. They met when she was fourteen and he was eighteen and she was receiving dance lessons from his mother.

   Patrick sadly died from pancreatic cancer in 2009, aged 57.

3. Jerry Orbach (Dr. Jake Houseman)

   

   Following the breakout success of Dirty Dancing Jerry continued a steady and well-respected career in both stage and screen.

   Before his role as Baby's father, Jerry had been nominated for multiple Tony Awards winning one for his role in the play Promises, Promises in 1972.

   Jerry made regular guest appearances in popular television shows, with a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote opposite Angela Lansbury, as detective Harry McGraw.

   • Read more: The truth about Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s complicated relationship

   But to younger TV audiences, Jerry is best known worldwide for his role in crime drama Law & Order role as an NYPD detective.

   Jerry sadly died from prostate cancer in December 2004, aged 69, leaving behind his wife Elaine and sons from his first marriage, Anthony and Christopher.

4. Kelly Bishop (Marjorie Houseman)

   

   Like her on-screen husband Jerry, Kelly had also won a Tony Award before her role as Baby's mother in Dirty Dancing.

   In 1976 she won Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Sheila in A Chorus Line.

   After Dirty Dancing took off, Colorado-born Kelly, 76, - who trained as a ballet dancer throughout her teenage years - became best known worldwide for her role as the hard-nosed matriarch in Gilmore Girls.

   Kelly starred as Emily Gilmore, mother of Lorelai and grandmother of Rory, from 2000 to 2007 and in 2016 reprised her role for the follow-up mini-series Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life.

5. Cynthia Rhodes (Penny Johnson)

   

   Previously to Dirty Dancing professionally trained dancer Cynthia, 63, had appeared in a series of high-profile films.

   She played dancer Tina Tech in Flashdance and in 1983 played opposite John Travolta in Staying Alive, a sequel to Saturday Night Fever.

   Cynthia found overnight success upon Dirty Dancing's release in 1987 and two years later married her partner of four years, singer-songwriter Richard Marx.

   After getting married Cynthia retired from the spotlight and had three boys with Richard.

   In 2014 Richard's representative confirmed the pair were divorcing after 25 years of marriage.

6. Jane Brucker (Lisa Houseman)

   

   A little-known fact about Jane, 62, is that she co-wrote the brilliantly bad song 'Hula Hana' her character Lisa sings in Dirty Dancing at the resort's end-of-season talent concert.

   While Jane has gone on to have bit parts in TV and movies throughout her long career, she is best known for her role as Baby's obnoxious sister in the movie.

   Jane appeared in Miami Vice in 1984 and has played parts in Bloodhounds of Broadway and the TV series Doctor Doctor.

   She married wedding photographer Raul Vega in 2001 and they have a daughter Rachel, born in 2003.

7. Lonnie Price (Neil Kellerman)

   

   Lonnie Price, 61, has come a long way since his days lusting after Baby as Neil Kellerman in Dirty Dancing.

   The actor became deeply immersed in directing and producing on Broadway and has had a successful and steady career 'behind the camera,' as they say.

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   He directed Neil Patrick Harris in Company in 201, Emma Thompson in Sweeney Todd in 2013 and in 2016 directed the highly acclaimed London revival of Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close.

   He has had two Outer Critics Circle nominations for his work and won an Emmy Award in 2000.

8. Wayne Knight (Stan)

   

   Wayne may have only played a small part in Dirty Dancing, but it was one of his first acting roles in what has been a highly successful career.

   Since leaving Kellerman's, Wayne Knight, 64, has become best known for his roles as Newman in Seinfeld and Officer Don Orville in 3rd Rock From The Sun.

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   He also starred as Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, Al McWhiggin in Toy Story 2 and Tanto in Tarzan.

   Wayne has a son with his wife Clare de Chenu, whom he married in October 2006.