Jennifer Grey

A versatile and personable screen performer who could transition easily from broad comedy to serious drama, actress Jennifer Grey's career was unfortunately encompassed - and eclipsed - by a single film, the 1987 coming-of-age movie "Dirty Dancing." Her character, Frances "Baby" Houseman, became the idol of millions of teenage girls in the late summer of that year; a shy, pampered city girl who learned to spread her wings and find joy and romance through dancing with her handsome, older "bad boy" instructor (Patrick Swayze). Like so many relative unknowns who found fame early in their careers, Grey struggled to overcome the lingering image of Baby. A botched nose job in the early 1990s made matters worse by rendering her virtually unrecognizable from her most famous role. She worked sporadically in the years that followed, often doing fine work for notable directors, but for many viewers, she remained that teenage girl, blossoming so spectacularly, in the arms of the man she loved in "Dirty Dancing."