Jennifer Grey Says Nose Job Ended Her Career

You might remember Jennifer Grey from the 80s hit “Dirty Dancing” with Patrick Swayze, but you probably won’t recognize her. Grey had two nose jobs that effectively ended her career.

But her reason for getting them was different than most plastic surgery-obsessed celebrities.

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Grey played “Baby” Houseman in “Dirty Dancing.” The movie was made for $6 million and became a hit, raking in over $200 million at the box office. After that, Gray writes, “I was America’s sweetheart, which you would think would be the key to unlocking all my hopes and dreams.”

But outside pressure led her to make a decision that would irreparably damage her career.

“Dirty Dancing” Made Grey a Household Name

“Dirty Dancing” should have been Grey’s ticket to stardom, but you’d be forgiven if you thought she never made another movie. Her mother and three plastic surgeons convinced Grey to “fine-tune” her nose. Which left her unrecognizable and worse made her a punchline in Hollywood.

Grey agreed to one surgery, but it caused an “irregularity” which meant she needed a second surgery. This second surgery did not turn out as Grey expected. 

Grey’s Nose Job Made Her Unrecognizable

After the surgery, Grey looked nothing like the star of “Dirty Dancing.” Nobody stopped her for autographs, because they didn’t realize who she was.

“Overnight I [lost] my identity and my career,” she wrote.

Grey Became a Punchline in Hollywood

She was beautiful before the surgery and still is. But it’s a shame that she was pressured into changing her appearance in a way that hurt her career. Worse, she became the punchline for jokes about going overboard on plastic surgery.

People began to say stars who overdid it on plastic surgery had “Jennifer Grey Syndrome.”

It’s ironic because Grey didn’t even want the surgery. If those three plastic surgeons (who were likely concerned more with getting a paycheck than Grey’s needs) and Grey’s mother (who should have had her daughter’s best interests at heart) hadn’t pushed her, Grey might have had a much more successful film career.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

Here Grey is in her prime, with Patrick Swayze. For more stories from this time in her life and to see what’s happened to her since, check out her memoir, “Out of the Corner.”