Jennifer Grey was born in New York City. She is the daughter of Joel Grey and Jo Wilder. She is the granddaughter of Mickey Katz. Jennfier is an alumna of the Dalton School, which is a private school in Manhattan, and she studied dancing and acting.
Grey's commercial debut was at the age of 19, in an ad for Dr. Pepper. After other small roles, she landed the part of jealous sister Jeanie in the hit 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The following year, she reunited with Patrick Swayze, whom she had played opposite in Red Dawan, for her biggest role ever, Frances "Baby" Houseman in Dirty Dancing. 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 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.
