Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey Survived a Fatal Car Crash While Secretly Dating
Matthew Broderick is known for his enduring marriage to fellow celebrity Sarah Jessica Parker. The two have been together for several decades and have three children together. However, before Broderick and Parker connected, he was involved with several high-profile performers, including Jennifer Grey, who rose to fame thanks to her work in Dirty Dancing. Broderick and Grey connected on the set of one of Broderick’s most famous films and embarked on an epic secret romance that was only made public when the two survived a devastating car crash.
When did Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey first meet?
When Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey first met on the set of their 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he was already a big star. He had appeared in many popular movies, such as War Games, and was considered one of his generation’s hottest young performers. Grey and Broderick played siblings onscreen in the film, but their relationship gradually turned romantic offscreen.
Grey and Broderick started dating, but things didn’t always go smoothly for the new couple. Grey would later reveal in her memoir that there were extreme highs and lows in their romance and that she started to grow suspicious of Broderick when random women would call the actor. She also noted that she believes Broderick and another co-star of his, Helen Hunt, became involved even while Broderick and Grey were dating.
Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey kept their romance secret
Even though their romance ran hot and cold, Jennifer Grey and Matthew Broderick became engaged during the filming of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, as reported by BuzzFeed. However, they decided to keep their love affair under wraps, studiously avoiding the paparazzi and refusing to step out on red carpets together. Throughout the filming of their movie, Broderick and Grey kept their engagement to themselves – and for a while, it seemed as though the two up-and-coming stars would go the distance.
However, in 1987, Broderick and Grey’s lives changed forever when a tragic car crash would reveal their relationship to the public and affected how they went forward as individuals.
Broderick and Grey’s romance went public after a devastating car crash
In 1987, Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey were on vacation in Ireland when tragedy struck. According to a report from People Magazine, the couple was in Northern Ireland, driving a rental car, when it started raining. After stopping to ask for directions, Broderick and Grey hopped back into their rental vehicle and got on the road, only to allegedly drift into the wrong lane and collide with another car, driven by 28-year-old Anna Gallagher. According to People, the driver and her mother, Margaret Doherty, were both pronounced dead on the scene. Broderick was rushed to the hospital with a broken leg and face cuts, while Grey emerged with just minor bruising. The tragedy resulted in Broderick spending four weeks in the hospital but avoiding jail time.
Just one year after the devastating accident, Broderick and Grey broke up, with Broderick going on to meet and marry his now-wife, Sarah Jessica Parker. In the years since, Grey has opened up about the accident, telling Entertainment Tonight in 2022 that the accident caused some severe trauma. According to US Weekly, Grey admitted, “I was the sole living witness because Matthew had survived, but he was unconscious and had amnesia and was very badly injured.” The actor described how the accident is one of the “top three traumas” in her life, revealing, “I didn’t even know there were two other women who were tragically killed at the time. It’s just something that you just don’t come back from in the same way.” The publication reports that the family members of Gallagher and Doherty have since forgiven Broderick for the accident.
