Skip to main content

Many female celebrities, including Courtney Cox, Chrissy Teigen, Ariel Winter, and Sharon Osbourne, have been open about receiving plastic surgery and/or cosmetic procedures at some point. While every surgery has risk, a normal expectation of a routine procedure is for all to go smoothly. One actress from an iconic film has stated that undergoing surgery to fix a facial feature ended up completely changing her appearance.

"Grey's Anatomy" cast members
“Grey’s Anatomy’s” Caterina Scorsone, Jennifer Grey, Kyle Secor, Kevin McKidd | Mitch Haaseth/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

An iconic Baby

Actress Jennifer Grey had some acting credits to her name before landing the role that would change her career. She landed parts in films such as Red Dawn, The Cotton Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, before starring as Baby Houseman opposite Patrick Swayze in the 1987 box office blockbuster Dirty Dancing.

The film, which gave us the iconic line from Swayze “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” showcased both stars in a now infamous dance scene that included Grey being lifted in the air by Swayze. When asked in 2015 about the difficult dance move, the actress said it was done without a rehearsal. “I only did it on the day I shot it,” Grey said, according to the Huffington Post. “Never rehearsed it, never done it since. I don’t know how all these people who reenact it have the guts to throw themselves into the arms of anyone other than Patrick Swayze. It’s insane!”

Grey also revealed that she still gets asked if she can execute the lift. “It happened, enjoy it, watch it over and over again, but never ask me to do it again because I’m too f****** old… I have a family and I want to live longer [laughs],” she responded.

An unexpected result

In 1989, Grey underwent a nose job, also known as rhinoplasty. When she came out of surgery, she was astounded by the impact it had on her appearance.

Grey’s well-known face from the iconic film had been drastically altered due to the surgical procedure, rendering her unrecognizable. “I went into the ­operating room a ­celebrity and came out anonymous,” Grey said in 2012, according to the Daily Mirror.

The actress shared that she felt her career suffered as a result of her changed appearance since no one could identify her as the Dirty Dancing star. “It was the nose job from hell. I’ll always be this once-famous actress nobody recognizes because of a nose job,” Grey said.

Since her surgery

Grey did eventually land guest roles on television shows including Friends and House. She donned her dancing shoes again when she competed in Season 11 of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Grey won the coveted mirrorball trophy with partner Derek Hough, despite suffering a ruptured disc in her back.

“This dance experience was so much more difficult [than ‘Dirty Dancing’ where] I learned basically one dance over the course of months,” Grey said at the time, as reported by ABC News. “It was a completely different level of dancing.”

Most recently, Grey appeared in Season 15 of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy as Carol Dickinson, mom to recovering addict Betty who has been taken under Dr. Amelia Shepherd’s wing. Fun fact: Grey’s father, actor Joel Grey, also had a guest appearance on the medical drama in Season 6 as a former teacher of Izzie’s (played by Katherine Heigl) who suffered from Alzheimer’s.

Despite Grey’s unexpected plastic surgery results, the actress continues to exhibit her talent much to the delight of her fans.

Best in Entertainment