This Marvel Actor is Married to ‘Dirty Dancing’s’ Jennifer Grey
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is still coming off of the historical success of Avengers: Endgame. Though there were a host of cameos in the film from characters from the past, one beloved agent was missing from the box office hit.
Though this actor has other credits to his name besides the blockbuster movie, few may be aware that he has been married to Jennifer Grey from the iconic film Dirty Dancing since 2001.
Previous high-profile romances
Grey appeared in a host of films including Red Dawn, The Cotton Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off before hitting superstardom for her role as Baby Houseman in the 1987 smash hit Dirty Dancing. She was cast opposite heartthrob Patrick Swayze. Though the two never had a romantic relationship, Grey did date several celebrities back in the day.
Grey was romantically involved with co-star Matthew Broderick after the two met on the set of Ferris Buehler. The two were together for approximately a year and a half, just as the Dirty Dancing craze was beginning. According to Elle, Grey also dated actor Johnny Depp in 1989, where he reportedly asked her to marry him at one point in their brief relationship. Obviously, the relationship did not last.
Marvel meets Baby
Playing the kind-hearted yet serious S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson, Clark Gregg married Grey in 2001. The actor jokes about being asked if the couple reenacts Grey’s famous dance scene from her iconic film. “Yeah, that’s all we do actually. Each morning we wake up and I do the lift. And then I put Baby in the corner,” Gregg jokingly said, according to the Huffington Post. “Then she stabs me with Loki’s spear and we live out our film moments.” As MCU fans are sure to remember, Agent Coulson was killed by Loki in Marvel’s The Avengers.
The two have a daughter, Stella, who is 17 years old. Gregg appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2014 and spoke of his daughter starting to notice boys. “Recently, she went to a party with some people from her elementary school, now that she’s in middle school, and boys were there,” Gregg shared with Degeneres and the live audience. “And she came back and she said, ‘I think I’m getting thirsty for boys.’ So that’s a thirst we’re not going to let her quench for a while.”
Memorable movies of his own
Gregg made his entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the franchise’s first film, Iron Man in 2008. He went on to appear in Iron Man 2, Thor, and star in the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. since 2013. Agent Coulson died in the television series season finale in Season 5, but Gregg assumed the role of the ruthless new character Sarge on the show in Season 6. According to Deadline, the series will end after its seventh season.
Over on the big screen, though Gregg’s Agent Coulson was killed off in 2012’s The Avengers, his character was brought back for 2019’s Captain Marvel as a younger version of Coulson.
The actor spoke to Entertainment Weekly earlier this year on playing the secret agent in life and in death in several mediums. “It’s weird to say goodbye to him every time. So much of our experience on this show is art and life fusing,” Gregg said. “I’ve been playing this guy, and in different iterations, this somewhat peripheral player in the early phase of the Marvel movies, just geeking out at who he was getting to interact with, which was very much my experience as well on those films.”
The actor also had a part on the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine from 2006 to 2010. The show starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the title role, where Gregg played her ex-husband.
Fans of Grey and Gregg are hoping to see the two share the screen one day!
