Where Dirty Dancing stars are now – fatal accidents, cancer and tragic lonely drug death

It’s been more than three decades since Dirty Dancing – a predicted flop film with a minuscule budget -became a runaway hit.

Filmed during a cold autumn in breezy Carolina, it catapulted actors including Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes and Jane Brucker to overnight fame.

But at one point, execs were so convinced that they’d made a boo-boo that they considered burning the film reel and abandoning it altogether.

Instead, it created some of the most iconic scenes in cinema, with the Dirty Dancing lift one of the most recreated moves at weddings across the globe.

But what happened to the stars of the show once the holiday ended? From tragic drugs deaths to shock surgery and fatal accidents, here’s what came next…

Johnny Castle – Patrick Swayze Patrick Swayze played dancer Johnny Castle, who fell in love with resort guest Baby in Dirty Dancing Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles

Snake-hipped Patrick wasn’t the first choice for the role, with Val Kilmer turning it down and Billy Zane reportedly leaving over a lack of chemistry with Jennifer Grey.

At 34, Patrick was a decade older than his character, but when bosses saw his sizzling interactions with Jennifer, the part was his.

Sadly, behind the scenes he and Jennifer clashed, with Patrick admitting there had been tension in his autobiography.

“She’d slip into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over,” he wrote.

“We did have a few moments of friction… she seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticised her.”

But despite their differences, Jennifer, 60, was distraught when Patrick died of pancreatic cancer in 2009 aged just 57.

Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze clashed on set but she was nevertheless devastated when he died (Image: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images) Read More Related Articles

Paying tribute to a ‘real cowboy with a tender heart’, she praised his “rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace.”

“He was fearless and insisted on always doing his own stunts, so it was not surprising to me that the war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified,” she said.

“When I think of him, I think of being in his arms when we were kids, dancing, practicing the lift in the freezing lake, having a blast doing this tiny little movie we thought no one would ever see.”

Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman – Jennifer Grey Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman wanted to change the world through good deeds (Image: Vestron/REX/Shutterstock)

Sarah Jessica Parker and Sharon Stone were both in the running to play the ambitious doctor’s daughter who wanted to change the world.

But it was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star Jennifer, then 27, who the part of 17 year old Baby eventually went to.

And she once admitted that her red hot on-screen chemistry with Patrick was actually a direct result of their backstage clashes.

“The thing is that I believe tension is much hotter-looking than just love. And I think there was a very complex dynamic between Patrick and myself for the whole movie,” she said.

“You know you see a cartoon and there is a fight and just you can’t tell who’s who and it’s just a ball, it was a little like that with him and me.”

Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey were involved in a fatal collision (Image: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Since filming ended, Jennifer has faced a great deal of trauma, starting when she and then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick were involved in fatal car accident just days before the Dirty Dancing premiere.

She was left with a spinal injury and underwent two operations in 2009 after doctors discovered she was close to being paralysed.

And it was during that process that a cancerous tumour was discovered on her thyroid. Thankfully it had not spread and surgeons were able to remove it.

Jennifer was unrecognisable to audiences after undergoing surgery on her nose (Image: REUTERS)

Professionally, Jennifer’s career hit a rough patch in 1989 when she had a nose job that left her unrecognisable to audiences.

“I went into the ­operating room a ­celebrity and came out anonymous,” she said in 2012.

“It was the nose job from hell. I’ll always be this once-famous actress nobody ­recognize because of a nose job.”

Penny Johnson – Cynthia Rhodes Penny was forced to pull out of performing to undergo an abortion (Image: Everett Collection/REX FEATURES)

Having made a name for herself in Flashdance and Staying Alive, the actress and dancer was the perfect fit for lead resort dancer Penny.

But despite her success, Cynthia, 63, quit Hollywood in 1991 to raise her three sons with ex-husband, Right Here Waiting singer Richard Marx.

Richard, 57, initially feared that life as a stay at home mum to sons Lucas, Jesse and Brandon wouldn’t be right for Cynthia.

“I thought, ‘This won’t last, she’s definitely going to want to come back to work and do films,'” he told Splash Chicago.

“But she found a fulfillment in being a mum that completely dominated any feelings she ever had making a movie.”

The couple split in 2015 after 25 years of marriage.

Robbie Gould – Max Cantor Max Cantor played bad boy Robbie

In spite of his good looks and Ivy League education, Robbie was bad news. He slept with Baby’s big sister Lisa and also got Penny pregnant, leaving Johnny to take the blame when she underwent a botched abortion.

In real life, Max was the son of Broadway producer Arthur Cantor and grew up as a neighbour of John Lennon’s in New York’s Dakota building.

He graduated from Harvard and tried his hand at acting in Dirty Dancing before becoming a journalist.

And it was while researching the 1989 murder of Swedish dancer Monika Beerle that Max started using hard drugs.

Monika’s East Village pot dealer roommate Daniel Rakowitz allegedly murdered and dismembered her before boiling her remains to serve as soup to the homeless.

Rakowitz left her skull in the baggage room at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in a bucket of kitty litter but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Max had planned to write a book about the murder but died from ‘acute intoxication’ from heroin, cocaine, and Prozac.

His bloated body was found lying face up in bed at his Chelsea studio after neighbours complained about the smell.

Lisa Houseman – Jane Brucker Jane Brucker made a fortune from her Hula Hana song in Dirty Dancing

As the big sister of Baby, Lisa’s most memorable moment came when she butchered her Hula Hana song at the end of season show.

But the song was quite the money spinner for Jane, who made more cash from it than from the film itself having written the tune in her breaks from filming and kept the copyright.

She starred in medical TV drama Doctor Doctor before welcoming daughter Sally with first husband, actor Brian O’Connor, and moving into screenwriting.

“I can find happiness being a mother without acting, but I couldn’t find happiness acting without being a mother,” Jane, 61, once told People magazine.

She and Brian split in 1993. Jane now lives in Los Angeles with her photographer second husband Raul Vega and their daughter Rachel.

What was your favourite Dirty Dancing moment? Have your say in the comments section below…