Little Known Facts Behind The 1980s Classic “Dirty Dancing”
Dirty Dancing is a classic that serves so many purposes. It appeals to various audiences through its exciting plot and upbeat music. It is timeless, being relatable to later generations who still feel the instinct to challenge the rulebook. And it's a historical time capsule, illustrating certain time-related issues of the 1950s. The love story set precedence for a plethora of dance films like Honey and Step Up.
With so much appeal, it's hard to imagine that production didn't go as smoothly as that lift at the end did. Here is all the behind-the-scenes information to make this movie even juicier.
A Controversial Part Of The Plot Caused A Sponsor To Call It Quits
While the entire plot is a pretty steamy one, the devastating botch abortion that ignites the whole thing was too much for one sponsor. The movie was already on a tight budget, so production needed all the green it could get. Unfortunately, an acne cream company feared their sales would be negatively impacted if they were affiliated with the film.
Acne companies are always targeting teens, and while the dancing was a surefire way to seem like a cool company, Penny's heartbreaking circumstance would be too much for conservative parents to look past.
Jennifer Grey Is Practically A Bird
Dirty Dancing practically ends will Baby up in the air, and our hearts soar with her up and out of the theater. The best part is that we've already seen Baby and Johnny attempt and fail the move so many times over. Nailing it becomes symbolic of the trials of their relationship, which they somehow have overcome in just one night of dancing.
But in a 2015 interview, Jennifer Grey says, "I only did it on the day I shot it. Never rehearsed it, never done it since." With that kind of coordination, she must be a bird.
A Weird Acting Warm-Up Bred This Iconic Scene
For any of the theater kids out there, you already know that acting warmups can get pretty strange. But nothing beats warming up for a romantic scene, which is exactly what Grey and Swayze were doing when the dance studio segment was filmed.
The iconic scene shows Johnny and Baby lip-syncing to the song "Love Is Strange," which was not planned in any way. The unscripted tidbit was just supposed to get them in the mood, so to speak. Once the director saw how great the improvisation looked on film, he rightly made it a permanent part of the movie.
Meet The Real Life Baby
Eleanor Bergstein, the writer of Dirty Dancing, based much of the story on her very own life. As a girl, her nickname was 'Baby'. She was brought up Jewish in Brooklyn and her father was a doctor who took the family on vacation to Catskills.
She also loves to dance and competed in her own dirty dancing competitions, which were popular in that era. You have to wonder with so many similarities to her own life, who was Johnny inspired by?
Brooklyn Bred Johnny Castle
The character of Johnny was inspired by a fellow dancer she knew in Brooklyn named Michael Terrace. Aside from the accent, Johnny's brash character is certainly better explained knowing that he was presumably a Brooklyn boy.
In an interview, Eleanor Bergstein says, "I remember when I was making the film, I was going through the dance steps with the director and choreographer and they said 'Eleanor, maybe you should get some of your old partners to dance with you' and I said, 'My old partners are either in jail or out on parole.' It was a very rough neighborhood."
Eleanor Isn't Only Baby
While writer Eleanor Bergstein's childhood definitely influenced much of the circumstances that Baby undergoes, her college years helped her better hone in on the character of Johnny. In 2005 she pointed out in an interview that, "While everybody thinks I'm Baby, there's actually a lot of Johnny in me, too."
Bergstein had been a teacher at Arthur Murray dance school in order to put herself through college. Like Johnny, she was capable of teaching her students the conventional dance moves, as well as the "dirty" ones.
Dirty Dancing Helped Make This Song A Funeral Staple
Movies and music have a wonderfully symbiotic relationship where each can fuel the other's popularity. Dirty Dancing just wouldn't have been the same without that final song, "I've Had The Time Of My Life," which stands as a sort of anthem to the movie. And the song by Bill Medley, pictured above, and Jennifer Warnes went on to win an Academy Award.
Strangely, a 2006 survey found that "I've Had The Time Of My Life" is one of the most common songs to be played at funerals. Guess they took the song a little too literally.
The One That Almost Got Away
Bill Medley was not sold on this scandalous movie, the title of which sounded to him like a "bad porno." He was equally unimpressed with the leads being Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, who at the time were lesser-known actors.
Obviously, the songwriter outgrew his disdain once the movie became a smash. While we can't say for sure how much his legendary song contributed to its popularity, it may have still survived without "I've Had The Time Of My Life," and then Bill would really have something to resent.
The Movie Was Almost Set On Fire
The reaction from producers to the initial completed film was basically "burn it." They thought it was a complete failure and so unusable that it should be scrapped. Supposedly, director Emile Ardolino was instructed by one such producer to "burn the negative and collect the insurance."
Fortunately for would-be fans, Ardolino persisted. He returned to the drawing board and somehow whipped up the adored film we're left with today. Who knew movie people could be so dramatic?
What's In A Name?
While producers may have thought that they knew what they were doing, they almost made a small mistake that could have cost the movie its success. Like Bill Medley, they thought the name might be too suggestive, and not hitting the nail quite right on the head. Being that writer Eleanor Bergstein was essentially the real-life protagonist, they pulled from her experience for ideas.
When Eleanor was a teenage dancer, she particularly danced the Mambo. Thus, producers thought it might be a good idea to change the title to I Was A Teenage Mambo Queen. That certainly would have attracted a different crowd.
The Best Acting Is No Acting At All
The seriousness with which Johnny views his dancing is pretty close to Swayze's actual character. As a professional actor, wasting time is a nuisance. After all, time is money. So when Jennifer Grey couldn't stop giggling while Swayze's fingers gently glid down her arm and side, his annoyance started to show.
Fortunately for the actors, the natural performances offered a laugh for the audience. These giggling scenes are some of the best ones in their learning-the-dance montage.
The Line Heard Around The World
If you pay really close attention, you can almost feel the timidity in Swayze when he delivers the line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." In his biography, he writes that he struggled with how corny the line was and really did not want to utter it. But when it came to 80s movies, the cornier the better.
The unforgettable quote was rated in the top 100 greatest movie quotes of all time by AFI. Today, people who haven't even seen the film can recognize and appreciate the line's attribution to pop culture.
These Lovebirds Were Actually More Like Angrybirds
In Patrick Swayze's biography, he wrote that Jennifer Grey "couldn't stand" him, at least not when they first auditioned. Rumor has it that the two never got along on set. However, in their later film Red Dawn-- another 80s flick this time depicting a communist takeover-- there is said to have been a palpable tension between the two.
Whether that tension was sexual or purely out of angst is unclear. Either way, there is no doubting that whatever the cause, mutual passion made their onscreen chemistry set fire.
The Set Was Cursed
Haunted sets are a thing for horror films, right? Well, the rule may actually apply to any controversial film. The set being broken into was one thing, but then Catskill flooding caused roads to be blocked off and even destroyed the production team's van.
Then, crew members started getting injured, followed by three separate accounts of food poisoning. It might seem like bad luck if not for the fact that all of these things happened within 24 hours of each other.
The Neverending Summer
New York state's Catskill mountains are known as an ideal escape from the big city life, offering beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Like most films, shooting did not take place at the location intended to be represented. Instead, filming occurred in Virginia in the fall.
As the leaves changed color, it became painfully obvious that the location was a mirage. To resolve this dilemma, the crew had to spraypaint the leaves green and add in foliage. Hopefully Grey wasn't too cold prancing around in shorts and a tank top all autumn.
No Pain, No Gain
Patrick Swayze's dance skills are actually in his blood. His dance studio owning mother is the one who trained Swayze and she even worked on the set with him. Even with a born dancer, injuries can occur. When Patrick and Jennifer were performing the famous lift scene, he was actually in a ton of pain.
After sustaining a terrible knee injury, Patrick had to remain solid enough to still lift Jennifer out of the water and over his head. Apparently, the horrible pain in his leg was so awful that he barely made it out of the water.
The Curse Continues
Before Patrick injured his knee, Jennifer fell victim to an attack by a swarm of wasps that invaded the set. That attack came when they were near the end of filming, and Jennifer was stung all over one of her arms. Aside from being very painful, the stings can cause major swelling and even disfigurement.
For this reason, Jennifer was in desperate need of a makeup artist. Unfortunately, the makeup artist quit that same day. When they did get a new one in, the curse struck again, leaving the new makeup artist with two broken fingers and a broken wrist.
This Is A Fan's Dream Vacation
Some of the filming for Dirty Dancing occurred in North Carolina at Lake Lure, which used to be a boy's camp and is now a residential unit. However, the rest of the filming was at Mountain Lake Lodge in Virginia. The Lodge is still open and welcome to fans eager to see where the filming happened.
The lodge even has some of the activities that were shown in the movie, life watermelon tossing. You never know, you might be lucky enough to even stay in the same room where Jennifer and Patrick shot that super romantic scene.
Fake News Alert
It's always exciting to find out what other actors were up for the role of some of our most beloved characters. When it comes to Johnny Castle, it's hard to imagine another '80s celebrity fitting the part. And that's actually exactly how writer and producer Eleanor Bergstein felt about the story.
In order to put rumors to rest about Swayze not being the top choice, Eleanor went on the record. In 2017 she said in an interview with Yahoo Movies that, "Patrick was the only actor who was ever offered this [role], and he's the only one we ever wanted."
The Movie's Feminist Underpinnings Were Lost On Its Editor
The editor really put his foot in his mouth while cutting Baby's initial dancing scenes next to writer-producer Eleanor Bergstein. At one point he asked her, "How can you have respect for a girl who dances that way?" He clearly did not realize he was insulting the very woman whom the story was about, nor did he grasp the concept of empowering women.
The risqué dancing was a testament to Eleanor's real-life experience in Catskills. While we don't know how much of Baby's character is real, one thing is for sure—Eleanor was way ahead of her time.
No Dancing Off Camera
While Eleanor definitely was a pusher for liberation, when it came to her movie everything had to be professional. In order to help keep the cast mindful, she made a rule that dancers could not dance together off the dance floor. In other words, she didn't want any dirty dancing dirtying up her movie set.
Allegedly, the rule was actually that dancers couldn't even have physical contact with one another unless it was for the purpose of filming. It's rather ironic that the movie about being allowed to dance freely prohibited dancing.
The Nightmare On Jen Street
Jennifer Grey had just barely arrived in one piece to attend the Dirty Dancing premiere. She was in a car accident with her and boyfriend Matthew Broderick—Jennifer's costar in Ferris Bueller's Day Off— in Ireland. Matthew slammed head-on into another vehicle, killing a mother and daughter instantly.
Ultimately, Broderick only had to pay a fine, which left the family of the victims furious. To top it off, Jennifer had minor injuries that she had to endure during the premier this would-be classic.
The Discrete Age Of These Actors Got Them Cast
One of the best traits an actor can have is a look that masks their age. Ideally, an actor should be able to play about a decade older and younger than their actual age. For Jennifer Grey, she was 26 when she auditioned for the part of seventeen-year-old Baby Houseman.
Supposedly, in a truly Hollywood manner, she was given five minutes to convince producers that she could pull off a teenage role. Succeeding the challenge, she was cast the part alongside Kelly Bishop, who was only 16 years older than Jennifer who she would be playing the mother of.
Dirty Drinking Allowed For More Dirty Dancing
Drinking and dancing go together like peas and carrots. Since drinking tends to literally loosen the body up, it allows for more loose dancing which is what Dirty Dancing is all about! It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that drinking onset became rather normal.
Producer Eleanor Bergstein may have been particular about the rules offset, but onset was basically a party. Not only did drinking help unwind the dancers. The actors also were able to become more free with exploring their characters. Although, drinking might not have been the best idea when it came to remembering lines.
This Country Fell For Dirty Dancing
In 2006, Eleanor Bergstein shocked readers of The Guardian when she told them that, "[In] Russia, it's policy in the battered women's shelters when a woman comes in for help. First, they wash and dress her wounds, then they give her soup. Then they sit her down and show her Dirty Dancing. When the Berlin Wall came down, there were all these pictures of kids wearing Dirty Dancing T-shirts; they were saying, 'We want to have what they have in the West! We want Dirty Dancing!'"
Talk about being a trendsetter!
Makeup Was Used To Make This Actress Less Attractive
Actress Cynthia Rhodes was gorgeous with or without makeup during the filming of Dirty Dancing. As a result, makeup artists had their work cut out for them when it came to watching her suffer after the faulty abortion. Apparently, the scene wasn't working because the actress looked too beautiful.
In order to convince the audience that Rhodes was in genuine agony, the crew cacked on the makeup to give her a truly tormented look. Most people are worried about looking too unattractive. Imagine needing a team to make you look unattractive!
Dirty Dancing's Cast Change Helped Out Gilmore Girls
Today, Kelly Bishop is known for her role as the stubborn Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. However, a part of the reason casting agents could foresee her in that role is due to her role as Baby's mother Mrs. Houseman, which she initially was not cast as.
Bishop was first cast to play Vivian Pressman, the cougar who is after Johnny. Baby's mother was to be played by actress Lynne Lipton. Once Lipton fell too ill to be able to film, they had to transition Kelly Bishop into the role of Mrs. Houseman. An assistant choreographer was pulled in as the new Vivian.
Swayze's Rejection Turned A Sequel Into A Prequel
With any hugely successful blockbuster, producers are going to try their best to milk the product for all its worth. The most obvious way to do this? A sequel. Unfortunately for filmmakers, Patrick Swayze couldn't stand the idea of a sequel and even turned down a six million dollar offer to star in one.
Thankfully, producers weren't so desperate to create the film anyways without him. Instead, they turned their efforts towards creating a prequel which came out about two decades after the original. Getting rid of that dirty word "sequel" somehow convinced Swayze to agree to a minor role in the film, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.
Patrick Swayze Is The Jackie Chan Of Dance
The stubborn Patrick Swayze refused to have a double to any of his stunts. Being the tremendously coordinated dancer that he was, producers couldn't have foreseen that he would end up injuring himself pretty seriously.
The log scene, genuine as it was, lead to Swayze falling off multiple times and harming his knee. The swelling became so severe that he had to have fluid drained from it. Though it may have backfired, not many actors have the guts to perform all of their own stunts. You have to have respect for someone that devoted to their craft.
It Was Crunch Time All The Time
One thing that characterizes professional dancers is their ability to learn and nail dance numbers in a short amount of time. That skill was vital on this set, where the cast only had two weeks to rehearse all of the dance numbers.
On top of that, the crew ended up being allotted only 44 days to film the entire movie. While the injuries, tensions, and set issues may have seemed like a real nuisance before, knowing it all happened in the midst of such a tight deadline makes the film all the more impressive.
Swayze Is A Triple Threat
Not only did Swayze act and dance in the film, but he also co-wrote one of it's most iconic songs. The scene between Johnny and Baby when they're saying goodbye, perhaps for the last time, just wouldn't have been the same without "She's Like The Wind" playing in the background.
Swayze actually wrote the song in 1984 alongside Stacy Widelitz. Originally, he had it in mind for his other film, Grandview, U.S.A. While we can't argue that it could have been a great addition to Jamie Lee Curtis's character in that movie, it definitely belonged in Dirty Dancing.
Too Close For Comfort
The lake scene is one of the most fundamental parts of the movie, as Johnny and Baby learn to trust and rely on one another. Unfortunately for the actors, the necessary scene had to be shot in October. By then the water was so freezing cold that the actors' lips went blue.
Somehow, the actors were able to pull off hiding their looks of torment. To aid in the masquerade, editors had to omit any closeup shots because it would show the discoloration of poor Jennifer and Patricks trembling lips.
Weather Conditions Almost Cost The Film This Main Star
The freezing cold water was offset by extremely hot temperatures that lingered at the end of summer. Outside, the temperature grew into the triple digits. While filming inside seems like it would be a relief from the heat, all of the equipment would only increase the temperature, creating a hotbox that the actors had to perform in.
During the lake scene, everyone but Grey and Swayze got to bundle up while watching the pair nearly freeze. Grey later referred to the water as being "horrifically cold," adding that if she hadn't been "young and hungry," she never would have agreed to do such a thing.
The Entertainment Industry Is A Small World
Patrick isn't the only one whose talent runs in his veins. Jennifer Grey also comes from a line of entertainers. Her father, Joel Grey, is an Oscar and Tony-winning stage actor. In 1975, Joel was in the Broadway musical Goodtime Charley. Coincidentally, Patrick Swayze was one of the ensemble dancers.
Fast forward about a decade, and the more refined Swayze is the starring role. How strange that a show he was in years ago starred a man who's daughter is now Patrick's costar.
Life After Dirty Dancing
For actor Wayne Knight, Dirty Dancing was the key ingredient for his string of roles that followed. Prior to the movie, Knight had been stuck in a phase some actors remain in longer than others, struggling to break out of small commercial and television roles.
Knight's career skyrocketed with the film. He went on to star in Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, and Basic Instinct. He was also the first actor cast in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. Once you're being picked up by Spielberg, you've pretty much made it.
This Film Was Not Your Traditional Rom-Com
Though it may not be obvious, Dirty Dancing is characterized as a Jewish movie by Eleanor Bergstein. She does add that you have to "know what you're looking at" in order to be able to see it, though. Not only are the Houseman's Jewish, but the resort they stayed at was based on Grossinger's Hotel.
In the Catskills, various resorts, including Grossinger's Hotel, were a part of the "Borscht Belt", characterized as a save haven for vacationing Jewish families. Though it's hard to imagine now, there was a moment in time when resorts and hotels would reject Jewish customers.
Swayze Breaks Down The Movie's Depth
In an interview with AFI, Patrick Swayze explained why he thinks this movie has been a timeless success. He noted, "It's got so much heart, to me, it's not about sensuality; it's really about people trying to find themselves – this young dance instructor feeling like he's nothing but a product, and this young girl trying to find out who she is in a society of restrictions when she has such an amazing take on things."
The best movies are the ones that tug on our heartstrings, and this one does just that while still being raw and honest.
The Nose That Nobody Knows
Somewhere along the lines, nose jobs became the norm amongst most people who are seen on the big screen. By the early 90s, Jennifer Grey was rather well known. She decided to jump on the celebrity train and get a nose job. Unfortunately, the surgery resulted in two rhinoplasty procedures, the second of which resulted from the first.
Oddly, the subtle change made her face almost unrecognizable. She considered starting fresh with a brand new name but ultimately stuck to Jennifer Grey. Sometimes having a unique, unforgettable look is more of a blessing than a curse.
Grey Got Really Excited After Watching This Scene In The Theater
Jennifer Grey confessed her admiration for Ryan Gosling after seeing the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. The thing that captivated Grey-- other than Gosling's abs-- was hearing him refer to the movie that she starred in.
In one scene, Emma Stone agrees to sleep with Gosling only if he can lift her like Johnny lifted Baby in Dirty Dancing. Grey told Yahoo! "I'm such a fan of Ryan Gosling and all of a sudden he's saying my name [in the movie]. I'm just in the theatre with my husband and I look at him like, 'Oh my God, Ryan Gosling just said my name. What's going on?'"
The Immortal Character
In 2008, the king of Dirty Dancing was tragically diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Doctors estimated he only had weeks left. Fortunately, he was able to gain access to an experimental drug. The drug combined with chemotherapy helped hang on for a few months longer, and he even made a public announcement.
In 2009 the chemotherapy had cause Swayze to develop pneumonia. His body was too tasked to fight it off, and on September 14th he died. While the end of this talented man's life is devastating to see, his character Johnny showcases the brilliant, stubborn spirit that Patrick brought to this world.
