Who played in dirty dancing

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing."

Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock

Voices, hearts and hands! It’s been more than three decades since Frances “Baby” Houseman and Johnny Castle fell in love during a summer at Kellerman’s.

Dirty Dancing, which followed Baby (Jennifer Grey) filling in for Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) as Johnny’s (Patrick Swayze) dance partner during a summer vacation with her parents, hit theaters in 1987.

While the film has several iconic lines (“nobody puts Baby in a corner!”) and scenes, perhaps the most memorable is Johnny and Baby’s lift.

“I only did it on the day I shot it,” Grey revealed about the scene during an interview with The Guardian in 2015. “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!”

The actress added that she’s “thrilled” the move has stood the test of time — but she has no plans to follow the trend of fans recreating the moment.

“It happened, enjoy it, watch it over and over again but never ask me to do it again because I’m too f—king old,” she quipped. “I have a family and I want to live longer.”

Baby may not be doing any more lifts, but news broke in 2020 that Dirty Dancing was getting a sequel, with Grey starring and executive producing the new movie.

Lionsgate said in a statement at the time: “It will be exactly the kind of romantic, nostalgic movie that the franchise’s fans have been waiting for and that have made it the biggest-selling library title in the company’s history.”

Grey later confirmed the news.

“Its appeal was that it was very genuine and simple,” she said in a 2020 People interview about the original movie. “It was about innocence and the way that innocence is lost and how people explode into a different iteration of themselves.”

When asked about replacing Swayze’s role after his 2009 death, Grey said there’s “no replacing” the late actor.

“You never try to repeat anything that’s magic like that,” she said. “You just go for something different.”

Scroll through for an update on the cast:

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Jennifer Grey

The Ferris Bueller's Day Off actress appeared as herself on ABC’s It's Like, You Know… from 1991 to 2001 before she starred as Judy Meyers in the Prime Video’s Red Oaks from 2014 to 2017. In addition to several film roles, Grey won season 11 of Dancing With the Stars with partner Derek Hough in 2010.

Us Weekly confirmed in 2020 that Grey and husband Clark Gregg split after 19 years of marriage. According to court documents obtained by Us at the time, Grey will retain all the earnings and residuals from Dirty Dancing in the divorce and receive 50 percent of Gregg’s royalties and residuals for his projects, including Marvel films such as Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man, and his ABC series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Credit: Snap/Shutterstock; Matt Baron/Shutterstock

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Patrick Swayze

Swayze went on to star in 1989’s Road House, 1990’s Ghost, 1991’s Point Break and 1995’s To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. The actor’s final roles were in the A&E series The Beast and 2009’s Powder Blue. Nearly two years after Swayze was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer, he died in September 2009. He was 57. 

He is survived by wife Lisa Niemi, whom he was married to for 34 years before his passing.

Credit: Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock; John Sciulli/Shutterstock

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Cynthia Rhodes

The Flashdance star, who played Penny, stepped back from acting after Dirty Dancing, appearing only in 1991’s Curse of the Crystal Eye.

Rhodes split from husband Richard Marx in 2014 after 25 years of marriage. She is the mother of sons Lucas, Jesse and Brandon.

Credit: Vestron/Kobal/Shutterstock; Scott Weiner/Mediapunch/Shutterstock

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Jerry Orbach

The actor, who played Baby’s dad, starred as Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order for 12 years. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994 and lost his battle with the disease in 2004. He was 69.

Credit: Lionsgate; Araldo Di Crollalanza/Shutterstock

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Kelly Bishop

The Tony winner’s TV-career thrived after Dirty Dancing when she landed the role of Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls (and reprised her role for the Netflix revival in 2016). She re-teamed up with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino for Bunheads, which aired for one season from 2012 to 2013.

Credit: Lionsgate; Todd Williamson/January Images/Shutterstock

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Jane Brucker

The actress is best known for her role as Baby’s sister, Lisa Houseman, but appeared in 1988’s Stealing Home, 1989’s Bloodhounds of Broadway and 2005’s Dishdogz.

She married Raul Vega in 2001 and welcomed daughters Sally and Rachel.

Credit: Lionsgate

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Max Cantor

Cantor, who portrayed Robbie in Dirty Dancing, quit acting shortly after the film to pursue a career as a journalist. He died in 1991 after a drug overdose. He was 32.

Credit: Lionsgate

Grey starred as Frances "Baby" Houseman, the naïve yet good-intentioned teen who becomes involved with a hunky dance instructor while at a Catskills resort in the 1987 original. As she told PEOPLE in 2010, she began making "a lot of choices most ambitious people would not have made," following her superstar-making role. Those choices included a 1989 nose job, which radically altered her look. Without her famous face, Grey still managed to nab roles in TV movies, feature films and shows in the decades after Dirty Dancing. In 2010, she returned to her grooving roots and claimed the mirror ball trophy along with partner Derek Hough on Dancing with the Stars. Grey married actor/writer/director Clark Gregg in 2001, with whom she has a teen daughter, Stella. Vestron; Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation

Swayze's star only continued to rise after his portrayal of dreamy dance instructor Johnny Castle. His hit movies included Ghost, Point Break and Road House. In 1991, he was named PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive. Swayze died in September 2009 at the age of 57 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. "Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," his rep told PEOPLE at the time. He and wife Lisa Niemi were married for 34 years prior to his death. SNAP/REX/Shutterstock; Barry Brecheisen/WireImage for Rockit Ranch Productions

Rhodes played Penny Johnson, the resort dancer who Baby fills in for following an unexpected pregnancy and subsequent botched abortion. Before Dirty Dancing, she appeared in Xanadu, Flashdance and Staying Alive. Her last film role was in 1991's Curse of the Crystal Eye. The actress was married to singer Richard Marx from 1989 to 2014, and is mom to sons Lucas, Jesse and Brandon. Vestron/REX/Shutterstock; Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Brucker's role as Baby's elder sister Lisa Houseman was the most notable of her acting career. She also appeared in 1988's Stealing Home and alongside Grey in 1989's Bloodhounds of Broadway. The actress is married to photographer Raul Vega and has two daughters. Courtesy Lionsgate; Courtesy Jane Brucker

Orbach already had an extensive resume and a Tony award to his name by the time he was cast as Baby's father Dr. Jake Houseman, and his career continued to thrive after Dirty Dancing. In 1991, he began a 12-year run as Law & Order homicide detective Lennie Briscoe. That year he also secured a place in animation history as the voice of Beauty and the Beast's Lumière. The actor had two sons with wife Marta Curro, whom he was married to from 1958 to 1975. He was remarried in 1979 to actress Elaine Cancilla Orbach. Orbach died of prostate cancer in 2004 at the age of 69. Artisan Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection; Jessica Burstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

The Tony Award-winner played mom Marjorie Houseman. She followed up Dirty Dancing with roles in Private Parts, Queens Logic and Miami Rhapsody. In 2000, she started a seven-year gig as Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, a role she reprised in the 2016 reboot. She is set to make an appearance in the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which wrapped filming in 2021.  Bishop has been married to husband Lee Leonard since 1981. Artisan Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection;

Price appeared in Dirty Dancing as Neil Kellerman, the resort owner's grandson who develops an (unrequited) crush on Baby. The star's theater and screen career has mostly involved directing in the years since. He's taken the helm of episodes of Desperate Housewives and 2 Broke Girls, and won Emmys for both Sondheim! The Birthday Concert and Sweeney Todd. Courtesy Lionsgate; Walter McBride/WireImage

Cantor played womanizer Robbie Gould, who dates Baby's sister Lisa and impregnantes Penny. After Dirty Dancing, he appeared in Fear, Anxiety & Depression. The actor died of a drug overdose in 1991 at the age of 32. Vestron Pictures