FILM · 1987 · USA
Dirty Dancing
24 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
24 Interesting Facts About Dirty Dancing
Interesting Facts (20)
- #001
The famous scene in which Johnny and Baby rehearse their dance and crawl toward each other on the floor was not intended to be part of the film; they were only killing time and warming up for the real scene, but director Emile Ardolino liked it so much that he kept it in the movie.
- #002
Patrick Swayze had to be persuaded to take part in the film because he had not particularly liked Jennifer Grey while shooting Red Dawn (1984).
- #003
Patrick Swayze was offered 6 million dollars to reprise the role of Johnny in a sequel. Swayze was not a fan of sequels and turned it down.
- #004
Patrick Swayze insisted on performing his own stunts. During the log scene he kept falling off the log and injured his knee so badly that fluid had to be drained from the swelling.
- #005
Relations between the two leads fluctuated throughout production. They had already had difficulties on their previous project, Red Dawn (1984), and worked things out well enough to deliver an extremely positive screen test. Even so, that initial cooperation soon faded and they quickly ended up facing off before every scene. Members of the production team worried that the hostility between the two stars would jeopardize the filming of the love scenes. To solve the problem, Eleanor Bergstein and Emile Ardolino forced the stars to rewatch their first screen test, which had "breathtaking" chemistry. It had the desired effect, and Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey were able to return to the film with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
- #006
The dance Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey performed in the love scene was the same dance they had done for the screen tests. It was originally supposed to be in the film.
- #007
The Pembroke, Virginia resort where many of Kellerman's scenes were shot hosts three Dirty Dancing-themed weekends a year; among the many activities on offer are evening dinners, sock hops, a film screening, watermelon throwing, group dance lessons and a Dirty Dancing scavenger hunt.
- #008
Jennifer Grey said of Patrick Swayze: "I knew at that moment that Patrick was the only person who could play this role. If I had the courage to jump, he would always be there to catch me."
- #009
Johnny Castle was originally Italian. That changed when Patrick Swayze was cast.
- #010
Director Emile Ardolino wanted only experienced dancers in the film in order to avoid the problems with using double dancers that had arisen on Flashdance (1983).
- #011
Just as Jennifer Grey was about to go on a promotional tour for the film, she and her then-boyfriend Matthew Broderick were involved in a head-on collision in their rental car in Ireland in August 1987, in which a mother and her daughter were killed.
- #012
Patrick Swayze actually hated the line "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" and had to summon all his strength to get through it.
- #013
The love scene between Johnny and Baby in the "Cry to Me" sequence, which was cut from the film, came to prominence when it was shown for the DVD's 20th anniversary in 2007.
- #014
On a television talk show episode featuring the siblings of famous actors, Don Swayze said that his brother Patrick was a much better dancer than the film showed. Since the character Johnny Castle was not a professional, it was understandable that Patrick had to tone down his moves.
- #015
Jane Brucker, who played Baby's older sister Lisa, was a co-writer of the song "Hula Hana," but she did not receive credit for writing the song until March 18, 2002.
- #016
The crew had to apply makeup to Cynthia Rhodes to make her look worse in the painful scene, because she was too beautiful to look convincing without makeup.
- #017
While Johnny (Patrick Swayze) dances with Penny (Cynthia Rhodes), he wears a custom-made red dress with a crossed back. Swayze kept pinching his fingers.
- #018
Cynthia Rhodes asked Eleanor Bergstein to write the scene in which Penny tells Baby that she does not sleep around. It was written the night before it was filmed, and David Chapman built the dressing room so quickly that it was a surprise to Eleanor Bergstein.
- #019
While Vestron Pictures was looking for a corporate sponsor to help promote the film, Clearasil skin care and acne ointment maker Proctor & Gamble nearly signed on, feeling it could be a vehicle for reaching a young target audience. However, the company backed out because they did not like Penny's abortion subplot.
- #020
Throughout the film, Johnny and Baby always wear contrasting colors: Baby wears very light colors, while Johnny wears black or something very dark.
Behind the Scenes (1)
Characters & Cast (2)
- #022
The role of Baby's mother was originally given to Lynne Lipton, who can briefly be seen when the Houseman family first arrives at Kellerman's (she sits in the front seat for a few seconds; her blonde hair is the only indication of this), but she fell ill during the first week of shooting and was replaced by Kelly Bishop, who had already been cast as the rather sexy vacation guest Vivian Pressman. Bishop took on the role of Mrs. Houseman, and the film's assistant choreographer, Miranda Garrison, took on the role of Vivian.
- #023
Rehearsals soon turned into disco parties involving almost the entire cast, even non-dancers such as Jack Weston. The dancing and drinking went on almost without stopping, and the actors and actresses threw themselves into the atmosphere and began to identify with their characters. Building on this, Eleanor Bergstein encouraged the actors and actresses to improvise in their scenes. She also created sexual tension by declaring that, however intimate or "grinding" the dance steps were, no dancer would engage in any other physical contact with one another for the next six months.
Life & Family (1)
- #024
According to an interview with screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein in December 2008, the characters of Baby and Johnny were influenced by Bergstein's own biography. Like "Baby" Houseman, Bergstein came from a liberal Jewish family that visited Catskills resorts in the 1960s. Her father was a doctor, she was nicknamed "Baby" until she was 22, and her real name was the same as that of a famous woman with strong ties to the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration (Eleanor Roosevelt). Like Johnny Castle, Bergstein was a talented "dirty dancer"; she trained at house parties and later became an Arthur Murray instructor.
Related pages
- (500) Days of Summer — Dirty Dancing comes up in the facts on that page
- Val Kilmer — Dirty Dancing comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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