Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey

Out of the Corner by actress Jennifer Grey focuses on the challenges of being the child of a Hollywood icon and at the same time takes a look at her life so far as an actress, a woman, and a mother. Available through NC Cardinal at the Murphy Library since its publishing in May, this candid and raw portrait of the actress is a must-read for any fans of the iconic movie, Dirty Dancing, which Lionsgate has set the sequel date for February 2024.

Born in 1960 to acting couple Joel Grey and Jo Wilder, Grey bounced from one coast to the other as the family followed Joel’s career, which made her schooling more challenging. However, she met her best friend Tracy Pollan, who became Matthew Broderick's wife, at the Dalton School in Manhattan where they bonded over remedial math. She offers some reflection on her father’s 2016 book Master of Ceremonies in which he announced he considers himself a gay man though Jo is the love of his life.

Grey holds nothing back as she  unveils her loss of innocence in intimate detail at an early age to her romances with famous stars Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp with a little William Baldwin thrown in for good measure. She “found her person” at the age of 40 when she started seeing and later married Clark Gregg, an American actor, director, and screenwriter. Though recently divorced from Gregg, the couple considers themselves still a family with their daughter Stella, also an actress.

While the actress devotes many pages to living with her bad nose job, the best part of the book for movie fans is about the filming of the movie Dirty Dancing, which used locations in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Pembroke, Virginia. She provides all the background regarding the actors, the director, and the choreographer. The last person she wanted to do this movie with was Patrick Swayze based on their experience in the movie Red Dawn. She had to overcome this hurdle and trust him to do the iconic lift at the end of the movie, which she said she would only film one time because she was in total fear of that move.

Grey was a devoted journal writer, which was a great asset when she decided to write her memoir. She  made her acting debut with the film Reckless in 1984 and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off  in 1986. She earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for starring as Frances "Baby" Houseman in Dirty Dancing in 1987. Paired with Derek Hough, Grey won the 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars.