Dirty Dancing's 17 Dirtiest Secrets Revealed

The film Dirty Dancing snuck up on audiences with its sweet simplicity, at first seeming like just another summer flick that would fade into history — until the coming-of-age 
tale became a surprising box 
office smash. Here’s a look at some of the surprising secrets behind the iconic film.

The hit movie was inspired by an upstate New York country club but the resort closed down in 2013!

The musical romance starring hunky Patrick Swayze as dance instructor Johnny Castle and earnest Jennifer Grey as student Frances “Baby” Houseman is still making audiences swoon 30 years after its release.

The movie’s origin was a dirty-dancing scene from screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s 1980 movie It’s My Turn, which starred Michael Douglas and Jill Clayburgh.

During filming, the scene was slashed, but 
Bergstein couldn’t let it go — and wrote a movie about it based on her own teen years!

Kutsher’s Country Club in the Catskills in upstate New York served as inspiration for Kellerman’s 
Mountain House, the resort where Dirty Dancing takes place.

But the indoor scenes were actually filmed at the Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia, which now hosts Dirty Dancing weekends featuring a movie screening, sock hop, group dance lessons and a watermelon toss!

Grey was 26 when she 
auditioned for the role of 17-year-old Baby, and producers gave her only five minutes to convince them she was a high school student. Clearly, she succeeded!

Val Kilmer turned down the chance to play Johnny, making way for Billy Zane. But Zane and Grey had zero chemistry and his dance moves fell flat, seeming to doom the production — until Swayze waltzed in to save 
the day!

There were fears of friction between the lead actors. Grey had worked with Swayze in 1984’s Red Dawn and thought he was a jerk! But sparks flew onscreen, making Baby and Johnny’s romance seem like the real deal.

In order to use summer getaway 
locations, filmmakers shot Dirty Dancing in the autumn, which means the “lake scene” wasn’t as hot as it looked! Grey recalls it was freezing that evening and her lips turned blue from the cold!

Swayze hated the classic line “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” and fought to get rid of it. But director Emile Ardolino insisted it stay. It’s become such a catchphrase for the film, it’s hard to imagine the movie without it!

The studio was bracing for failure after the flick flopped with test audiences. Reactions were so awful during screenings, no one expected it to make a dime. The movie ended up grossing close to $215 million worldwide and was the first film to move more than a million copies in home video sales.

Dirty Dancing also inspired a 1988 TV series starring Paul Feig and Melora Hardin — but it lasted only 
11 episodes!

The soundtrack to the film has sold more than 32 million copies and generated three top 10 singles: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen and “She’s Like the Wind” by Swayze.

Medley was less than impressed with the film’s title. “It sounds like a bad porno movie,” he recalls thinking at the time. He went ahead with the song anyway, never expecting its success.

“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” hit Number 1 in November 1987 and scored Medley and Warnes a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Swayze believed Dirty Dancing stood the test of time because of its heart. “It’s not about the sensuality,” he explained. “It’s really about people trying to find themselves ... On a certain level, it’s really about the fabulous, funky little Jewish girl 
getting the guy because of what she’s got in her heart.”

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