Who is penny in dirty dancing

However, no one will forget Cynthia Rhode's role as Johnny's dancing partner, Penny — who made him fall in love with the art. She said of her character:. She's got a sweetness about her, but it's put back because she's had hard times, and she's sort of put up a wall.

Tennessee-born Rhodes began her career as a singer and dancer and grew to fame in the film "Flashdance," where she played Tina Tech. She again appeared on-screen in Sylvester Stallone's "Staying Alive. Rhodes' other roles are in "Xanadu" and "Curse of the Crystal Eye," which was her last screen credit in From to , the actress focused on her singing career as the frontwoman of the New-Wave band "Animotion.

She doesn't have the luxury of raising a child like the upper-class guests at Kellerman's. Penny believes her only solution to maintain her own livelihood is to have an abortion. But that doesn't mean she's happy about it. She takes her anger out on the closest representation of Kellerman's more fortunate clientele: Baby. The amazing thing about Baby is that she helps Penny anyway. Baby realizes that Penny's anger isn't personal; she's just the subject of Penny's anger at the entire privileged class.

Since this is , and Penny's poor, she's forced to have a dangerous illegal abortion. Since then, Cynthia has not spoken publicly about her private life or anything else for that matter. She simply chose to do more of her family and less TV.

Penny is now 63 years old and living life privately. As it turns out, Penny is not the only character from Dirty Dancing who retired early from acting. Jenifer Gray, who played Baby, also followed suit.

At a young age, the talented actor decided to have a nose job to change her look. Together with Clark Gregg her husband , they have a beautiful girl named Stella. Despite its name, Dirty Dancing focused more on abortion than Dancing. Talking about illegal abortion was an intentional sub-plot by the producers of the film.

Always known as a woman who favored her moral compass over the seduction of fame, it is not entirely surprising to learn that Cynthia Rhodes happily chose family life over career. Rhodes is perhaps best known for playing dance instructor Penny Johnson in the hit " Dirty Dancing. Remember the scene when she's writhing in pain after an illegal abortion procedure? See the clip below. Rhodes got her start as a teen in the '70s acting and dancing at a Nashville, Tenn.

By she got a small role in the campy Olivia Newton-John film "Xanadu. A couple of films and a few years later, Rhodes landed her big role in "Dirty Dancing. Raised a Baptist, Rhodes is said to have turned down Playboy and films that called for nudity.

So it's really no surprise to learn she decided to shun the spotlight completely for married life and motherhood. It's hard to tell, but Rhodes is now 55 years old.

The two live in Chicago's suburbs with their three sons. And Rhodes hasn't looked back -- at least that's what she's led Marx to believe.