How Old Are Patrick Swayze & Jennifer Grey In Dirty Dancing (And Is It A Problem)?

“Dirty Dancing” was written by screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein and based on her own childhood trips to the Catskills with her family. Bergstein leaves the ages of her two leads ambiguous but does drop in clues that give the audience context as to the gaps between Baby’s and Johnny’s levels of mental and emotional maturity.

According to the script, Johnny was born in 1938 (the same year as Bergstein), making him 24 or 25, depending on when his birthday takes place. When he meets Baby, he is already in a relationship with a married woman who will end up needing an abortion. Baby is a sheltered recent high school graduate who intends to attend Mount Holyoke College in the fall. She is still reliant on her family and her father is fiercely protective of her, suggesting she might still be a minor. The New York Times certainly thought so: In 1987, they described her character as a “17-year-old innocent and serious daddy’s girl.”

Baby’s and Johnny’s ages might have room for interpretation, but the actors who depicted them were much older than their characters. Jennifer Grey was 26 when she played Baby in the movie and Patrick Swayze was 34 years old. Regardless, the significant age disparity between Baby and Johnny has left some viewers feeling squeamish. One Reddit user pointed out that the uneven dynamic between the two characters is most evident in the film’s climactic scene when Johnny announces, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” a reference to what is typically viewed as a punishment reserved for a child.

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