The Fans' Love Story: Encore -- Part 6

Continuing from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5

The cover of Sue Tabashnik's book
The Fans' Love Story: Encore

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The book's Chapter Ten is Sue Tabashnik's interview of Betty Rollins, a who worked as a dancing extra in the movie. She did not as an hotel employee in the "dirty dancing" scenes. Rather, she acted as a hotel guest dancing in the ballroom.

I will summarize this interview.

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Betty Rollins is the sister of Patt Rocks, who was interviewed in the book's Chapter Nine. The parents of Betty and Patt were avid dancers, and so Betty and Patt grew up to be avid dancers too. Betty and her husband Jack White earned much of their living by teaching and performing ballroom dance.

When Patt, who was living in South Carolina, was hired to work as an extra in the movie, she called her sister Betty, who was living in Alabama. Betty decided that she too wanted to work as a dancing extra in the movie, and so she and Jack traveled to South Carolina to join in the fun.

Betty Rollins

Jack White

Betty and Jack did not interact with Patrick Swayze or Jennifer Grey. They said that Cynthia Rhodes (Penny) and Max Cantor (Robbie) visited the extras' tent and chatted with extras. Rhodes and Cantor were very pleasant.

One of the extras was a thief who stole stuff in the extras' tent. The thief stole Rollins' earrings. Of course, the extras had no idea that the the movie's story included a couple of thieves.

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The main theme of Tabashnik's book is depicting and explaining ordinary people's love for the movie.

Betty remarked that as avid ballroom dancers, she and her husband ...

... looked down our noses at that type of [dirty] dancing. ... Of course, that's not the way we danced. I think it was just kind of a rebellion.

I ask myself: "Why would that hokey movie be the sensation that it's been?  ...

To me, that movie had a purpose -- whether it was shallow or whatever. It was just the beginning of a different era. The music is not the same as it ever was. ....

It was about the the music and dancing -- the kids rebelling or wanting their own style.

Betty did not like the movie much and was puzzled by its popularity. Betty then questioned Sue Tabashnik about her love of the movie. Betty's questioning of Sue is the book's Chapter Eleven. This chapter is essentially a rehash of the first chapter of her two books. Sue explains how she saw the movie in 1987 and later joined a fan club that provided her with many opportunities to meet other fans, to meet with people involved in making the movie, and to write about the movie.

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The book includes many photographs. In particular, Rollins provided photographs of behind-the-scenes activities on the filming location. She was photographed posing with various actors and production people. The photographs are of rather poor quality.

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The book includes a reprint of as leaflet that was distributed to all the extras. The leaflet's first two paragraphs:

WELCOME!! Thank you for coming to our open call. We are casting for extras to be in the movie DANCING! which is shooting in the Blacksburg [Mountain Lake, Virginia] area September 5-19, 1986.

DANCING! starring Patrick (The Outsiders) Swayze and Jennifer (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) Grey, is the story of a young girl's summer in the Catskills in 1963 in a glamorous family resort where she falls in love with a handsome young dance instructor from "the other side of the tracks," learns to dance and grows into a responsible and mature young woman.

That is all that the extras were told about the movie's story. Notice that the title Dirty Dancing was not revealed to the extras -- perhaps because many people might not want to participate in a "dirty" movie.

The rest of the one-page leaflet provides instructions about the extras reporting their availability, showing up on time and staying until the day's end, dressing appropriately, etc.

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The book includes a list of Dirty Dancing Music Trivia. The list comprises 20 items. Here are two items (10 and 11) right in the middle of the list.

In 1989, "She's Like the Wind" won a the BMI Film and TV Awards for most performed song from a film.

"Hungry Eyes," performed by Eric Carmen, was $4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1988 and #2 on Billboard  Hot Adult Contemporary.

The entire list of 20 items is like that.

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The book includes 16 pages of fans' statements telling why they love the movie. I liked the following excerpts (all from women):

Age 38

When I listen to the radio and hear the music of “The Time of My Life”, at times it is a real time-travel into the past, where I was a teen and I had an easy and unworried life with less responsibility. … I can relive impressions of youth life with holidays, independence, love, truth, music, and lots of dance. The feeling gives me the strength I need to be able to cope with everyday problems.

Age 58

25 years ago, as I sat in the darkened theater day after day, finding refuge from devastating illness … I could forget the pain and depression ... I could enjoy beautiful dancing ... These dancers were young, vibrant ... Despite the incredibly horrible state of my health, what I remember most clearly is the joy I felt each day as I sat in that theater.

Age 21

This movie is by far my favourite movie ... The story in general is very natural, a typical young girl’s life as a teenager; going through changes and cutting ties with family, accepting people from different parts of society, knowing what matters and what doesn’t in life, and learning values and lessons in life that are important.

It’s impacted my life by going back to being 17 years old, the changes you discover in yourself, breaking away and individuating on your own, not wanting to let your parents down, always being the good girl who does the right thing by everybody.

Age not stated

It has deep, multi-faceted meanings to me.

When I was young, Dirty Dancing was a fun love story where the “not so pretty” girl stole the heart of the “bad boy.” It was the soundtrack that I listened to on long family car rides and the movie I would play when my girlfriends spent the night. ...

As I grew o1der, I wanted to be just like Baby — smart, witty and a great dancer. I wanted to be on center stage and show that I had so much more to offer than anyone realized. I would watch Dirty Dancing and try to act out the dance moves in my bedroom. The love story between Baby and Johnny became my idea of the ideal love story.

With time, Dirty Dancing became a coming-of-age story that I related to. I’ve found myself in Baby’s shoes — falling for the “bad boy” and making decisions that felt right in my heart, even if it defied my parents’ wishes. Dirty Dancing comforted me as I grew from the quiet girl to become a strong, confident woman. ...

Dirty Dancing has also been a lesson in humility empathy, and equality. Baby falls for Johnny with no regard to social class or education. I’ve tried to model myself on these principles and look for the best in everyone.

Dirty Dancing will always hold a special place in my heart. I feel connected to the movie because it’s grown deeper as I’ve grown. With time, I believe my connection with Dirty Dancing will only grow — it will become a movie about family values and how times may change, but families and love prevail.

Age 61

It takes me back to a time in my life where a very similar romance occurred. Only difference was, he was a singer with band, rather than a dancer at a resort. But much of the rest of the story is the same. ... I don’t think you ever forget that first magical romance. ...

Age 56

I lived in that time period. There was no talking back to your parents, sex before marriage was not acceptable, and families vacationed together. Young people rebelled by smoking, drinking, and “dirty dancing” because those were things their parents would never approve of. As I look back, I think of those things as harmless fun.

I think the movie still has appeal today, generations later, because our young people today have no outlet for “harmless fun.” ...

A great number of children come from single-family households who probably never had a family vacation. … There is much less personal contact in our lives today. There is very little face-to-face time. … We have lost the art of conversation and personal interaction. Many families don’t sit down for a meal together. A lot of kids stay out all hours and don’t function within their family. A lot of kids have no boundaries in place, or rebel violently if they do.

I think that’s where the movie Dirty Dancing comes in. … Life seems to slow down as we watch a family enjoy each other’s company and watch a young girl experience her first crush. The purity of the fun and romance is refreshing and probably a little corny to young people today ... but they watch the film because it makes them feel better. ...

I love the film because it reminds me of my own childhood. … I like the simplicity of life at that time, when the worst thing a girl had to worry about was getting a date for the prom. I watch the movie over and over. I love being transported back to the times I wrote in my diary, rolled my hair, was expected to be dressed appropriately for dinner, and rode my bike everywhere.

Today’s young people don’t know what that’s like, and I think it’s a shame because they don’t know what they’re missing.

In her 60s

It must have been the mid ‘90s when I became injured and wound up spending many days and evenings on the couch watching movies. … I really enjoyed it. I was intrigued by the concept, loved the singing, and was wild about all of the dancing. I was enthralled with Patrick’s sensuous performance and loved the story etween him and Baby. I also loved the locations ...

I started watching Dirty Dancing more and more after that because it lifted my spirits and made me very happy. … I’ve watched Dirty Dancing at least fifty times since then. ....

The biggest impact Dirty Dancing had in my life was inspiring me to learn how to dance. I really enjoyed learning the mambo …. I still have fond memories of my [dance] classes ...

Patrick’s passion, intensity, integrity, and love for life made a big impression on me and have inspired me in small ways to live by his example.

Woman, 41 years old

He [Swayze] was so gorgeous in that film, and what girl doesn’t like a good-looking guy that can dance! Dancing is intimate; if you’re a guy reading this — girls love it! … Patrick could dance. He made this movie so sexy! I mean it was so sexy that it was very erotic ...

I love that time period too. It was of family closeness, going on vacation, and enjoying simple things in life that make you smile and be entertained. It wasn’t perfect, but it showed how people were there to help each other out of a bad situation, and how being honor able really does pay off in the end.

I have seen Dirty Dancing around 50 times!

I love to dance, and watching them dance and seeing how cute Baby was when she was learning the dance reminded me of myself at times, but she had the hot partner. …

This is just a sampling of the fans' statements, which are much more in the book.

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Passion Spirit Dreams Press.

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This is the final part of my review of this book.

The Fans' Love Story: Encore -- Part 5

Continuing from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

The cover of Sue Tabashnik's book
The Fans' Love Story: Encore

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The book's Chapter Nine is Sue Tabashnik's interview of Tom and Patt Rocks, a married couple who worked as dancing extras in the movie. They did not act as hotel employees in the "dirty dancing" scenes. Rather, they acted as hotel guests dancing in the ballroom.

I will summarize this interview.

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The Rocks were avid dancers who lived in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Reading advertisements in their local newspaper and listening to advertisements on their local radio, they learned that dancing extras would be hired for a movie that would be filmed at Lake Lure, North Carolina. The Rocks traveled to Herndersonville, North Carolina, where the auditions took place.

The auditions were conducted by a young woman who seemed to be in her mid-twenties. The movie's choreographer Kenny Ortega did not participate in these auditions for dancing extras.

The Rocks were were offered the jobs, but they turned the offers down when they learned that they would have to commit themselves to work at Lake Lure for at least one week. They both were employed in Spartanburg and did not think they could get off from their regular jobs there for an entire week.

Because the Rocks had danced so well at their audition, however, the young woman offered an exceptional agreement in which they would have to commit themselves to only three days (not an entire week). The Rocks accepted the three-day commitment.

At that audition, the Rocks were not told anything about the movie -- not even its name. The Rocks were told that the movie might be called We Had the Time of Our Life.

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By the time the Rocks arrived at Lake Lure for filming, they had learned that the movie would star Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Cynthia Rhodes. The Rocks were familiar with Swayze because of his roles in North and South and Red Dawn.

Each such dancing extra was paid $30 and a brown-bag lunch for every day. However, because the producers were suffering money troubles, the extras were not paid promptly every day. The producer Linda Gottlieb "was going to New York every day trying to get money". Despite the late payments, the Rocks decided to extend their stay for the entire week. Patt Rock said:

The money was not important. It was just making a memory, having fun. ...

We were in an open tent. It was cold. It was raining. There was nothing glamorous about it.

And then if you stayed over, that was your expense -- your responsibility. So meals and $30 a day, but it was worth every minute that we gave to it.

At some point ... they came to us and said, "We have this scene and we would like for you to be in it, but if you are [in the scene], you'll have to commit to the rest of the shooting time." At that point, we were hooked, and ... so we committed to the full shooting time.

They were able to use their vacation time from their regular employers to continue for the entire week.

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In the movie's early ballroom scene, the Rocks are seen dancing next to Baby Houseman and Neil Kellerman.

Patt and Tom Rocks, dancing extras in Dirty Dancing

We were placed next to Jennifer because we dance comfortably. We weren't trying to compete with anybody. .... Our dancing was the kind of just informal dancing that they wanted to have as hotel guests. That's the way we dance normally.

The Rocks estimated that "a couple hundred" extras were employed in the filming. About nine (couples of?) teenagers were employed as the "dirty dancing kids".

Patt Rocks, an extra, sitting next to Vivian Pressman

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The Rocks observed that Max Cantor, the actor who played the character Robbie Gould, was troublesome. In particular, he clashed with the choreographer Kenny Ortega.

Robbie was Robbie, on and off screen. ... It wasn't stretching for Robbie to do his part.

The movie's name still was supposed to be a secret, but Cantor revealed to Patt Rock that the movie was called Dirty Dancing.

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The Rocks tell in the interview about their conversations with various actors at the location. I will not recount all such conversations.

Filming ended very late one day, so the Rocks stayed over at a local motel instead of driving back home. They went into the motel's bar and had a nice conversation with Honi Coles, who played the bandleader Tito Suarez. Tom went to bed, and his wife Patt remained chatting in the bar with Coles.

Then Swayze came into the bar and joined the conversation. He recognized her as an extra, mentioning a dress she had worn in one scene. She felt flattered by his recognition.

He and she talked a lot about the city of Charleston, South Carolina, where she had lived and where he had filmed North and South.

Then Swayze remarked that this movie they were doing now would "make me a star". Patt was surprised by Swayze's optimism, because she expected the movie to fail. She was aware of the producers' financial problems, and she thought that the movie might not even reach the movie theaters. She did not know the movie's story, and the scenes she had seen did not make coherent sense to her.

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Patt tells about a moment with Jennifer Grey.

Jennifer was a little bit inexperienced [as a dancer], and she kept practicing and practicing.

One day she was walking away and her head was down, and we [Patt and Tom] were right behind her. We said, "Jennifer, you are really doing a great job."

And she said, "Do you really think so? Am I doing okay?"

It was such a small environment. We weren't on a big studio lot. There was probably more proximity to the stars than you would normally have. She seemed to appreciate our encouragement and telling her she was doing a good job. She had to work so hard at it.

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Patt Rock worked for a local cable-television station. After the movie was released, she had an opportunity to interview the screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein for about an hour in preparation for a TV show about the movie. In that interview, Bergstein said that the scene where Baby dances on the stairs and bridge was an afterthought. Patt retold Bergstein's story to Tabashnik:

Those quick scenes when Jennifer would come down and she was practicing by herself on the little bridge, and then she put her lipstick on -- that was an afterthought.

They had finished. They had wrapped.

I guess Eleanor or somebody got the idea. ... It was a Saturday morning. ... Jennifer didn't feel good at all. She was really sick.

Eleanor said, "I will give you anything you want if you can pull yourself together and do these fast scenes."

And she [Eleanor] said they had the clothes and everything right there, and they would change into the costumes quickly.

That is such a memorable part of the movie .... That was an afterthought done after they had supposedly wrapped the movie.

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The Rocks estimated that Swayze jumped off the stage about a half-dozen times while rehearsing the final dance scene. Patt remembers:

When he would jump off, I couldn't even catch my breath ... He landed on his knee and did a twirl. When the camera stopped, he would just almost collapse in pain. ... It would hurt him and he would drop down on his knees. But I guess he did it maybe a half a dozen times.

The scene I was sorry they did not choose to use was when she [Baby] runs and he [Johnny] catches her. The camera was right on her face, but they never use that in the film. All the extras were sitting there and got to see that. I wish that had been in the film, because it was really, really neat.

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I will continue my review of this book in Part 6.

The Fans' Love Story: Encore -- Part 4

Continuing from Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

The cover of Sue Tabashnik's book
The Fans' Love Story: Encore

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The book's Chapter Eight is Sue Tabashnik's interview of Jim and Karen Myers, who worked, respectively, as the executive chef and the dining-room manager at the Lake Lure resort hotel at Mountain Lake, Virginia, while Dirty Dancing was being filmed in that location.

I will mention only a few aspects of this interview.

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The filming there took place in September, which was after the busy summer season. However, the hotel hosted a bridge tournament every September. Therefore, the hotel wrote into the contract with the movie producers that the filming could not interfere with the bridge tournament.

I wonder if one of the movie's card-playing scenes was inspired by the ubiquitous presence of this tournament. Several people -- including Jake Houseman and Max Kellerman -- are playing cards on the lake shore while Penny is demonstrating wigs.

Guests Playing Cards on the Lake's Shore

The other card-playing scene -- where Moe Pressman pulls out his wallet while playing cards -- was already in the July 1986 script.

Moe Pressman playing cards

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Filming the scene where Baby saw Penny crying in the kitchen lasted all night. Filming still was going on when Jim Myers came into the kitchen at 4 a.m. to begin preparing the restaurant's breakfast. The movie equipment occupied much of the kitchen space, and the kitchen workers had to be very quiet during filming.

I am surprised that the filming of these kitchen scenes, listed below, lasted so long.

Neil showing Baby food in the refrigerator

Baby sees Penny crying in a corner

Johnny picks up Penny and carries her from the kitchen

It adds up to only a few seconds.

Often Dirty Dancing tourists are allowed to see the movie's kitchen location, and they always want to see where Penny was crying. Sue Tabashnik was photographed on that spot.

Sue Tabashnik crouching down on the spot
where Penny was crying in the kitchen scene

Apparently there had been a table over the spot when the scene was filmed.

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Jennifer Grey's famous-actor boyfriend Matthew Broderick stayed at the hotel during much of the filming time. He impressed the Myers as a very nice guy. Jim Myers had a long conversation with him.

Apparently, Jennifer preferred that Matthew not watch while she was acting and being filmed. During those times, therefore, Matthew took the employees' children on fishing trips.

Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey

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The scene where Johnny and Baby practiced their lift movement in the lake was filmed in an unrestricted location. Many hotel guests watched. Karen Myers remarked:

… It was cold. I do remember that they had all these makeup tables and different kinds of tables set up on the beach, and as long as the guests did not interfere or come within a certain boundary they were certainly welcome to watch.

But they got kind of bored, I remember, because, as you probably know, with movie-making: it’s stop-start, start-again, retake, retake, retake, retake, lots of waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. The guests were real excited at first, and then they’re like, this is boring.

Of course, the guests did not realize that this boring scene would become famous.

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Many of the filming staff were noticeably homosexual, which caused a lot of talk among the local residents of this rural area.

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The Myers had lived and worked at the Mountain Lake hotel for six years, and so they knew the location very well. Since the movie was filmed at two locations -- the other was at Lake Lure, North Carolina -- they were amused by the locations switches when they watched the movie.

The first time we saw it in the theater, we didn't know what to expect. ....

It was really fun to go, "Okay, that's Mountain Lake. That's North Carolina. That's Mountain Lake. That's North Carolina."

They turn a corner, and they see Mountain Lake on approaching the corner and they see North Carolina when they went around the corner. That was kind of fun to see.

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Tabashnik's book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Passion Spirit Dreams Press.

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I will continue my review of the book in Part 5.

The Fans' Love Story: Encore -- Part 2

Continuing from Part 1

The cover of Sue Tabashnik's book
The Fans' Love Story: Encore

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In her book's Chapter 4, author Sue Tabashnik tells about her visit to Madame Tussauds wax museum in Hollywood to see the wax statue of Patrick Swayze. The statue is seen in this video.

Tabashnik interviewed the museum's marketing director and asked the following questions:

Who decided to make a statue of Patrick? Is there a committee who nominates and then votes for various stars?

Why was this particular scene from Dirty Dancing chosen for the statue?

How long did it take to make the statue, and how many people were involved in making it?

Was it an emotional experience for the people on the team making the statue, and had any of the team met Patrick or Lisa (Patrick's wife)?

What was the hardest part of making the statue?

How much of a role did Lisa have in the creation of the statue?

What kind of feedback have the fans given about Patrick's statue?

Tabashnik's essay about her visit includes the following passages:

... and then all of a sudden I saw straight ahead of me: Patrick's statue! It was positioned right next to Sylvester Stallone from Rocky and kitty-corner to the Star Trek figures. I just stopped in my tracks and stared. I knew right away that this was a huge and so well-deserved tribute to Patrick. ....

The statue of Patrick as the character Johnny in Dirty Dancing was so true to life. I felt overcome with emotion: if only Patrick were really still here. I could only speculate that somehow Patrick knew about this statue and enjoyed it. ....

I took this opportunity to enjoy this tribute to Patrick and also to say what I wanted to say to Patrick. I thanked him for all that he was still doing for me by his portrayal of the character Johnny and, most important, by the way he lived his life with boundless passion., spirit, courage, and dignity, which serves as great inspiration to me.

The book includes a photograph of Tabashnik posing with the statue.

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The book's chapter 5 is a one-page essay written by Joshua Sinclair, who directed Swayze in the 2008 movie Jump. The essay includes this passage:

In all my career, I have never met such a dedicated and passionate human being -- on and off the set. ... Patrick Swayze was the sort of miracle that comes along only once or twice in any given generation.

Swayze won the award for Best International Actor for his leading role in the film.

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Passion Spirit Dreams Press.

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I will continue my review of the book in Part 3.

The Fans' Love Story: Encore -- Part 1

I recently published a series of articles -- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 -- about the book The Fan's Love Story, which was written by Sue Tabashnik and was published in 2010.

Now I beginning another series of articles about Tabashnik's sequel book, titled The Fans' Love Story: Encore, which was published in 2013. In this series of articles, I will call this book simply Encore.

Cover of The Fans' Love Story -- Encore

The first chapter of Encore is the same as the first chapter of the previous book. This chapter tells how she fell in love with the movie in 1987, joined the Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club in 2000 and subsequently attended the Club's events, became acquainted with fellow fans, and wrote articles for the Club's publications.

The second chapter of Encore tells the developments between the publication of her first book in 2010 and the publication of her second book in 2013. This second chapter of Encore is divided into the following sections:

Screenings, Festivals and Events

Dirty Dancing Stage Show

Jennifer Grey and Dancing with the Stars

The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack

The Dirty Dancing Remake

The Patrick Swayze Statue at Madame Tussauds Hollywood

Dirty Dancing in Popular Culture

The Dirty Dancing Legacy

I will not dwell on this chapter.

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The third chapter is a 13-page transcript of Tabashnik's interview of the movie's producer Linda Gottlieb. This interview was very interesting, and so I will summarize it.

Linda Gottlieb, producer of the movie Dirty Dancing

Bergstein met Gottlieb "many years ago" when they happened to be dating two men who were roommates. In 1985, when Bergstein was beginning to develop her screenplay for the movie that became Dirty Dancing, she learned that Gottlieb was working as a producer at the MGM movie company. Bergstein called Gottlieb out of the blue, reminded her that they were acquainted, and asked for help in developing her screenplay.

Gottlieb invited Bergstein to lunch at a sandwich restaurant called Between the Bread. Bergstein explained that her screenplay was about two sisters, one of whom is a natural dancer. The story took place in a Catskills resort. The dancing in the proposed movie would be Latin dancing.

Gottlieb was attracted by the idea that the proposed movie would feature Latin dancing. In the Tabashnik interview, Gottlieb explains:

Tango Argentino had just become a big success as a theatrical show in New York, and I thought, "Well, maybe there is something out there in the zeitgeist that says there's time for Latin music."

According to Wikipedia's article about Tango Argentino, this show premiered in New York in October 1985. Therefore, I figure that this lunch conversation between Bergstein and Gottlieb took place in the last months of 1985.

During that lunch conversation, Bergstein still (according to Gottlieb) did not have much of a story for her screenplay. Rather, Bergstein had merely an idea that included the two sisters, the Latin dancing and the Catskills resort.

Since Bergstein still did not have much of a screenplay story, Gottlieb asked Bergstein to tell about her own life.

She [Bergstein] said, "I grew up in Brooklyn. My father was a doctor. You know, I was a natural dancer. I was one of those girls who used to go dirty dancing with the guys from the wrong side of the tracks."

And I [Gottlieb] literally dropped my spoon and said, "That is a million-dollar title!"

She said, "What is?"

I said, Dirty Dancing.

She said, "But that has nothing to do with the story I want to tell."

I said, "Eleanor, that's the title, and now we're going to get the story."

So at lunch that day, we invented the character of Johnny over this lunch at Between the Bread. In other words, it was not ever in her original thinking, but it came from the title of Dirty Dancing.

Gottlieb asked Bergstein to define her expression "dirty dancing". Their discussion led to an understanding that the expression encompassed both dancing and music.

I said, "You know, if there's dirty dancing, what's the other kind of music?

She said, "You know, it's clean teen music."

And we realized there was a musical clash between the clean teen music (which begins the movie) and the dirty-dancing music.

Gottlieb claims in her interview that the Johnny Castle character was "born" at that lunch discussion.

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Afterwards, Gottlieb pitched the screenplay concept to MGM producer Frank Yablans.  He approved MGM's payment for a screenplay. Gottlieb claims in her Tabashnik interview that she collaborated with Berstein to write the script.

They [MGM] funded the cost of the script -- you know, the first draft, the second draft of the script -- which Eleanor developed with me. I was totally involved in the development of the script.

By the time Bergstein and Gottlieb completed the script's second draft, however, Yablans had been fired from MGM. This unexpected firing gave Gottlieb the opportunity, according to the MGM contract, to buy the script's rights for herself.

Since Yablans was gone, no MGM producer intended to develop the script further into an MGM movie. If Gottlieb could convince another producer to take over the script and give her enough money to reimburse MGM (within one year) for its payment to write the script, then Gottlieb would free herself and Bergstein from all her obligations to MGM in relation to the script.

I [Gottlieb] then took it [the script] and shopped it around to every major studio -- all who turned it down I think I had something like 43 rejections. I mean, I looked everywhere. Nobody wanted to make that movie.

I was trying to raise independent money to do it. A little company, called Vestron, called [in February 1986] through my agent. .... Vestron said they were interested in meeting with me about producing it. There were two people there -- Mitchell Cannold and Steve Reuther. Mitchell himself had grown up in the Catskills, and so the story resonated for him .... They took the title of executive producers on the movie and basically came up with the financing, provided that I could figure out a way to do the movie ... for about $4.5 million.

Unfortunately, Tabashnik did not ask Gottlieb to elaborate about the ownership of the movie's rights, but I speculate that Gottlieb ended up with essentially the entire ownership.

Keep in mind that Gottlieb was an experienced movie producer, whereas relatively Bergstein and Vestron were just novices in the movie business. Perhaps Gottlieb arranged for Bergstein to earn just a flat fee for the script writing and arranged for Vestron to earn a guaranteed but limited return on its investment. (I am just speculating; I do not know.)

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When Gottlieb was shopping the script around to various producers, she still had not established the participation of any specific actors. After Vestron provided the $4.5 million, Gottlieb began to hire the cast.

The Gottlieb family and the Grey family were acquainted, because their children had attended the same high school. Jennifer Grey was the first actress who auditioned for the Baby Houseman character. Jennifer came to the audition with her father, the actor Joel Grey.

He [Joel] sort of pushed her [Jennifer] forward. She was stammering and scared.

The first audition was just dancing. All we wanted to do was just turn on some music and see how you move. She clearly moved well. She's a good dancer.

And then she stopped dancing, and she turned to us -- the director, myself and Eleanor. And she said:

I just have to say something. I know I shouldn't, but I have to say something. I'm just like this girl, Baby. I talk too much. I care too much about everything I do. I so understand this girl. I'm exactly like her.

Oh, I shouldn't have said it. Forget I said that.

Of course, we fell in love with her.

Then we saw 150 other girls, and we cast Jennifer. She was the first person we saw.

Years earlier, Gottlieb had considered casting Patrick Swayze in a movie about ballet. She never made that ballet movie, but she kept him in mind. When she began casting the Johnny Castle character for Dirty Dancing, she auditioned him and watched the previous movies that had featured him.

Gottlieb worried that Swayze was too old for Dirty Dancing. He was 37, and Grey was 27. Despite their ages, however, they eventually were selected, because "they both looked much younger".

Gottlieb told Tabashnik that the alternate selections for the leading roles were Billy Zane and Kyra Sedgwick.

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The above summary covers the first five pages of the 13-page transcript of Tabashnik's interview of Gottlieb. The remaining pages include the following tidbits:

* A stunt-double performed part of the log scene for Jennifer Grey.

* The "Love is Strange" scene was improvised by the director Emile Ardolino.

* Gottlieb considered casting Swayze's wife Lisa to play Penny, but ultimately decided that she was not as "strong" an actress as Cythia Rhodes.

* Gottlieb had to assign several people to get Swayze out of bed in the morning.

* A scene was shot with Jennifer bare-breasted, and Vestron intended to include it in the movie. Eventually, though, Vestron changed its mind and removed the scene.

* Part of the requirements to get a PG-rating was to remove the word shit, which had been said twice in the dialogue.

* Gottlieb, her children and her sister appeared as extras in the movie, because the local population did not have enough people who looked Jewish.

Jewish-looking Linda Gottlieb unloading her car trunk in an early scene

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Previous articles in this blog that discuss Linda Gottlieb:

Re-Watching Eleanor Bergstein's Earlier Movie It's My Turn

The Re-Writing of Eleanor Bergstein's Script

Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance

Linda Gottlieb's Article About Producing Dirty Dancing

The Blockbuster Film That Almost Wasn't Made

For some more articles, click on the Linda Gottlieb tag in the right margin.

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Passion Spirit Dreams Press.

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I will continue my review of Encore in Part 2.

The Fans' Love Story -- Part 4

Following Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

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In her book The Fans' Love Story, Sue Tabashnik claims that the movie's character Penny Johnson was based loosely on a real dancer named Jackie Horner. I already have written about this claim in a previous article titled Penny Johnson was based on Jackie Horner.

In her book, Tabashnik claims also that the character Johnny Castle was based partially on a real dancer named Steve Schwartz. I already have written about this claim in a previous article titled Sex and the Married Bungalow Bunny.

The book includes interviews of both Horner and Schwartz. Both interviews mention that the character Johnny Castle was based partially also on another dancer named Michael Terrace. The book does not include an interview of Terrace. I already have written about Terrace in a previous article titled Eleanor Bergstein's Research for Dirty Dancing.

Tabashnik deserves credit for pointing out Bergstein's use of stories told by those three real dancers. Their stories seem to be sources of various elements in the movie.

* the watermelons

* the wigs

* practicing the lift in a lake

* the expression "dirty dancing"

* the talent show

* the couple stealing wallets

* sexual affairs between dancers and guests

* Penny being a former Rockette

* Johnny's alternative career in construction

* bungalow bunnies

* breaking the car window

* female dancers becoming pregnant

* the popularity of the mambo in that period

More generally, Tabashnik's interviews of Horner and Schwartz depict the lives of professional dancers at resorts during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

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Tabashnik's book includes interviews of three resort employees who were present while the movie was being filmed.

* Buzz Scanland, General Manager of the Mountain Lake Hotel

* Mike Porterfield, Executive Chef of the Mountain Lake Hotel

* Gary Wilson, Head of Security at Rumbling Bald Resort

Filming was done at Mountain Lake during September 5-20, 1986, and included scenes in the kitchen, dining room, gazebo, Houseman cottage and on the beach and lawn and in the lake.

Rumbling Bald Resort was where the golf scene was filmed.

These interviews include some trivial details about the filming. For example, in the scene where Johnny breaks the car window, it was not really raining -- crew members on a roof used hoses to spray water. These interviews are interesting to super-fans who are fascinated by any trivial details about the movie.

I was amused by Porterfield's remarks about the actor Matthew Broderick, who was Jennifer Grey's boyfriend at that time. Broderick stayed with Grey at the Mountain Lake Hotel for several during the filming. Since Broderick recently had become famous from his staring role in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, young women staying or working at the hotel would take, as souvenirs, various items that he touched -- silverware, saucers, coffee cups -- "anything he touched, they took".

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Tabashnik's book ends with an eight-page bibliography of articles and books related to the movie. I intend to use this bibliography in my own future research about the movie.

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This book is worth buying and reading -- especially for people who have watched the movie dozens of times and for anybody who writes a blog about the movie.

The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Outskirts Press.

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Here I conclude my series of posts reviewing this book.

The Fans' Love Story -- Part 3

Following Part 1 and Part 2

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In her informative book The Fans' Love Story, Sue Tabashnik characterizes fans of the movie Dirty Dancing. She reports some statistics about the 186 fans who responded to her Internet questionnaire, and she provides transcripts of interviews of 22 fans (all women) who have watched the movie dozens of times.

Age 17 = "over 500 times"

Age 24 = "51-100 times"

Age 26 = "over 500 times"

Age 30 = "2-15 times"

Age 32 = "101-500 times"

Age 34 = "over 500 times"

Age 35 = "16-50 times"

Age 36 = "countless times"

Age 37 = "around ten times"

Age 41 = "101-500 times"

Age 41 = "countless times"

Age 51 = "16-50 times"

Age 53 = 51-100 times"

Age 54 = "101-500 times"

Age 55 = "16-50 times"

Age 57 = "16-50 times"

Age 60 = more than "150 times"

Age 62 = "101-500 times"

Age not specified = "51-100 times"

Age 75 = "51-100 times"

Age 83 = "51-100 times"

Tabashnik's book lists these women in order of age, just as I have done above. She conducted the interviews in or around the year 2008 -- about two decades after the movie was released (1987).

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Based on the questionnaires and interviews, Tabashnik lists the reasons why the movie is so loved:

1. The artistry of the movie

2. Patrick Swayze

3. The love story

4. The haven

5. The messages

6. The time-frame -- 1963

7. The inspiration to dance

8. The overall feel-good effect

For each reason, Tabashnik provides respondents' illustrative statements. Below are excerpts from four of the eight reasons.

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The love story

“It is the ultimate love story. . . the best thing about this movie is that you see this love as it grows. . . and you become part of it.. . This movie makes me believe that there is still hope for every person to find the love of their life it is keeping our faith in love strong and everlasting.”

“It is a pure love story.”

“It made me think that maybe I could have something like that when I got older (was fourteen when she started watching Dirty Dancing and is now happily married to the man of her dreams).

“There are many reasons I like the movie. Mostly the love story between two opposites as in Romeo and Juliet. . . I identified with it due to my own love story with my husband, David.”

“In such a controversial and material world, the role of love is worth to be mentioned. I love the kind of men that have the guts to fight for love.”

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The haven

(Tabashnik: What I am calling the haven is also referred to by the interviewees as: an escape, a place where I feel safe, and a lifeline.)

“North and South and Dirty Dancing have been escapes for me.. . they’ve been havens.. . It’s kind of like a favorite food, or a blanket or a cup of hot chocolate.. . And he (Patrick) has helped create those places through his art — just to watch him dance.”

“Dirty Dancing takes me to a place away from life’s problems and takes me to a place that I feel safe . . . It helped me through my cancer treatment.”

”. .. because of the way Dirty Dancing made me feel, it helped me through a very terrible personal health ordeal, during which I almost died. . . when I was in the theater, I could smile and feel good, safe and healthy for a few hours. The movie really became a kind of lifeline for me.”

“I was in a low period, and it upped my spirit and mood.”

The movie also helped two people — Mallory and Doreen (age 75) from UK — lose a significant amount of weight. Doreen commented that it may have saved her life as the weight loss helped her deal with a cardiac problem.

”. . . when I am feeling lonely, I just love to stay in bed and enjoy this wonderful film.”

“I had a difficult childhood, and when I would turn on the VCR, I instantly stepped into Johnny and Baby’s world. It kept me together.”

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The messages

(Tabashnik: The messages category touches on values, ethics, and ways one can live life in a positive manner.)

“It fortified my resolve that I will always do the right thing.”

“Baby stood up for what is right. Americans are losing their morals. We need some heroes. .. It’s the kind of ethics that you want to instill in your kids. Johnny worked hard and had good ethics. It also shows that learning new things can be fun.”

“I think in the end, it showed people are about doing the right thing.”

“I think the film shows you that we are all different people from different backgrounds but at the same time we can all learn something from one another . . . People can sometimes make themselves come across as something they are not in order to protect themselves. I think it teaches and makes you realize never to judge people without knowing them.”

“Bad boys’ aren’t really bad. It’s a mask they wear. .. If you get beyond the facade, you will find sincerity, compassion, and also many hard knocks.”

“I had to become forty-one years old to tell my parents my point of view, not accepting bad compromises. And now I feel comfortable with my decision.”

“Dreams can come true.”

“The movie is a positive statement of possibilities.”

“Dreams really do come true.”

"The movie gives the person the feeling that you can be anything you want to be.”

-----

The time-frame — 1963

“It reminded me of things from my past. It took me back to a time arid place where things were simpler.”

“It was the time-frame. It was 1963. . . I also come from a Jewish family and Mountain Lake looked just like the Catskills. . . I’ve lived that... I worked in the Catskills. . . in college’

“I remember the era. I was too young to be part of it, so Dirty Dancing let me live vicariously. It is an age before our world view became more cynical?’

"It was a less stressful time."

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To give you a taste of Tabashnik's interview, I provide one entire interview below. I selected it just because it is relatively short.

KARl THOMPSON

AGE 51. Lives in Idaho.

May 2009 (e-mail interview).

Has seen Dirty Dancing 16 — 50 times.

What year did you first see Dirty Dancing? How old were you? Did someone tell you about the movie or you just happened to hear about it? Did you initially watch It by yourself or with someone else?

Honestly, I don’t remember the year. We went to the theater to see it and I was amazed at the incredible talent of Patrick Swayze. I wanted to be his partner! He was sexy but kind, in an innocent way. I went home and danced for hours. I bought the soundtrack when it came out and have worn out threel My entire family went to see the movie. Even my father loved it.

Why do you like Dirty Dancing so much?

It teaches that we need to not judge someone based on their looks or attitude. “Bad boys” aren’t really bad. It’s a mask they wear. A sort of protection, if you will. If you get beyond the facade, you will find sincerity, compassion and also many hard knocks. People can rise above their circumstances and they can change their stars.

The love and gentleness that is shown to Baby is endearing.

How has Dirty Dancing impacted you personally?

[She marked on the Internet questionnaire:] “has given hope that love exists” and “has given hope that people will do the right thing”

Please tell me what about your involvement with dance. Please elaborate on how Patrick Swayze inspired you.

Dirty Dancing inspired me to take lessons. I wanted to be more free in movement and not so blocked in certain steps. Dirty Dancing and Patrick Swayze inspired me to be free in my dancing and to let go of fears. Through Patrick, I have been more confident in myself and have enjoyed the beauty of dance in all forms.

My husband and I have taken dance lessons and we are into ballroom, salsa, and of course, dirty dancing. Most of the students are 30+ single moms.

I had taken ballroom in high school and did well, especially with swing’. Michael (my husband) and I chose to take lessons together after Dirty Dancing. Michael had been dancing for many years when I met him. We met on a blind date. He was in an original dinner theater production, Not the Count of Monte Cristo in Arizona. He danced and sang. I had just come from Hawaii and had been doing disco there. We blended our dancing together and took lessons.

Please tell me how Dirty Dancing and Patrick Swayze inspired an at-risk teen to dance.

My husband and I were guardians of a fourteen-year-old girl who came to us from an unstable and emotionally abusive home. The first night here she wanted to watch Dirty Dancing. We put it on and she sat transfixed. After the movie, we took the soundtrack and played it. She began dancing like Baby. It was amazing to see her so comfortable and feeling sure of herself.

During her stay with us we would let her “dirty dance.” She watched the movie at least fifteen times while here and got better and better with her dancing. She is now in dance class that we are paying for and she has gone from D’s and F’s to B’s. She feels better about herself and seems to be moving in a good direction in her life. Perhaps some day she will use her dancing talents to find her dream, and perhaps she will be able to inspire others like the movie inspired her. She is still watching Dirty Dancing every week.

She looks at boys and compares them to Patrick Swayze. He is the “model of a real man” in her opinion. I have to agree. They broke the mold when he was made.

In addition to Dirty Dancing, are there movies that you have you seen multiple times? If so, is Patrick in them? And how many have you seen multiple times?

Road House, seen it at least fifteen times.

Ghost, I have seen at least one hundred times!

We have also watched Ever After over fifty times!

Willow at least twenty.

Chicago, dozens of times.

Have you ever met Patrick Swayze or anyone from the cast? If so, what was It like?

No, we have not had the honor of meeting him or anyone from the cast.

In 1993, my husband took master classes from Patsy Swayze (Patrick’s mom) at her dance studio. She was fantastic. He said it was awe- inspiring to dance where someone like Patrick Swayze had learned. The energy there was awesome. He also attended another master class at the studio hosted by ABT.

Will you continue to watch Dirty Dancing?

Yes, at least three to four times a year, if not more.

What do you think about Dirty Dancing, the movie being made into the stage production, and do you plan to see the stage production?

It will be hard for anyone to be like Patrick. However, Adam Lambert would be fantastic in the role.

Yes, we would go see it, definitely.

Do you think a movie sequel could be made?

NO. Don’t mess with perfection.

Is there anything else you want to say about Dirty Dancing?

The movie gives a person the feeling that you can be anything you want to be. You don’t have to be locked into a stereotype. There is so much out there to enjoy and experience if we allow ourselves the opportunity to be free. Everyone should be able to “dance” and be “like the wind.”

Additional Demographic Information

Marital status: Married

Education: Grad School

Occupation/Profession: Writer and animal rescuer

Official Patrick Swayze international Fan Club member: Since 1995

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Outskirts Press.

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I will continue this article in Part 4.

The Fans' Love Story -- Part 2

Following Part 1

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In her informative book The Fans' Love Story, Sue Tabashnik provides the following statistics about the 186 respondents to her Internet questionnaire (during 2007-2008) about the movie Dirty Dancing.

Female = 169

Male = 17

Ages 4 to 17 = 6

Ages 18 to 30 = 40

Ages 31 to 50 = 79

Ages 51 to 65 = 46

Ages 66 to 80 = 13

Ages 81+ = 1

No Answer = 1

The largest group of respondents were 31 to 50 years old. When the movie was released in 1987, that group was in the age range of 11 to 30 years old.

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The respondents selected (up to three) the following scenes as their favorites.

Final dance = 31%

Johnny teaches Baby to dance, puts her hands on his heart = 23%

Johnny dances with Baby first time at staff party = 12%

Baby giggles when Johnny moves hand down = 12%

Water lift = 9%

Penny and Johnny teach Baby ("spaghetti arms") = 9%

Baby says, "I carried a watermelon" = 4%

In their remarks, the respondents offered the following additional scenes as favorites

"I'm scared of everything" = 36 respondents

Love is Strange = 5 respondents

Sheldrake dance = 3 respondents

Baby changing clothes in car's back seat = 3 respondents

Baby and Johnny on front porch of Penny's cabin = 3 respondents

Baby's conversations with her father = 3 respondents

The book lists 18 other scenes that were offered by two or one respondents.

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The respondents' explanations (select up to four) for the movie's continuing popularity:

The dancing and music = 182

The love story = 126

The characters seem real and deserve sympathy = 104

The feel-good story = 80

The innocent time = 62

The characters' self-discovery = 52

The acting = 47

The coming-of-age story = 45

The value of integrity = 39

The respondents offered 15 other reasons. The most frequent other reason was Patrick Swayze. Other repeated reasons included the choreography and the songs. Another good reason was this:

It's a movie that brings two people from different sides of the tracks together, and they begin to come to terms with each other's expectations, and they could make it work as thyy both say "fight harder", and that's what Johnny and Baby did. They fought and overcame their fears and found trust in one another.

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The major positive impact on the respondent's life:

Provided worthwhile entertainment = 28%

Gave hope that love exists = 23%

Gave hope that people will do the right thing = 17%

Provided relief in a difficult time = 17%

Provided emotional catharsis = 12%

Other = 3%

The respondents offered 35 other positive impacts. Many respondents mentioned that they became life-long fans of Patrick Swayze or that they took effective actions to become better dancers. Several said that the movie made them more idealistic. Several said that the movie had cheered them up many times.

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The book does not provide any statistics about the following questions that were asked on the questionnaire.

How many times have you seen the movie?

When was the last time you saw the movie?

I wish those statistics had been provided. There is no explanation for their absence.

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The many remarks that the respondents offered beyond the questionnaire's lists -- favorite scenes, reasons for continuing popularity, impacts, etc. -- are very interesting to read.

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Outskirts Press.

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I will continue this article in Part 3.

The Fans' Love Story -- Part 1

The book The Fans' Love Story was written by Sue Tabashnik, a very active member of The Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club. The book describes the attitudes of passionate fans of the movie Dirty Dancing -- who have watched the movie dozens of times.

I like the book for its introspective characterization of such fans. In a previous article, titled 1987 - 2017, I recounted some experts' explanations of why people like to watch one movie many times. Those experts were analyzing those fans from the outside. In contrast, Tabashnik analyzes herself and her fellow super-fans from her own, inside perspective.

Book Cover -- The Fans' Love Story

Tabashnik watched the movie for the first time in the summer of 1987, when the movie opened in the theaters.

I confess that I was one of "those women" who saw the movie multiple times. Yes, I became a member of the "100 club". ....

I had had recently gone through a very difficult break-up with the man that I thought was my soul mate. Watching this movie not only provided a very nice escape, but it also seemed to impart that all again would be right in the world - that true love could exist against tremendous odds.

I came to the conclusion that watching this movie was very soothing, even better than reading self-help books, and in a way just as good as counseling.

The story was great, the music was fantastic, and the dancing was powerful.

Finally, there was this sizzling, passionate actor/dancer by the name of Mr. Patrick Swayze, who played the lead heartthrob. .... I was hooked into becoming a huge fan of Mr. Swayze. ...

In the year 2000, Tabashnik joined The Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club, which provided her various opportunities into the year 2010, when she completed her book.

I have enjoyed many different activities through the fan club.

I met Mr. Swayze four times — and had the opportunity hold conversations with him individually and as part of a group. I met him at two dance benefits for the extraordinary dance company Complexions Contemporary Ballet … in 2002 and then again 2004. I also met Mr. Swayze and Ms. Niemi at two film festivals — WorldFest Houston International Film Festival in 2003 and Nashville Film Festival in 2004 — that were showing their magnificent dance movie, One Last Dance. Their accessibility to us fans at both of the film festivals was really amazing.

Then, in 2005, I had the opportunity to call in a question to Mr. Swayze on The Big Idea with Danny Deutsch CNBC television show.

Throughout the years,I have had the good fortune to make some long-lasting, great friendships with some of the other fans in the club.

I have also been able to develp my writing skills and use my creativity by writing twelve articles that were published in the club magazine.

Patrick Swayze and Sue Tabashnik

By attending the club's events and reading and writing in the club's newsletter, Tabashnik enjoyed opportunities to become acquainted with other fans and with people who had been involved in making the movie. She asked many people what they loved about the movie. The result was this book, The Fans' Love Story.

In her first chapter, Tabashnik explains her own repeated watching of the movie:

I know that all I have to do to get a quick shot of “feel-good” is throw the DVD in, sit back, and be captured by the bliss of Dirty Dancing. Whether I have been in a great mood and wanted a “fix,” or whether I have been in a funk ... I just had to pop in Dirty Dancing and could escape into a great place where there was love, integrity, and a happy ending. ...

She quotes Swayze's opinions about why so many people watch the movie repeatedly.

He [Swayze] was also asked why audiences respond so strongly to dance. He said, “The world loves dance. It’s our first form of worship. It’s primal. Moving to rhythm is a powerful thing that’s innate in all of us.”

Mr. Swayze has made statements throughout the years that a big component of dancing with a partner is having a soul connection through the eyes. In his portrayal of Johnny and Ms. Grey’s portrayal of Baby, the connection definitely happens ....

Mr. Swayze stated that he had been advised not to do the movie. However, he took the role because, “I felt something for Johnny, the guy from the streets . . . that is fighting to like himself, to believe in himself.” It seems that Mr. Swayze put his own constant quest for personal/spiritual growth into the character of Johnny.

Barbara Walters asked why do so many women watch the movie so many times. In response, he spoke about how the relationship between the two main characters was based on what is inside: “Everybody dreams that somebody would see into their lonely world ... see past the exterior and see what they’re really like ... somebody sees through that and cares about them as a person ... It has been so successful because basically it’s about love, and how the power of love can redeem us all.”

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Tabashnik posted a questionnaire on the Internet and 186 people responded with information about how many times they had watched the movie and about their reasons. The book includes an analysis of those 186 responses.

Tabashnik subsequently interviewed 22 people in more detail. The book includes the transcripts of those interviews. Those interview transcripts comprise 83 pages of the book and are quite interesting.

(Tabashnik is a social worker who has conducted thousands of interviews in her professional occupation.)

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Based on the questionnaires and interviews, Tabashnik lists the reasons why the movie is so loved:

1. The artistry of the movie

2. Patrick Swayze

3. The love story

4. The haven

5. The messages

6. The timeframe -- 1963

7. The inspiration to dance

8. The overall feel-good effect

The book elaborates on each of these reasons in a five-page essay, which I will summarize in a future post.

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The book can be ordered from various booksellers, including directly from its publisher, Outskirts Press.

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I will continue this article in Part 2.

Sex and the Married Bungalow Bunny

The Dirty Dancing character Penny Johnson was based on a real-life dancer named Jackie Horner, who worked as a dance pro at Grossinger's resort hotel in the Catskills during the years 1954-1986. When Eleanor Bergstein was doing research in order to write the movie's screenplay, she interviewed Horner during the summer of 1985.

Years later, Horner was interviewed by Sue Tabashnik, who was doing research for a book that was titled The Fans' Love Story: How The Movie Dirty Dancing Captured The Hearts Of Millions!, which was published in 2009. Tabashnik's book is basically a series of interviews of various people who were involved in making the movie.

One of the people interviewed by Tabashnik was Steve Schwartz (also known by his stage name Steve Sands), who was Horner's dance partner at Grossinger's for many years. Horner considers that the stories she told about Schwartz to Bergstein served as a prototype for the character Johnny Castle. However, Schwartz was not interviewed by Bergstein, who based Johnny mostly on her interviews of another dancer, Michael Terrace. Schwartz and Terrace were friends.)

Anyway, Schwartz began working as a dance instructor at Grossinger's in 1954, when he was 17 years old (he lied that he was 20). As a young, single dancer, Schwartz from the very beginning of his employment took advantage of his sexual opportunities. His interview with Tabashnik includes the following passages (pages 23-24):

.... there were all kinds of dynamics that went on in the dance studio. You work for an hour or a half-hour with a woman and her husband, or a woman alone, or a man alone ... And you're dancing close to each other and all kinds of possibilities start to come up ..... which was an ongoing thing.

It was ridiculous. The husbands would go away during the week, and they'd come up for the weekend. That was one of the major activities. ...

The two major hotels up there were Grossinger's and the Concord. Very tight security. So the "bungalow bunnies" were not allowed to come on the grounds.

Bungalow bunnies were not guests at the hotels. They lived for the summer in bungalow colonies, where were a much lower economic situation than the hotels. The husbands, working men, came up on weekends. They tried to sneak into the hotels for the entertainment, dancing and mid-week sex. There were little or no bunnies at Grossinger's or the Concord, since the security was very tight.

At the smaller hotels they were a factor. They made the staff (waiters and busboys) very happy. A very small number of bunnies may have gotten into the bigger hotels, but very few.

I'm talking about the guests at the hotel. The guests at the hotel conducted themselves as much or more so than the bungalow bunnies --- and who else but with the dance instructors? Because the waiter staff and the bellboy staff at these hotels were not permitted to mingle with the guests.

At the small hotels, it was a free-for-all ... Here, all you had were people on the athletic staff, or the dancers or the musicians, office people for the ladies to get involved with, or the ladies' daughters or sons. That was a major activity. A lot of that went on. And you can imagine, a seventeen-eighteen year old kid who wasn't too bad looking.

The kind of education I got. The women offering money and all that. That's all very true. It all happened. Big time. Big time.

Let me tell you a few stories about the Baby situation. Baby checked in every Friday and checked out the following Sunday, and new Babies checked in. And it wasn't just Baby. It was Baby's mother who took a lesson and we got involved with, and it was Baby's aunt, and it was Baby's grandmother. And this went on every week. Sometimes they stayed two weeks, sometimes a month. But there was always a fresh crop. I'm tell you this is what it was like.

The guys took much more advantage of it than the female guests. The girls weren't anywhere as promiscuous as the working guys were.

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The Record Online website recently published an interview of Horner that included the following passages:

You knew the real Johnny?

That was Steve Schwartz, but he went by Steve Sands. He was my dance partner at Grossinger’s. He was a great teacher. He’d been dancing since he was a young guy.

And the women wanted him, that was true.

He was the one that was also blamed for all the robberies. We caught the little couple that was stealing also. Both of us had been teaching this couple. One night we go to the Evans Hotel, in the movie they call it the Sheldrake and the Evans was in Loch Sheldrake, and I see her take a fur coat off a chair. I said, `Oh my god, that’s the one taking money out of the cabana and stealing.′ That was true.

How did you reunite with Eleanor?

I get a call from Paul Grossinger, who says, "Jackie, you got to come up to the office." This is 1985. There sits Eleanor. She says, "After all these years I’ve been looking for you. You’re still here?"

She said she had an idea. That summer I took her all over the place. We walked all around the Grossinger grounds. I showed her all the things that happened and where they happened and how it happened. I wrote as much as I could. ...

They put it in exactly as I had said it. Exactly as it was written. Nearly every line I said to Eleanor they put in there. There were some things that went on! More that we didn’t put that in. There was enough stuff that went on, they could have given the movie an R-rating.

Penny Johnson was based on Jackie Horner

During 2011-2014, a blog titled Dirty Dancing was written by Sue Tabashnik. She has published the follwing two books:

THE FANS' LOVE STORY: How The Movie 'DIRTY DANCING' Captured The Hearts Of Millions!

and

The Fans' Love Story Encore: How the Movie DIRTY DANCING Captured the Hearts of Millions!

I have not read either book. Maybe I will.

In the meantime, I did read her entire blog, which included an interesting article titled Dirty Dancing Character Penny Was Based On A Real Person Jackie Horner. Here are excerpts.

The Dirty Dancing character Penny was loosely based on the real-life entertainment icon, Jackie Horner. I had the great pleasure of interviewing Ms. Jackie Horner during the summer of 2009 for my book: The Fans' Love Story: How The Movie 'DIRTY DANCING' Captured The Hearts Of Millions!

Jackie spent the summer of 1985 telling Eleanor Bergstein (writer of Dirty Dancing) her story--including going through photos of the era, clothing, and hair styles and telling her various anecdotes from her experiences as a dance pro at Grossinger's from 1954-1986. Check out the Dirty Dancing screen credits and you will see Special Thanks to Jackie Horner.

Here is one anecdote from Jackie: "Shelly Winters, bless her heart, was a dear friend and a Grossinger guest so often. One day she said, 'Jackie, you are going to get hurt practicing your lifts on these hard wood stages. Why don't you come down to the lake with me on Sunday and practice your dance lifts in the lake?'" 

Jackie was involved in stealing vodka-spiked watermelons for staff parties. Jackie taught a couple who was stealing and her partner was blamed for it. 

Sound familiar? Note though that Penny had an abortion and Jackie did not have an abortion--although per Jackie, there were other staff at the hotel who did. ....

Regarding Jackie's dance background, Jackie began taking dance lessons at the age of four and started as a touring professional at fourteen. She was a Rockette and a member of the June Taylor dance company. ....

Jackie Horner still gives dance lessons.

This video shows Jackie Horner dancing in 2011.