Cynthia Rhodes and John Travolta performed a dance in the film “Staying Alive”. She performed in “Dirty Dancing” alongside Patrick Swayze.
Rhodes, who will be 67 in November 2023, graciously retired from the spotlight in the height of her career, leaving behind a legacy of roles in legendary dance dramas from the 1980s.
Cynthia Rhodes was born in Nashville, TN. She sings and dances, and her first role was in Xanadu, a musical fantasy film from 1980 starring the late Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.
In 1983, she portrayed dancer Tina Tech in the film Flashdance. That same year, she landed an even bigger role as John Travolta’s love interest, a Broadway dancer, in Sylvester Stallone’s Saturday Night Fever sequel, Staying Alive.
In the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, she played Penny Johnson, a dancing instructor at a vacation hotel. This was her most famous role.
In her role, she showcases her rhythmic abilities with smooth and flamboyant Mambo-style routines while dancing with the late Patrick Swayze in heartbreaking emotional scenes.
According to Rhodes, Penny had a “edge,” which both attracted and surpised viewers as the character whose clandestine abortion went badly.
Rhodes was at the center of a socially significant storyline regarding reproductive rights. The film prepared the three main characters—Swayze as Johnny, Jennifer Grey as Baby, and Rhodes—for fame.
“She’s from South Philadelphia and has had a hard life…” She’s sweet, but she’s held back because she’s been through a lot and has built up a wall. Rhodes went on, “And I think she finally understands that life does go on.”
Rhodes said that dancing got “really hard” after she trained for 10 hours a day for the Penny part. “I keep telling myself I’ll never dance again because of this. I’m done moving…”,Rhodes said, “My back hurts all the time and my bones hurt. Every time I say, ‘That’s it, I don’t want to dance anymore,’ I get another film. I’m not going to refuse work! I feel very lucky to be in movies with dancing. But I’d like to do some serious work that doesn’t involve dancing…Just cast me in a straight role.”
The talented blonde, who was 31 years old at the time, had a choice of roles and men. In the same year that Dirty Dancing was released, she appeared in the music video for Richard Marx’s song “Don’t Mean Nothing.” Marx was also the singer for the renowned Rhodes song “Right Here Waiting” from 1989.
Rhodes and the Grammy Award-winning artist married in 1989. Brandon is her first child, born in 1990. She gave birth to Lucas in 1992 and Jesse in 1994.
Marx claims Rhodes, who used to prepare for the Olympics, left in 1990 to care for their children and because her movements caused her “intense physical pain.”
“This won’t last, she’s going to want to go back to work and make movies,” I thought. But she felt total happiness as a mom that trumped any feelings she had about making movies. Marx, who is now 59 years old, went on, “No matter how much you love her as a dancer, singer, or actress, you should see her as a mom.”
Rhodes began dancing when she was three years old, but she discovered that she enjoyed being a mother and giving her body time to relax and recuperate.
“The thing was, I never hurt.” I was a dancer after all. Now it’s getting annoying…I never stretched before. Before I dance, I need to stretch. “I love dancing, but I wouldn’t mind if I never did it again,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes has not looked back since. Curse of the Crystal Eye, released in 1991, was her final film role.
Marx parted from the former Hollywood starlet in 2014. The following year, Marx married Daisy Fuentes, MTV’s first Latina host.
When it comes to her sons, all three are becoming as famous as their famous parents.
Brandon now makes music and sings, while Lucas sings and acts, and has appeared on TV shows such as The Chicago Code, The Mob Doctor, Chicago P.D., and Parenthood. Jesse, the youngest, pursues his musical interests and joins a metal band.
