Cynthia Rhodes - wikipedia Cynthia Rhodes Cynthia Rhodes ( 1956 - 11 - 21 ) November 21, 1956 ( age 60 ) Nashville, Tennessee, United States Occupation Actress, singer, dancer Years active 1970 -- 1991 Spouse ( s ) Richard Marx ( 1989 -- 2014 ; divorced ) Children Cynthia Rhodes ( born November 21, 1956 ) is an American retired actress, singer and dancer. Her film roles include Tina Tech in Flashdance ( 1983 ), Jackie in Staying Alive ( 1983 ) and Penny in Dirty Dancing ( 1987 ). Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 Filmography 4 Songs 5 References 6 External links Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Rhodes began her brief show business career working at Opryland USA as a singer and dancer while attending Glencliff High School in Nashville during the 1970s. Raised in a Baptist family, Rhodes tried to maintain a clean - cut image in her acting roles and in the media, turning down scripts that required nudity and refusing offers to pose for pictorials in Playboy magazine. Sylvester Stallone, the director of Staying Alive, reinforced these facts by stating that Rhodes `` would sooner quit the business before doing anything to embarrass her parents. '' Rhodes played a small role in the fantasy musical Xanadu ( 1980 ). Following a minor part as Tina Tech in the musical film Flashdance, Rhodes played the role of Jackie, an ensemble dancer, bar band singer, and character Tony Manero 's ( John Travolta ) love interest in Sylvester Stallone 's film Staying Alive, the poorly reviewed, but commercially successful, sequel to the hit film Saturday Night Fever. Rhodes garnered her first non-dance related role in Michael Crichton 's science fiction thriller Runaway with Tom Selleck, Kirstie Alley and Gene Simmons. Her most notable role was as dance instructor Penny Johnson in the hit 1987 motion picture Dirty Dancing with Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. Rhodes ' final motion picture role was the character of Vickie Phillips opposite actor Jameson Parker in the sleeper action - adventure movie Curse of the Crystal Eye. Rhodes also appeared as a dancer in music videos, such as `` Rosanna '' by the band Toto, `` The Woman in You '' by the Bee Gees, and `` Do n't Mean Nothing '' by Richard Marx. She was a dancer for the glam rock band The Tubes when they toured in the early 1980s. Rhodes later joined the 1980s pop group Animotion, replacing the group 's singer Astrid Plane for the recording of its third and final album of original material. Though the group 's single `` Room to Move '' rose to No. 9 on the Billboard charts, the album failed to match the group 's earlier success, peaking at only No. 110 on the pop charts ; shortly thereafter, the group disbanded. In 2002, Rhodes co-wrote the smooth jazz track `` Perfect Day '' with then - husband Richard Marx for December, trumpeter Chris Botti 's holiday album. Personal Life Rhodes was married to singer - songwriter Richard Marx. They met in 1983, while Marx was working on the motion picture soundtrack for Staying Alive. Rhodes, seven years his senior, thought Marx was much too young for her to date at the time. Marx and Rhodes did not start their relationship until two years later, when they were reacquainted at a party. After a four - year courtship, the couple married on January 8, 1989. After marrying Marx and giving birth to three boys, Rhodes retired from her performing career to raise her family. In an Us Weekly article dated April 4, 2014, Marx 's representative confirmed that he and Rhodes were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. Filmography Xanadu ( 1980 ) -- Ensemble dancer Flashdance ( 1983 ) -- Tina Tech Staying Alive ( 1983 ) -- Jackie Runaway ( 1984 ) -- Officer Karen Thompson Dirty Dancing ( 1987 ) -- Penny Johnson Curse of the Crystal Eye ( 1991 ) -- Vickie Phillips Songs `` Room To Move '' -- Animotion ( 1989 ) `` Calling It Love '' -- Animotion ( 1989 ) `` I 'm Never Gonna Give You Up '' with Frank Stallone -- Staying Alive Soundtrack ( 1983 ) `` Finding Out The Hard Way '' -- Staying Alive Soundtrack ( 1983 ) References Jump up ^ `` Cynthia Rhodes Actor Biography ''. Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Two for Travolta ''. People Magazine / AOL Time Warner. Retrieved 2007 - 07 - 30. Jump up ^ `` Cynthia Rhodes Bio ''. Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2007 - 07 - 30. Jump up ^ `` 25 Worst Sequels Ever Made ''. EW.com. Retrieved 2009 - 02 - 11. Jump up ^ `` December 2002 ''. SmoothJazzNow.com. Archived from the original on 2007 - 10 - 31. Retrieved 2007 - 11 - 26. Jump up ^ `` Life After L.A ''. People Magazine / AOL Time Warner. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 30. Jump up ^ `` Richard Marx trades stardom for producing, parenthood ''. CNN / AOL / Time Warner. 2002 - 09 - 24. Retrieved 2007 - 08 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Richard Marx and Cynthia Rhodes Divorcing After 25 Years of Marriage ''. Wenner Media. 2014 - 04 - 04. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 04. External links Cynthia Rhodes on IMDb Cynthia Rhodes at AllMovie Cynthia Rhodes : Actress, Dancer, & Singer VIAF : 12505688 LCCN : n95049438 ISNI : 0000 0000 5516 0045 GND : 134496353 BNF : cb140332923 ( data ) MusicBrainz : eb240c6e - 6e61 - 4446 - b1a8 - 5d950a235793 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cynthia_Rhodes&oldid=798800669 '' Categories : 1948 births American female singers American female dancers Dancers from Tennessee American film actresses Living people People from Nashville, Tennessee Actresses from Tennessee Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Deutsch Español فارسی Français Italiano 日本 語 Plattdüütsch Polski Português Русский Svenska Українська اردو Edit links This page was last edited on 3 September 2017, at 22 : 05. 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Question: who played the role of penny in dirty dancing
Answer: Cynthia Rhodes