<Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Richard Marx (1989--2014; divorced) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> 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). </P> <P> 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 ." </P>

Who played the role of penny in dirty dancing