The Time of My Life (31 page)

Lisa, Nicholas Gunn, and I wrote and performed
Without a Word
, a cathartic play about dance. Our cast and crew gave their hearts and souls. Left to right: MB Gordy, Nicholas, Griff Griffis, Lisa, Stacy Widelitz, Mark Paskell, me, Michael Wise (not pictured: Jack Magee).

Playing Orry Main in North and South sent my career soaring. I loved playing the courageous southern gentleman—give me a cape, a sword, and a horse, and I’m a happy man. (© American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)

Jennifer Grey and I pose at the Academy Awards. Dirty Dancing was supposed to be a sweet little movie, but it surprised everyone by becoming a blockbuster. (Photo: Jim Smeal/WireImage/Getty Images)

Lifting Jennifer in the lake looked fun. But the freezing water and multiple takes on the small slippery platform I was standing on made it very difficult. (Still taken from “DIRTY DANCING” provided through the courtesy of Lion’s Gate)

It was an amazing experience to dance down that aisle in a style that was created just for this movie. (Still taken from “DIRTY DANCING” provided through the courtesy of Lion’s Gate)

Lisa joined me at a signing of the
Dirty Dancing
sound track at a Sam Goody store in New York City. Unbelievably, thousands had lined up on the sidewalk since early that morning. Fun to be a rock star for a day. (Trans World Entertainment Corporation d/b/a f.y.e. for your entertainment and Sam Goody in addition to websites fye.com and samgoody.com)

On the set of
Steel Dawn
, the first movie Lisa and I starred in together. We explored the Kalahari Desert and fell in love with Africa during this shoot.

With Liam Neeson and Bill Paxton on the set of
Next of Kin
. I’ve gotten to work with some great people over the years.

Rehearsing for
Road House
with kickboxing champion Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, who helped me find my fighting style by training to the sounds of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” (Photo by Peter Sorel)

Lisa and I got seriously into showing Arabian horses—the steeds of the gods. Here, we pose with our champion Arabian stallion Tammen, a magnificent, beautiful animal. (Photo by Javan Schaller)

Whoopi Goldberg was perfect for the role of Oda Mae Brown in
Ghost
. It didn’t matter what was in the script—she just said whatever the hell popped into her head. And it was hilarious. (Photo by Peter Sorel)

Warning: Don’t try this at home. Making a plaster-cast dummy for Sam Wheat’s death scene in
Ghost
made me claustrophobic for years.