Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images Actress/Singer Olivia Newton-John and actor John Travolta with the cast from the movie Grease, attends the Celebration of Paramount Studio's 90th Anniversary with the release of six all-time musical favorites on September 22, 2002 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California.
The 1978 summer blockbuster Grease was released over 40 years ago and still serves as a way to kick off the summer for some fans. The sing-a-long version of the movie airs tonight, June 7, 2020 on CBS at 8 p.m.
The movie depicts the love story of Sandy and Danny throughout the 1950s with plenty of ’50s music to go along with it. It made more than $394 million worldwide and is one of the highest-grossing live-action musicals of all time.
The major stars of the movie, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John have both gone on to have successful careers in the film industry, and some other stars have as well.
Read on to learn more about where the cast is today.
John Travolta (Danny Zuko)
Paramount/Getty
Prior to Grease, John Travolta was already a star. He’d had a critically successful performance in Saturday Night Fever and had also starred in Welcome Back, Kotter. He’d already been nominated for an Academy Award, and he also had a top 10 single on the Billboard Chart.
Following Grease, Travolta didn’t have much success critically for a few years, but by 1994, he received another Academy Award nomination for Pulp Fiction.
When it comes to musicals, Travolta hopped back on that train in 2007 when he played Mrs. Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Most recently, he played lawyer Robert Shapiro in 2016’s American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Olivia Newton-John (Sandy Olsson)
Paramount/Getty
In the 1970s, Olivia Newton-John was already well-known because of her success in her music career. She had already released a solo album with the title track being written by Bob Dylan, and she’d also released a number of songs and solos that earned her critical acclaim.
Her career began to pick up steam when she was cast in Grease, though. She then continued to make music and later took some time away from the music and film industry to raise her child in 1992. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1992 and has since worked as an advocate for cancer awareness.
Newton-John founded the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness center in Australia.
Supporting Cast Now
Jeff Conaway portrayed Kenickie in Grease. The performer had previously played Danny Zuko in the Broadway version of the show. Following Grease, Conaway starred in Happy Days and Taxi. Conaway died in 2011 from multiple causes including pneumonia.
Stockard Channing played Rizzo. Prior to Grease, she was the leader of The Pink Ladies and had played a car thief in 1976’s Sweet Revenge. She later played the First Lady in the TV series The West Wing.
Barry Pearl played Doody. The actor later worked in series like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Murder She Wrote and Beverly Hills, 90210. He made a cameo appearance in Fox’s Grease: Live in 2016.
Didi Conn played Frenchy in Grease and Grease 2. She later became an activist and starred in ABC’s soap-opera comedy Benson. Her son was diagnosed with autism, and she began to advocate for the cause. Conn was named spokesperson as Autism Speaks in 2008. She also made a cameo appearance in Fox’s Grease: Live.
Michael Tucci portrayed Sonny, one of the five members of the T-bird. He spent time playing Amos in the musical Chicago.
Dinah Manoff, who played Marty Maraschino, went on to star in Soap and moved to Broadway later, earning a Tony award for her performance in Ought to Be in Pictures. In 2009, she starred in Bart Got a Room, a film that premiered in Tribeca in 2009.
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Grease’ Cast Then & Now: Where Are They Today?