“Grease” Cast: Catch up With Your Favorite T-Birds and Pink Ladies!

Before he put on Danny Zuko's leather jacket, John Travolta was already a bona fide star thanks to his roles as Vinnie Barbarino on Welcome Back, Kotter, Billy Nolan in Carrie (1976), and Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) — for which he received his first Academy Award nomination.

Then, in 1978, Travolta grabbed a leather jacket and became a T-Bird. 

Following Grease, Travolta starred in Look Who's Talking (1989) and 1994's Pulp Fiction, which earned him his second Oscar nomination. From there, he starred in Get Shorty (1995), Face/Off (1997), and Primary Colors (1998), as well as his first musical since the 70s, where he played Edna Turnblad in the 2007 version of Hairspray. Then, in 2012, Travolta reunited with Olivia Newton-John for their holiday album This Christmas. In 2016, he received his first Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Robert Shapiro in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Fun Fact: Travolta was married to Kelly Preston from 1991 until her death from breast cancer in July 2020. The couple had three children together: Jett, who died from a seizure in 2009, Ella Bleu, and Benjamin.

 Olivia Newton-John Johnady had a Grammy to her name when she was cast as good-girl-gone-bad Sandy Olson, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. And thanks to the songs "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights," she became the second woman to have two singles in the Billboard top five at the same time.  

After Grease, Newton-John released her second album, Totally Hot, and starred in the 1980 film Xanadu, which movie critics hated. Fans felt differently though, and the song "Magic" from the movie spend 5 weeks as number 1 on the music charts. 

Then, in 1981, she released Physical, the biggest album of her career, which ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks and became a timeless legend thanks to the aerobics-inspired music video. She recorded 15 more studio albums, achieving a career total of 26 and selling over 100 million albums worldwide.

Then, in 1992, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and fought tirelessly for cancer research up until she died in 2022. 

Fun fact: She met her first husband and father of her daughter, Matt Lattanzi, on the set of Xanadu. 

Jeff Conaway, or Kenickie, the T-Birds second-in-command, appeared in the original cast of Grease on Broadway, serving as an understudy for several of the roles, eventually taking over the part of Danny Zuko. Then, before the movie version of Grease, he guest starred on various TV shows and movies. 

Then he landed a role as a series regular in the sitcom Taxi, which landed him two Golden Globe nominations. Throughout the rest of the '80s and early '90s, he mainly worked in guest spots on TV and supporting roles in films until he booked the role of Zack Allan on Babylon 5 from 1994 to 1999.

Things turned dark from there after Conway's drug relapse in the early 2000s. He eventually died in 2011 from pneumonia complications. 

Fun fact: He starred in two different reality TV shows in the early 2000s: Celebrity Fit Club and Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew

By the time she was cast as high school bad girl Rizzo, Stockard Channing already had some impressive credits to her name, including the 1975 movie The Fortune, where she starred opposite Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson. Then, post-Grease, she continued to work onstage, eventually earning a Tony award for Best Actress for her work in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. She also received nominations for her work in The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, The Lion in Winter, Pal Joey, and Other Dessert Cities.

Channing also received an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for her work in the film version of Six Degrees. Then, in 1999, she joined the cast of The West Wing, which brought her six Emmy nominations and one win. She went on to win one more Emmy in 2002 for the made-for-TV movie The Matthew Shepard Story, which earned her a Screen Actors Guild award as well.

Fun fact: She was married and divorced 4 times and was in a long-term relationship with cinematographer Daniel Gillham until he died in 2014. 

Even though she is mainly known as the beauty school dropout Frenchie, Didi Conn, she actually has been in many other TV shows. Some notable ones include The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, Benson, Shining Time Station, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Transparent, and Blue Bloods. She also starred in the British series Dancing on Ice in 2019 but was eliminated in the 4th week. 

Conn is also a very well-known advocate for autism awareness, thanks to her son David's diagnosis of it. Then, in 2008, Conn was named the National Celebrity Spokesperson for the philanthropic organization Autism Speaks. 

Fun fact: Conn is the only cast member to appear in other on-screen adaptations of Grease. She was in the 1982 sequel Grease 2 and Fox's Grease: Live! in 2016. She, however, did not appear in Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, which came out in 2023. 

Barry Pearl played Frenchy's troublemaking boyfriend, Doody. Pearl performed in the first national tour of Grease before joining the film's cast. After the 1978 hit movie, he went on to guest star in TV shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Baywatch, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Even Stevens. He also appeared in the 2016 film Grease: Live!   

Fun fact: Pearl taught film arts at Joey Travolta's Inclusion Film Company for children and adults with disabilities.

Dinah Manoff, daughter of screenwriter Arnold Manoff and Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress/director Lee Grant, played the flirty Pink Lady Marty Maraschino. Following Grease, she had a yearlong role on the sitcom Soap in 1978. After she went on to win a Tony award for her role in the 1980 play I Ought to Be in Pictures. Then, in i988, she became Carol Weston in the hit NBC spin-off of The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, which ran for seven seasons. 

Manoff has three children with her late husband, Arthur Mortell. When her oldest son Dashiell died in a car accident in 2017, she began teaching acting at the Purdy Corrections Center for Women to help with her grief. 

Fun fact: In 2021, she released her first fiction novel, The Real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold, which takes readers behind the scenes of Hollywood.  

The nerdy, food-loving Pink Lady Jan was brought to life by Jamie Donnelly, who originated the part in the original Broadway production. Before Grease, she also starred in the New York and Los Angeles productions of The Rocky Horror Show alongside Tim Curry. Then, post-Grease, Donolley took an almost 20-year break from acting and worked as an acting coach in L.A. 

Then, in the late 90's, she appeared back on screen in productions such as Monk, Veep, Ray Donovan, Cyrus, and Black Mass. 

Fun fact: She is the only cast member to play the same role in both the Broadway and the film version of Grease. 

Kelly Ward played the youngest T-Bird, Roger "Putzie" in the 1978 hit. But this wasn't the first time Ward acted alongside Travolta. In 1976, they starred in the made-for-TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Following Grease, Ward had guest star roles in shows like M*A*S*H, The Waltons, and Magnum, P.I. before retiring from on-camera acting. 

He is now a voice director for Disney Television Animation and a screenwriter for numerous cartoons, including the 1996 feature film All Dogs Go to Heaven 2. From 1992 to 1996, he served as Vice President of Animation at MGM Studios and has spent 23 years as a musical theater professor at the University of Southern California's School of Dramatic Arts.

Fun fact: The character of Putzie wasn't in the original Broadway play. The role was written specifically for the movie. 

Micheal Tucci played Sonny, the T-Bird who repeatedly tries and fails to woo Marty Maraschino. After Grease, he appeared in TV shows like Barney Miller, Night Court, Lou Grant, MacGyver, Diagnosis: Murder, and JAG. He also starred in a touring production of the hit musical Chicago. Tucci later retired from acting and became a high school teacher in California. He shares daughters, Kate and Kelly, with his wife, Kathleen Tucci.

Fun fact: Tucci went to law school, passed the bar exam, and briefly worked as an assistant district attorney in New York City, New York.