--- title: Grease 40th Anniversary: Where's the Cast Now? description: It's been 40 whole years since Danny and Sandy first danced and sang their way into our hearts, but we're still hopelessly devoted to Grease. canonical: https://time.com/5302337/grease-40th-anniversary-cast/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-15T18:24:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:17.838Z og:title: It's the 40th Anniversary of Grease: Where's the Cast Now? og:description: Here's what the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are up to today og:url: https://time.com/5302337/grease-40th-anniversary-cast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb17dea71fb3f935/69868ce8361760473a90bbb3/130588961.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5144 og:image:height: 2894 og:image:alt: Grease og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: It's the 40th Anniversary of Grease: Where's the Cast Now? twitter:description: Here's what the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are up to today twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb17dea71fb3f935/69868ce8361760473a90bbb3/130588961.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It's the 40th Anniversary of _Grease_: Where's the Cast Now? > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 15, 2018 6:24 PM UTC  Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John and American actor John Travolta as they appear in the Paramount film 'Grease', 1978\. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty Images) Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John and American actor John Travolta as they appear in the Paramount film 'Grease', 1978\. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty Images) Paramount Pictures—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jun 15, 2018 6:24 PM UTC This weekend means it’s officially been 40 whole years since the T-Birds and Pink Ladies first danced and sang their way into our hearts, but we’re still hopelessly devoted to [_Grease_](http://time.com/vault/issue/1978-06-19/page/90/). When _Grease,_ the movie based on the hit [Broadway musical](http://time.com/5168101/queen-prince-philip-oklahoma/), made its big screen debut in 1978, it was the [highest grossing](http://time.com/5261315/star-wars-avengers-infinity-war-box-office-lightsaber/) film of the year. Today, it remains the second most-successful movie musical of all time, according to [Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=musical.htm), having only recently been ousted from the top spot by Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_ live-action reboot. From Olivia Newton John’s good girl Sandy to John Travolta’s greaser Danny, let’s take a look at what the cast of the beloved ’50s nostalgia flick is up to today. ## John Travolta  Getty Images (2) Getty Images (2) Fresh off his breakout turn in 1977’s disco drama _Saturday Night Fever_, John Travolta cemented his place in musical movie history as Rydell High’s resident bad boy Danny Zuko. He went on to earn a number of Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG nominations over the years for his roles in instant classics like _Pulp Fiction_, _Get Shorty_ and _Hairspray_. For his most recent project, the now 64-year-old Travolta stars as legendary Gambino crime family boss John Gotti in the mobster biopic _Gotti_—in theaters June 15. ## Olivia Newton-John  Shutterstock; Getty Images At 29, Olivia Newton-John wasn’t sure if she could pass as the high school-aged Sandy Olsson. But it was clear to John Travolta that she was the one that he wanted. “She had a brilliant voice, and I didn’t think there could be any more correct person for Sandy in the universe,” he told [_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/01/grease-movie-musical-john-travolta-olivia-newton-john)in 2016\. Travolta was determined to get her the part. “I insisted that she be met and that we cast her.” Primarily a singer, Newton-John has since described _Grease_ as a [“turning point”](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/olivia-newton-john-grease-john-travolta-29-old-play-high-school/) for her musical career, allowing her to transition from exclusively country songs to pop hits like “Physical.” Newton-John has won several American Music Awards and four Grammys and is considered one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. Unfortunately, she is currently on a touring hiatus due to a [recurrence of the breast cancer](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/olivia-newton-john-reveals-breast-cancer-has-returned-postpones-tour-1008675) she was first diagnosed with in 1992. ## Stockard Channing  Shutterstock; Getty Images After winning fans’ hearts as Betty Rizzo, queen of the Pink Ladies, Stockard Channing went on to thrive both on stage and the small screen. In addition to starring in numerous Broadway shows, the now 74-year-old Channing notably played First Lady Abbey Bartlet on _The West Wing_ as well as Alicia Florrick’s mother Veronica on _The Good Wife_. She is a Tony winner and 2-time Emmy Award winner. ## Jeff Conaway  Getty Images (2) Getty Images (2) Jeff Conaway went from playing Danny himself in the Broadway production of _Grease_ to the top greaser’s finger-snapping sidekick Kenickie in the movie. He later earned two Golden Globe nominations for his role as out-of-work actor Bobby Wheeler on the TV series _Taxi_. Conaway passed away in 2011 at the age of 60 from pneumonia with sepsis following a long battle with [drug and alcohol addiction](https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/03/showbiz/ent-jeff-conaway-dead/index.html). ## Didi Conn  Actress Didi Conn attends the "Evening Of Discovery" Gala at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on May 15, 2012 in New York City. Getty Images Didi Conn has stayed in touch with her _Grease_ roots over the years, reprising her role as Frenchy in 1982’s _Grease 2_ and making a cameo as a waitress at the Frosty Palace in 2016’s _Grease: Live!_—a television special in which singer Carly Rae Jepson took over as Frenchy. She is the [only actor to appear in all three screen adaptations](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/grease-cast-now-movie-turns-40-1084136) of the franchise. ## Barry Pearl  Actor Barry Pearl attends the For Your Consideration event for FOX's "Grease: Live" at Paramount Studios on June 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images Although his movie career cooled in the years following _Grease_, Barry Pearl—a.k.a. T-Bird member Doody—found success in the children’s entertainment world playing Professor Tinkerputt in NBC’s 1994 primetime special _Bedtime with Barney: Imagination Island_ as well as the stage production _Barney’s Big Surprise_. The now 68-year-old actor was also the only original cast member besides Conn to show up in _Grease: Live!_ ## Michael Tucci  Michael Tucci attends the Street Food Cinema Summer Screening Series - "Grease" at Griffith Park on July 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images After strutting his stuff as T-Bird Sonny LaTierri, Michael Tucci moved on to television series such as _The Paper Chase_, _It’s Garry Shandling’s_ _Show_ and _Diagnosis: Murder_. He is currently teaching performing arts at St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, California, and recently revived his acting career as Melissa McCarthy’s father in _The Heat_. ## Jamie Donnelly  Music artist Jamie Donnelly arrives at the IMDb's 25th Anniversary Party Co-Hosted By Amazon Studios Presented By Visine - Arrivals at Sunset Tower Hotel on October 15, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. Getty Images Jamie Donnelly had already had plenty of time to perfect her portrayal of Jan on Broadway before landing the role of the goofy Pink Lady in _Grease_ the movie. She is also widely known for originating the roles of Magenta and the Usherette in both the Roxy and Broadway productions of _The Rocky Horror Show_. Today, Donnelly is an acting coach and continues to appear in guest spots such as that of Peggy Shaugnessy on _Ray Donovan_. ## Kelly Ward  Kelly Ward attends the Street Food Cinema Summer Screening Series - "Grease" at Griffith Park on July 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images Kelly Ward’s acting career largely came to an end just a few years after he played Putzie—a role created specifically for _Grease_ the movie—but his work in the entertainment world continues to this day. The now 61-year-old T-Bird currently works as a voice director for Disney Television Animation in addition to teaching musical theatre at the University of Southern California. ## Dinah Manoff  Dinah Manoff Getty Images Although Dinah Manoff stopped appearing on screen in the 2000s, she had a successful career in television following her role as the one and only Marty Maraschino. Not to mention that she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for _I Ought to Be in Pictures_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5302337/grease-40th-anniversary-cast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5302337/grease-40th-anniversary-cast/"},"headline":"It's the 40th Anniversary of Grease: Where's the Cast Now?","datePublished":"2018-06-15T18:24:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:17.838Z","description":"Here's what the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are up to today","url":"https://time.com/5302337/grease-40th-anniversary-cast/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb17dea71fb3f935/69868ce8361760473a90bbb3/130588961.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb17dea71fb3f935/69868ce8361760473a90bbb3/130588961.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Grease","caption":"Grease","creditText":"Paramount Pictures—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5302337/grease-40th-anniversary-cast/","name":"It's the 40th Anniversary of Grease: Where's the Cast Now?"}}]}] ```