1. Jeffrey Charles William Michael Conaway was an American actor.
26 Facts About Jeff Conaway
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Jeff Conaway portrayed Kenickie in the film Grease and had roles in three television series: struggling actor Bobby Wheeler in Taxi, Prince Erik Greystone in Wizards and Warriors, and security officer Zack Allan on Babylon 5.
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Jeff Conaway was born on October 5,1950, in Manhattan, New York, and raised in the Astoria, Flushing, and Forest Hills neighborhoods of Queens.
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Jeff Conaway's father, Charles, was an actor, producer, and publisher.
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Jeff Conaway spent time living with his grandparents in South Carolina, which gave him enough of a Southern accent that when he accompanied his mother to a casting call for director Arthur Penn's Broadway play All the Way Home, a story set in Knoxville, Tennessee, the 10-year-old Conaway landed a featured role as one of four boys.
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Jeff Conaway remained for the entire run, then toured with the national company of the play Critic's Choice.
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Jeff Conaway worked as a child model, and he attended high school at the Quintano School for Young Professionals.
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Jeff Conaway made his film debut in the 1971 romantic drama Jennifer on My Mind, which featured future stars Robert De Niro and Barry Bostwick.
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Jeff Conaway had appeared in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show for the same producers, and, he said in 1987, had been considered for the role of John Burns, which eventually went to Randall Carver:.
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Taxi writer Sam Simon recalled in 2008 that during production of Simon's first script for that show, a missing Jeff Conaway was found in his dressing room too high on drugs to perform.
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Jeff Conaway was reported at the time to be dissatisfied with being typecast as a "blond bimbo" and the "butt of struggling-actor jokes," along with finding the nature of the role repetitive.
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Jeff Conaway starred in the short-lived 1983 fantasy-spoof series Wizards and Warriors.
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Jeff Conaway made guest appearances on such shows as Barnaby Jones, George and Leo, and Murder, She Wrote.
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In 1979, Jeff Conaway recorded a self-titled debut album for Columbia Records.
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Jeff Conaway's stepson, Emerson Newton-John, is a race car driver.
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Jeff Conaway underwent treatment in the late 1980s and often spoke candidly about his addictions.
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Jeff Conaway appeared in VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, but was forced to leave and entered rehabilitation.
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In early 2008, Jeff Conaway appeared with other celebrities in the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew.
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Jeff Conaway had suffered a back injury earlier in his career on the set of Grease while filming the "Greased Lightning" scene, which had been exacerbated by lifting boxes in his home, and he had turned to substances to manage the pain.
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Jeff Conaway related that he was molested when he was seven years old.
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Jeff Conaway stated that he had been an addict since he was a teenager.
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In June 2009, Jeff Conaway joined Celebrity Rehab castmate Mary Carey at the premiere of her parody film Celebrity Pornhab with Dr Screw.
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On May 11,2011, Jeff Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances believed to be pain medication and was taken to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed in critical condition.
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On May 26,2011, Jeff Conaway's family took him off life support after doctors determined they could do nothing to revive him.
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Jeff Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.
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An autopsy performed on Jeff Conaway revealed that the actor died of various causes, including aspiration pneumonia and encephalopathy, attributable to drug overdoses.