Stockard Channing, who portrayed headstrong Pink Lady Betty Rizzo, was 33 when she was hired. The late Olivia Newton-John was 29 when she played Sandy Olsson, the film's female lead. Most of the supporting cast members were also in their 30s or late 20s during shooting.
"People might say the cast is too old, but Grease is not a documentary; it's a fantasy," Joel Thurm told The Guardian. "It is a non-PC fairytale that is better for the cast not being teens. The only thing that was important was that the cast all looked about the same age as each other, which they did."
Kelly Ward brought the youngest member of the T-Birds, Putzie, to life in a role specifically created for the film. Grease wasn't his first time working with costar John Travolta, as the two worked together on 1976's made-for-television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.
Why didn't John Travolta go to Olivia Newton-John's funeral?
'Travolta's close relationship with Olivia, which he talked about publicly and often, may not have sat well with her husband,' alleged an insider. Easterling was said to be uncomfortable with Travolta's loving tributes to Olivia after her death, which he shared to social media.
John Travolta Tears Up Paying Tribute to Olivia Newton-John at 2023 Oscars
Did John Travolta ever love Olivia Newton-John?
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta were a couple only when they appeared together on the big screen. But their platonic love for each other endured long after they played Sandy and Danny in the hit 1978 movie “Grease.”
Newton-John said she wanted her ashes scattered at various places that meant a lot to her, including at Byron Bay. Newton-John, whose starring role in Grease in 1978 made her world famous, died at her ranch in California last week following a long battle with breast cancer.
Hollywood star Henry Winkler revealed on Thursday the surprising reason he turned down John Travolta's star-making role as Danny Zuko in Grease. The comedian, 77, told Kyle and Jackie O that he declined the role of the cheeky greaser because it felt too similar to his iconic Happy Days character The Fonz.
Frenchy was played by Didi Conn, who was 26 while filming during the summer of 1977. Conn had appeared in multiple TV shows and movies before hitting it big with "Grease."
The late Olivia Newton-John, who costarred as Sandy, was 29 at the time Grease was filmed; Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo, was the principal cast's oldest member at 33 during filming, according to a 2016 Vanity Fair article about the production.
Henry Winkler says fears of being typecast prompted him to turn down the lead role in 1978's "Grease." "I was dumb," Winkler told People magazine in this week's issue. "I spent so much energy, so much time … I spent so many sleepless nights thinking, 'How do I not get typecast?
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John met through their roles as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson in "Grease," but their real-life friendship went far beyond the hit 1978 musical film. The costars continued to remain close in the years that followed the movie's release.
Grease was shot in various locations across the Los Angeles area, from the lively South Bay to the charming Silverlake neighborhood. Much of the production was filmed on-site, including exterior shots of Rydell High, taken at Venice High School, Huntington Park High School, and John Marshall High School.
After being raised by wolves, Lucan strikes out on his own in search of his identity. In 1977, at the age of 33, Channing was cast for the role of high school teenager Betty Rizzo in the hit musical Grease.
Travolta was already famous by the time Grease was released, as his breakthrough hit Saturday Night Fever came out in 1977. John Travolta was 23 years old when he filmed the part of 18-year-old Danny Zuko.
Among the principal cast, Stockard Channing's Rizzo was the oldest, as she was 33 during filming. Didi Conn, who played Frenchy, recalled bonding with her costars and putting their true ages behind them to get into character.
The Grease girls, who played memorable best buds and cousins Sandy and Frenchy in the 1978 classic, joined one another on stage at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino during Newton-John's show.
In Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies, it is revealed that main character Jane's younger sister is actually Frenchy, one of the main characters of Grease.
Jamie Donnelly didn't have too many screen credits to her name before appearing as Jan in "Grease," the role she is most known for. While John Travolta and Jeff Conaway were also in the Broadway production of "Grease," Donnelly was the only cast member to play the same character in both the movie and on Broadway.
Casting Sandy would prove trickier. Director Randal Kleiser saw rushes from a new film his old college buddy George Lucas was making, titled Star Wars, to see if its female lead, Carrie Fisher, could be a fit. She wasn't. Marie Osmond (left) and Carrie Fisher (right) were both considered for Olivia Newton-John's Sandy.
"Greased Lightnin'" is a song from the 1971 musical Grease which was also adapted into the 1978 film Grease. A soundtrack recording from the film version, with John Travolta on lead vocals, peaked at No.
A host of international stars and dignitaries paid tribute to the late Australian star Olivia Newton-John in at a state memorial service in Melbourne on Sunday. Thousands gathered at Hamer Hall and video tributes came from Elton John, Hugh Jackman, Dolly Parton, Pink, Barry Gibb and Mariah Carey.
How old was Olivia Newton-John when she made grease?
Given all of this success and stardom, it comes as no surprise that Olivia Newton-John wasn't quite the 17-year-old girl she played on screen. In fact, Newton-John was 29 years old during the filming of Grease, making her a whopping 12 years older than her character.
