Henry Winkler's "Happy Days" character, Fonzie, basically was Danny Zuko, so he was a natural first thought for the film. But Winkler had been playing the ABC role for a decade, so he passed on "Grease."
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.
Who was originally supposed to play Danny in Grease?
Henry Winkler missed out on some serious greased lightning in a bottle. In an interview with CNN's Chris Wallace that aired over the weekend, the 77-year-old actor said he was offered the role of Danny Zuko in 1978's musical film Grease, which would go on to help cement John Travolta's icon status in Hollywood.
Before Newton-John was hired, Allan Carr was considering numerous names such as Carrie Fisher, Ann-Margret, Deborah Raffin, Susan Dey and Marie Osmond for the lead role. Fisher, who had recently finished Star Wars, was ultimately rejected because neither Stigwood nor Carr knew if she could sing.
Henry Winkler Calls Turning Down Danny Zuko Role In Grease One Of His "Greatest Decisions"
Who else auditioned for Grease?
Kleiser and Carr mulled other possibilities, including The Partridge Family's Susan Dey, model turned actor Deborah Raffin, and America's Mormon sweetheart Marie Osmond, who became the front-runner until she objected to Sandy's transformation from good girl to bad girl and dropped out in protest.
What actresses were considered to play Sandy in Grease?
Though Ann-Margret, Marie Osmond and Susan Dey were rumored to be in the running to play Sandy, "I said, 'There is only one person that should play this role, and it's Olivia Newton-John,' " Travolta told PEOPLE in 2018.
By the time Grease was a hit – and the studio realised a sequel might not be such a bad idea after all – Travolta and Newton-John had moved on to other things. Director Randal Kleiser also gave it a miss. Instead, Patricia Birch, choreographer of the original stage musical and the first film, was put at the helm.
Gibson debuted on Broadway in 1992, playing Eponine in Les Misérables. She then went to London and starred as Sandy in Grease—a role for which 800 other people tried out before producers chose Gibson—in a West End production.
"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. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
Stockard Channing sings lead on two of the tracks; the two tracks remain her only significant contribution to recorded popular music to date. The title track is featured twice on the soundtrack and performed by Frankie Valli, who had no other connection with the film.
John Travolta, who starred as Danny Zuko in Grease, famously stood out as younger than much of the rest of Grease's principal cast during filming in summer 1977 at age 23.
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.
Yes, in this version of Grease, Sandy is from Salt Lake City, the home of Mormons and people explaining constantly that they're not Mormons, they're just from Salt Lake City. But Sandy is probably Mormon.
In 1977, at the age of 33, Channing was cast for the role of high school teenager Betty Rizzo in the hit musical Grease. The film was released in 1978 and her performance earned her the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress.
Leo's girlfriend, Charlene "Cha-Cha" DiGregorio, is also 17 or 18 in the movie. Cha-Cha is a student at a different school in town, St. Bernadette's. She says in the movie, "They call me Cha-Cha because I'm the best dancer at St.
Is Rydell High School a real school? Not only is Rydell High School fictitious, but the school scenes in Grease were also actually filmed in three different places—Venice High School, Huntington Park High School and John Marshall High School. Of the three schools, Venice High was used for its aesthetics.
Sandy and Danny's post-Grease future is uncertain, but fans have speculated that they likely stayed together after riding off into the sunset – unless the fan theory speculating Sandy has been dead the whole time is true.
