Jeff Conaway

Birthday: 1950-10-05
Deathday: 2011-05-27
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

Jeffrey Charles William Michael Conaway was an American actor, best known for his roles in the movie Grease, and the US TV series Taxi and Babylon 5. He also directed the 1992 film Bikini Summer 2.

Jeff spent some of his 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. The 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning play was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and ran 333 performances and one preview from November 29, 1960, to September 16, 1961.Conaway remained for the entire run, then toured with the national company of the play Critic's Choice.

Conaway worked as a child model, and attended high school at the Quintano School for Young Professionals. He attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and later transferred to New York University. While at NYU, he appeared in television commercials and had the lead in a school production of The Threepenny Opera. He made his movie debut in the 1971 romantic drama Jennifer on My Mind, which also featured future stars Robert De Niro and Barry Bostwick.

The following year Conaway appeared in the original cast of the Broadway musical Grease, as an understudy to several roles including that of the lead male character, Danny Zuko, and eventually succeeded role-originator Barry Bostwick. He played the role for 2 1/2 years while his friend John Travolta, with whom he shared a manager, later joined the show, playing the supporting role of Doody. After breaking into series television in 1975 with Happy Days, followed by guest spots in several other TV shows, and three more movies including Grease, he was cast as aspiring actor Bobby Wheeler on Taxi, which premiered in fall 1978.

Conaway starred in the short-lived 1983 fantasy-spoof series Wizards and Warriors. He made guest appearances on such shows as Barnaby Jones, George & Leo and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared inJawbreaker, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Do You Wanna Know a Secret? He also played Mick Savage on The Bold and the Beautiful. From 1994 to 1999, he played Zack Allan on Babylon 5. In addition to acting, Conaway dabbled in music. In the mid-1960s, he was the lead singer and guitarist for a rock band, The 3 1/2, which recorded four singles for Cameo Records in 1966 and 1967.

On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances believed to be pain medication and was treated in Encino, California, where he was listed in critical condition. The actor was suffering not from a drug overdose but rather from pneumonia with sepsis, for which he was placed into an induced coma. On May 26, 2011, Conaway's family took him off life support after doctors determined they could do nothing to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.

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Credits

Year Title Character
2013-11-25 Dante's Hell Animated Circles Introduction (voice)
2011-07-11 Dark Games Tom Doyle
2008-06-03 Wrestling Franklin Conner
2006-11-10 The Utah Murder Project Sheriff Dan Patterson
2005-04-01 The Pool 2 Agent Frank Gun
2004-03-05 Y.M.I. Digger's Dad
2002-10-01 Curse of the Forty-Niner Reverend Sutter
2002-08-28 The Biz Gavin Elliots
2001-03-04 Do You Wanna Know a Secret? Agent Owen Sacker
1999-10-25 George Romero's Golden Tales 2
1999-05-12 Babylon 5: A Call to Arms Zack Allen
1999-01-30 Jawbreaker Marcie's Father
1998-12-20 Babylon 5: The River of Souls Zack Allen
1998-07-17 Babylon 5: Thirdspace Zack Allen
1998-04-09 Shadow of Doubt Bixby
1997-01-01 The Last Embrace Jagger
1996-01-01 The Russian Godfather
1994-01-01 2002: The Rape of Eden Reverend
1994-01-01 The Devil's Pet
1993-09-07 Sunset Strip Tony
1993-05-12 L.A. Goddess Sean
1993-03-19 European Night Werner Soehnen
1993-02-24 Alien Intruder Borman
1993-01-01 It's Showtime Rinaldi
1992-12-16 Bikini Summer II Stu Stocker
1992-06-22 Almost Pregnant Charlie Alderson
1992-06-01 Eye of the Storm Tom Edwards
1992-02-17 Mirror Images Jeffrey Blair
1991-12-05 A Time to Die Frank
1991-10-29 Total Exposure Peter Keynes
1990-02-02 The Sleeping Car Bud Sorenson
1989-12-20 The Banker Cowboy
1989-12-07 Ghost Writer Tom Farrell
1989-05-01 Tale of Two Sisters Taxi driver
1988-11-10 The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission Sgt. Holt
1988-09-30 Elvira: Mistress of the Dark Travis
1987-10-25 Bay Coven Josh McGwin
1986-07-25 The Patriot Mitchell
1985-10-19 Stephen King's Golden Tales Peter Prentice
1984-01-13 Covergirl T.C. Sloane
1983-10-09 Making of a Male Model Chuck Lanyard
1981-10-18 Nashville Grab Buddy Walker
1980-09-26 For the Love of It Russ Moran
1980-05-19 The Cheryl Ladd Special: Souvenirs
1979-09-05 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do Roy Fletcher
1978-07-07 Grease Kenickie Murdoch
1977-11-03 Pete's Dragon Willie
1977-07-14 I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Lactamaeon
1977-05-20 Delta County, USA Terry Nicholas
1976-12-24 The Eagle Has Landed Frazier
1971-11-10 Jennifer on My Mind Minstrel #2