Actor Jeff Conaway dead at 60
Posted May 28, 2011 10:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Jeff Conaway, perhaps best known for playing Kenickie in the 1976 film “Grease,” died Friday.
Conaway was also well known for playing Bobby Wheeler, a struggling actor and driver, on the hit TV show “Taxi” – a role he recreated in the 1999 film “Man on the Moon” about comedian and “Taxi” co-star Andy Kaufman.
Jeff Conaway had been in a coma after reportedly taking an overdose of pain killers on May 11.
Doctors told Conaway’s family that he had no brain function since he was brought into the hospital and on Friday they made the decision to take him off life support.
Conaway had a long history of drug and alcohol addiction.
He appeared on “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” in 2008 and admitted on the show to being addicted to cocaine, alcohol and painkillers.
Grease co-star John Travolta reportedly tried to help him with his addiction through courses from the Church of Scientology, but with no lasting effect.
His Taxi co-stars Marilu Henner and Tony Danza had been holding a bedside vigil for him since he entered hospital.
In the early 1980s, Conaway was married to Rona Newton-John, the sister of his Olivia Newton-John who he worked with in Grease.
He is survived by their son Emerson, who is a professional racecar driver.
