Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway (October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011) was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and two US television series, Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was also featured in the first and second season of the reality television series, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. In May 2011 after spending just over two weeks in the hospital, Conaway died at the age of 60 due to complications related to pneumonia and the degenerative brain condition known as encephalopathy.
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 Doody in the chorus. The two would reunite in the 1978 motion picture musical Grease, in which Travolta played Zuko and Conaway his buddy Kenickie.
In addition to acting, Conaway also dabbled in music. In the mid-1960s, he was the lead singer and guitarist for a rock band, The 3 1/2. They recorded four singles for Cameo Records in 1966 and 1967:
- "Don't Cry To Me Babe" / "R & B In C" (Cameo 425, 1966)
- "Problem Child" / "Hey Mom Hey Dad" (Cameo 442, 1966)
- "Hey Gyp" / "Hey Kitty Cool Kitty" (Cameo 451, 1967) (This single was produced by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, who also wrote the B-side. The A-side is a song by Donovan.)
- "Angel Baby (Don't You Ever Leave Me)" / "You Turned Your Back On Love" (Cameo 485, 1967)
In 1979, Conaway recorded a self-titled debut
album for Columbia Records. "City Boy" was released as a single. Bruce Springsteen's manager, Mike Appel, produced the album.
The CD Saints & Sinners, by Vikki and Kenickie, was released independently via the internet in 2008, featuring Conaway singing and rapping with Vikki Lizzi (Spinoza). They promoted the CD on The Howard Stern Show on April 2, 2008 and performed live shows in the Los Angeles area.
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 taken to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed in critical condition. After initial reports, Dr. Drew Pinsky, who had treated Conaway for substance abuse, said the actor was suffering not from a drug overdose but rather from pneumonia with sepsis, for which he was placed into an induced coma. Though his pneumonia was not directly a result of drug usage, drug usage hampered Conaway's ability to recognize how severely ill he was and to seek treatment for pneumonia until it was too late.
On May 26, 2011, Conaway's family took him off life support after doctors decided there was nothing they could do to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60. Conaway's doctor attributed his death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much ... and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs ... That's what happened with Jeff."
An autopsy performed on Conaway revealed that the actor died of various causes including pneumonia and encephalopathy attributable to drug overdoses.
Adriana Romero y Rocío Rodríguez 1ºB Bach.
