AN iconic 70s actress has been spotted looking completely unrecognisable, 47 years after playing a celebrated role that has stood the test of time.
The star, 74, was pictured in New York yesterday running errands while dressed in a pink polo shirt and white shorts, which could be considered an ode to her legendary character.
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She got her big break in Hollywood back in 1978 in a musical romantic comedy film which ended up becoming the highest grossing musical film at the time.
Four years later, she reprised her role for the stand-alone sequel and was the only character to return from the first film.
That’s right, it’s Grease icon Didi Conn! She played Frenchy Facciano as part of the Pink Ladies in the movie and it’s sequel.
The film’s soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, only behind 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever.
It was nominated for several accolades including a nomination for Best Original Song at the Oscars and five nominations at the Golden Globe Awards.
Not only that, but in 2020, Grease was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Didi previously spoke exclusively to The Sun about her experience of shooting the film and shared some behind the scenes insights.
In one memorable scene of the movie, there’s a dance contest where the cast go wild, dancing the Hand Jive and doing some rather dirty dancing.
While it looked like it would have been fun to film, Didi revealed it was anything but fun.
She expressed: “That actually took a whole week of shooting. And what was really tough about it was that it was the height of summer – my birthday was that week, and the cake they got for me totally melted.
“We were in a real high school in downtown Los Angeles, with no air conditioning, and we had to keep the windows closed because right next door was a pork plant, so you can imagine the smell!”
But it was Summer Nights, the opening number of Grease, that Didi remembered most fondly.
She explained: “I think that’s where we all bonded, and it was so much fun to sing that song and jump all around the table.
“We’d been rehearsing it for weeks beforehand, so the energy was so high when we performed it for real.”
Grease stars remembered
IT has been over 45 years since the release of hit musical film Grease, which began its decades-long tenure of dazzling fans in 1978.
Sadly, including Susan Buckner, five of the much-loved cast have passed away.
On August 8, 2022 it was announced that Olivia Newton-John had passed away aged 73, following a 30 year battle with breast cancer.
After falling ill with pneumonia, Jeff Conaway – Danny’s best pal Kenickie in the movie – sadly passed away in 2011.
The same year, Annette Charles, who played Cha Cha, lost her battle with cancer.
In 1993, Dennis C. Stewart, who played rebel Leo, was diagnosed with HIV and passed away from AIDS in 1994.
After Grease, Didi went on to star in comedy film Almost Summer, fantasy adventure film Thomas and the Magic Railroad and biographical film Frida, based on the life of Frida Kahlo.
In 2019, she flew across the pond to make her debut on British tv screens on the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice.
She was partnered with professional Łukasz Różycki and at the age of 67, was the oldest person to ever compete on the show.
However, she was eliminated in the fourth week after the judges decided to save Saara Aalto and Hamish Gaman after following the skate-off.
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