How was Stockard Channing cast in Grease?

Stockard was 33 when she played Rizzo. She looked 53.

She doesn't look 53 there and you don't look as young as you think.

Lucie Arnaz was offered the role originally but her mom didn't think it was big enough.

Arnaz was only 26.

I can't imagine any other actress as Rizzo tho. Especially one who was age appropriate then

Everyone in the 1950s looked old AF anyway.

None of the cast were of high school age. ONJ was 29.

Olivia looked 20 years younger than Stockard.

Shtockard wash terrific ash Risho! "There are worshe thingsh I could do..."

R7 Exactly, she was there as a distraction from the lead’s real age.

Vanessa Fucking Hudgens was 28 when she did it on tv.

It was common during the 60s and 70s to cast older actors as high schoolers. Now it's gone to another ridiculous extreme, where actors in their mid 30s are playing the parents of high schoolers.

I don't care what age she was - she was absolutely perfect in the role!

I was able to suspend my disbelief about John Travolta's and ONJ's real ages.

It was impossible to do that with Stockard, Jeff C and Didi.

The "brush-a, brush-a, brush-a" chick was too old and too ugly.

Dinah/Marty was age appropriate.

[quote]I don't care what age she was - she was absolutely perfect in the role!

Well, except for her nasal singing.

Lucie wasn't offered the role, r3, she was on the shortlist. They wanted her to test and Lucy said fuhgeddaboudit.

R3, Lucie claims she auditioned and landed the role of Rizzo, but she never heard back from the producers. She was signed to do "Bye Bye Birdie" in Milwaukee when "Grease" was scheduled to start production. Her mother told her she had a commitment and to stick to it.

[quote]They wanted her to test and Lucy said fuhgeddaboudit.

That's urban legend. They kept stalling in making her an offer and she got an offer to tour in a musical (Was it My One And Only?) and so she took that.

My One and Only didn't open on Broadway until 1983, r17.

Age notwithstanding, Stockard was great in the role.

But I didn't remember how bad her lipsyncing was until I saw OP's vid.

Well, there WAS worse things she could do.

[quote] Now it's gone to another ridiculous extreme, where actors in their mid 30s are playing the parents of high schoolers.

What movies have that happened in?

The teachers also skewed older. Like Principal Eve Arden and Coach Sid Caesar not forceably retired and working at Rydell High well into their 60s, but they looked 90s.

as said above that was kind of the norm back then. They didn't want to hire actual teens and deal with the work hour limitations. 33 is a bit much but look at Carrie. William Katt can barely fit in the desk in the classroom and Travolta doesn't look young enough either. (I used to think he had already graduated since he isn't in any of the school scenes.)

the women made it work somehow though especially Sissy who was 26

They couldn’t hire actual teens because they had full frontal nudity in these teen movies then. Now it would be an outrage.

Not in Grease they didn't r25. In Carrie though that is a good point. They had that nudity at the beginning.

I've never seen the movie so the photo made me laugh. She looks like one of those frumpy women who work in the administration office of a high school.

everyone looked old as hell except for maybe the blond T-bird. cocaine is a helluva drug.

Lucie made some big blunders in her film career. r3.

She also turned down the mom in Poltergeist because Sue Mengers told her you don't want to deal with all that mud. Mengers put her in some romcom that died a quick death and Lucie never really got another shot. (even on Broadway which is odd.)

Linda Lavin could have played the part. She was a young looking 39!

Linda couldn’t play 17 when she was17, some people are just born old.

Because Elaine Stritch wasn’t available.

Elaine was born old too. There seemed to be plenty of that type for a long while.

Olivia was 28 yrs old (not 29) when Grease was filmed.

Adrienne Barbeau (36 at the time) was one of the finalist for the role.

[quote] Olivia was 28 yrs old (not 29) when Grease was filmed.

Does it really make a difference at that point?

Why were all the finalists curly haired brunettes? Olivia was a paragon of blonde virginity. But a redhead would have been good.

I can't explain why it never bothered me that the cast of GREASE were all too old to play teens, but it drives me nuts now when I see a movie/show where the teens are played by adults (the latest being the trailer for Dear Evan Hansen).

Ben Platt is only 30. So young.

She was GREAT in it, Op. Next.

[quote]Now it's gone to another ridiculous extreme, where actors in their mid 30s are playing the parents of high schoolers.

Don't be stupid

[quote]Olivia looked 20 years younger than Stockard.

She looked 10 years old?

Stockyard was born in 1944, so she was in high school IN THE 50s

Played a slut to perfection

R43 She was a method actress.

OP is just being silly. Yes, of course she doesn't look 18, more like mid to upper twenties. She in no way looked older than 33.

Lucie didn't really need or want to pursue a big career, which is why she kind of let the cards fall where they did. She had seen what success did to her parents and Desi Jr and opted for her family to come first and work second. I can't say I blame her.

Besides, people forget that Stockard struggled career wise for years in spite of Grease's success.

Next to Chi Chi Stockard looked like a child. Now THAT bitch looked every day of 50.

[quote]Besides, people forget that Stockard struggled career wise for years in spite of Grease's success.

I wouldn't say she struggled. Right after Grease, she was given her own sitcom and it didn't do well. So they retooled the sitcom and did it again the next year and that bombed. She did have a role in Heartburn, but I think she discovered her fame would be found on the stage. In the 80s, she replaced Liza Minnelli and Lucie Arnaz. Then she hit pay dirt with Joe Egg, House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation. Broadway was very good to her in the 80s, immediately following her Grease success.

I went to high school with a Cha Cha. Teenage girls going on 40 do exist.

Going on 40 is one thing. Looking like Cha Cha is another.

After other actresses turned it down Stockard was given the part. She was friends with allan carr. Stockard had been the new it girl in hollywood & those movies bombed. (Her hit was a tv movie directed by joan rivers) She was thankful for the Rizzo role & the film’s success lead to a tv series. Then the 80’s broadway career followed. Born rich. Just read Party Animals (Allan Carr bio) & she was interviewed.

People in their 40s can go to high school.

[quote]Now it's gone to another ridiculous extreme, where actors in their mid 30s are playing the parents of high schoolers.

How is that a ridiculous extreme? It’s not as common anymore but people still have kids in their early 20s which would make their kids high school age when the parents are in their mid 30s.

At least I was age appropriate as Dorothy

I wonder if Lorna Luft was considered. She did the sequel.

R11- On the tv show Degrassi The Next Generation- The parents looked 35 years old with a 17 year old 🧒.

Did anyone see "The Fortune?" That was her first starring role movie. It seemed like it should have been a winner starring Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson and directed by Mike Leigh. But it bombed. Some people think it bombed because it was given an R rating?

Besides a Canadian show, R57, what other shows did that? I can’t think of any.

All I can think of is Poltergeist r59.

They go out of their way to say that the mother was 16 when she had the first kid.

So odd since they were supposed to be the typical American family.

on notstarring it says Susan Dey was considered for Sandy in Grease.

Had she got it I bet she wouldn't have condoled John Travolta when his wife died.

When Allan Carr bought the rights to Grease in 1972, he envisioned reuniting Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret as Danny and Sandy, which would've made 37-year-old Elvis possibly the oldest high school student in movie history. Ann-Margret was 31, which isn't too far off from Olivia at 28. Eventually, Carr moved on to Henry Winkler and Susan Dey. Henry had just become a star as Fonzie on "Happy Days," and he feared being typecast in another greaser role, so he declined. Susan was still in the running until Carr met ONJ at Helen Reddy's party and became enamoured.

Mae West, Bette Davis, and Gloria Swanson all turned down the Rizzo role because they didn’t want to play the older teenager role so early in their careers.

She was 33? Funny so am I but I wouldn't play Rizzo now. I have some self-awareness.

[quote]On the tv show Degrassi The Next Generation- The parents looked 35 years old with a 17 year old

That is because the girl (Spike) in the original Degrassi Jr High, got pregnant when she was in junior high school.

John Travolta was set to star in Grease before even Saturday Night Fever. Carr wanted Travolta from the start. The problem was that when he got the rights to Grease, he could not go into movie production until the Broadway show either ended or hit a certain mile mark, performance wise. This delayed the movie for a lot longer than Carr originally thought.

Furthermore the original writers were not happy when Grease moved from Chicago to Broadway, they had to rewrite a lot of the cusswords and sex out of it. If you can ever get your hand on the first original play it is raunchy. Then they were unhappy that it had to be even more tamed down for movie audiences.

Added to that, ONJ had a condition that she had to have John Farrar write her two original songs for her. "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and "You're The One That I Want," which are not in the original play. John Travolta had a match clause that said, if ONJ got two songs, he did too. So they wrote "Sandy" for him, also not in the original, and they took "Grease Lightning" from Kenickie and gave it to him.

[quote] the film’s success lead to a tv series.

Oh, dear!

r20...you do realize it is the quality of the video posted, right ? Its not really like that...but you do you.

[quote] Well, there WAS worse things she could do.

Yeah, and she did them to her face because of threads like this. Happy now?

I get that she is a DL fave, but I agree that she looked ancient and just plain unattractive.

It bombed, r58, but she was noticed and got good notices.

Stockard modeling Elizabeth's rags. I feel bad for poor Eleanor Parker being totally out-modeled by little Miss Deborah Raffin!

[quotehe could not go into movie production until the Broadway show either ended or hit a certain mile mark, performance wise.

The Broadway show was still running because in the theater I saw it in, they ran an advertisement promoting the Broadway musical.

The movie actually gave the broadway production a boost at the box office.

Carr couldn't have held up shooting of Grease too long for Travolta.

He only broke through with Kotter during the 1975/76 season. So he probably shot Grease in 1978.

It was shot in 1977, released in June 78.

R58, THE FORTUNE was directed by Mike Nichols, not Mike Leigh.

It's a fascinating movie to watch -- the Coen brothers are apparently big-time fans, and you can see why from its gallows humor and stylized presentation -- but it doesn't accumulate, if you know what I mean. Still, I'd rather watch it again than a lot of what passes for Hollywood comedies. And Stockard Channing is terrific in it.

Mike Nichols really wanted Bette Midler to make her film debut in The Fortune. She talks about it on The Rose dvd. She said her boyfriend/manager wanted her debut to be a star vehicle like The Rose. She said it did end up hurting Nichols' feelings but she was happy with the way things turned out since she did get to make a big first splash in film with The Rose.

Donna Mills was considered for the part of Sandy - she was the original template for the character.

Stockard Channing should do a late in life biopic about Olivia de Havilland just so people can complain about how she’s too young for the part.

Everyone is always ragging on Stockard Channing, but what about the kids in Fame? Maureen Teefy was 27 playing a 9th grader. And even though some of the other kids were more age appropriate, they still looked old (like Paul McCrane).

At least the kids in Grease could blame the California sun for aging their skin. What reason did the Fame kids have for looking so old?

Everyone forgets that in The Fortune, Warren Beatty appears in blackface. In the scene where they go to buy a poisonous snake, he disguises himself as a snake charmer. Cancel Warren Beatty!

r81

I think they did a good job of making them look high school age. Teefy was believable to me as she progressed through the four years. I guess if you really think about it none of them seem 14 like they would be at the start of high school but the ages don't stand out as much in that film as they do in Grease.

Lucy was offered the mom role in Poltergeist?! Woa that would have been a disaster

Despite The Jazz Singer being kind of a critical flop Lucie Arnaz got good reviews and a Golden Globe nomination for it. Really dumb move by Sue Mengers to tell her to do this forgetton movie instead.

JoBeth Williams' stardom didn't last long but she did have a nice run for a while there.

[quote] When Allan Carr bought the rights to Grease in 1972, he envisioned reuniting Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret as Danny and Sandy, which would've made 37-year-old Elvis possibly the oldest high school student in movie history.

As long as you're not talking about in TV history...

Lucy talked Lucie out of playing Rizzo because she wanted to play the part herself. She loved doing musicals ever since "Wildcat."

Even Gary Morton could not talk her out of it, but he wisely made some surreptitious phone calls to the studio bosses.

R52 Can you explain why Stockard Channing didn't have more chances in film or TV? I know she got an Oscar nomination and was in West Wing. But not much more. If they have roles for Dianne Wiest or Candice Bergen in indies why not for her? Is she "difficult" or just retired? I couldn't stand Grease but I was magnetized by Stockard Channing. I thought she was born to be a star.

She has worked pretty steadily on TV for the last few decades. Check her imdb page.

R89 Done. I've seen West Wing, Six Degrees, Heartburn, First Wives Club and most recently Difficult People. Is there anything else I should see? Please not Good Wife.

Jeff Conaway was already on drugs and it was starting to show. At least in [italic]Pete's Dragon[/italic] his character only bathes once every May, so he has an excuse for looking the way he does.

I saw Stockard in the lobby of my NYC building about 5 years ago. She was visiting a friend in the building. I said to the doorman. Do you know who that was? He said she gave her name as Susan.

She looked like the after picture below. I knew it was Stockard but her face looked so wrecked by surgery (and I mean she looked HORRIBLE) she couldn’t possibly be cast in a movie or TV show now. Viewers would go crazy.

She could work on the stage I guess because you couldn’t see her up close. She’s also tiny - maybe 5’2”.

[quote] She doesn't look 53 there and you don't look as young as you think.

She looks like a high school teacher or the parent of a high schooler, ridiculously old for that role. Is OP auditioning for Grease?

Apparently the worst thing she could do is bad plastic surgery.

Let's just say that not all the stretch marks around Stockard Channing's mouth came from a heavy smoking habit.

[quote]I couldn't stand Grease but I was magnetized by Stockard Channing.

That's pretty much the gayest sentence anyone has ever written on Datalounge, which is really saying something.

[quote] I saw Stockard in the lobby of my NYC building about 5 years ago. She was visiting a friend in the building. I said to the doorman. Do you know who that was? He said she gave her name as Susan.

her full name is Susan Stockard Channing.

I believe you mean "Stoddard" Channing.

-- Rex Harrison

She was a bit old to play a high-schooler, but honestly, most of them were. And she was fantastic as Rizzo, wouldn't want her replaced with anyone else.

In 1977 when Grease was filmed,

Travolta was 23

Olivia was 29

Stockard was 33

Jeff was 27

Didi was 26

Dinah was 21

Annette Charles (Cha-Cha) was 29

So only two of seven of the main stars were in their early 20s. Everyone else was older, so I'm not sure why Stockard was the only one to get so much criticism about her age over the years. No wonder she had bad surgery.

Maybe her current face is her punishment for trying to play young in Grease like some Dorian Gray situation?

Her nickname is stockyard channing

Has Stockard ever had a stalker?

Who the hell would stalk her?

Stockard Channing should have played the lead in Heartburn instead of Streep.

I can't wait for Dear Evan Hansen to come out so you bitches can get a load of Ben Platt and get off my back.

That movie gave me heartburn

In 1979, Newsweek put on its cover the biggest emerging new comedy stars for the three networks: Robin Williams ("Mork and Minday") for ABC, Gary Coleman ("DIff'rent Strkes") for NBC... and stockard channing ("Stockard Channing in Just friends") for CBS.

Needless to say, two remained comedy big hits and one did not.

More good things in which to see Channing:

The films "Sweet Revenge" (1975) "The Fortune" (1975 ), "The Big Bus" ( 1976), "To Wing Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" (1995).

Interesting facts about Channing: she grew up in a large Catholic family on the Upper East Side--her father was wealthy (he worked in shipping).

She had a fancy and excellent education, and attended the Chapin School in NYC, the Madeira Girls' School in McLean, Virginia, and Radcliffe College of Harvard University, from which she graduated summa cum laude.

She has been married and divorced four times. Her first husband's last name was Channing, and Stockard was her maiden name.

R109: Yet the one who starred in a flop is still alive. And she did [italic]The West Wing[/italic] which was unintentionally hilarious in its worship of neoliberalism and perpetuating the myth of the Enlightened "Straight" White Male.

[quote]I wonder if Lorna Luft was considered. She did the sequel.

How dare you!

I was MOLESTED!

[quote] So only two of seven of the main stars were in their early 20s. Everyone else was older, so I'm not sure why Stockard was the only one to get so much criticism about her age over the years. No wonder she had bad surgery.

Because she looked like she could be the mom of those other cast members.

I loved Stockard in Grease, but my favorite actor was the guy in the final number dancing around in pale blue very tight shorts. He's so handsome and has the nicest butt! I wonder who he is?

She has never been attractive

High School Senior Stockard Channing

I thought she looked great in First Wives Club.

I love that her high school photo is on a site entitled The Hot Gallery.

[quote] Stockard Channing should have played the lead in Heartburn instead of Streep.

Was she considered for [italic]Heartbeeps[/italic]?

[quote]Stockard Channing should have played the lead in Heartburn instead of Streep.

You ever seen Nora Ephron? Bette Midler should have played the lead. Streep and Channing are both too WASP to be portraying Nora Ephron.

Her real name is Susan Stockard. Channing was the last name of her first husband. For some reason she made her last name her first name when she started acting.

Bette Midler couldn't have done that and still do [italic]Ruthless People[/italic]. Between the two, I wouldn't have given that movie up.

Midler had turned down Mike Nichols for The Fortune as mentioned above. She was the last person he'd cast in anything.

Part of the premise of The Fortune is that both men want to sleep with her. Bette Midler was completely wrong for that role.

It didn't matter. It was fiction with older people playing much younger characters. Most people could deal with it without any problem and enjoy the film.

It was sort of the norm back then for high schoolers to be played by older people. It didn't look odd for the time.

Adrienne Barbeau was the first Rizzo on Broadway.

Mari Osmond said she turned the part of Sandy down due to content.

But she did a quickly forgotten bomb like [italic]Going Bananas[/italic] instead.

Which part of the Grease content upset Marie - a potential teenage (33 yr old Stockard) pregnancy or becoming a bad girl who smokes and wears skin tight clothes for the final scene?

It was rated PG and is his white bread as they come, even in 1978.

If Marie had taken the part, would she have worn a blonde wig or would Rizzo have been a skanky blonde?

[quote] didn't matter. It was fiction with older people playing much younger characters. Most people could deal with it without any problem and enjoy the film.

You can enjoy the film, enjoy her performance and still admit that she looked ridiculous playing a high school student.

Thirty + yr olds playing teens usually does look ridiculous. Even in films that most enjoy.

In the '70s, Donny and Marie acted as though they didn't even go to the bathroom. Donny dated his now-wife in secret before they married, as it would have spoiled his image! And after the marriage, his career went down the toilet for years because now he wasn't "pure and chaste."

There's no way Marie would have done a show that had cursing and teenage sex in it back then, even if her parents would have let her (they wouldn't have, and she was still a teenager at the time).

I've never liked Stockyard Channing much.

The pockmarks and fuzz on her upper lip did NOT lend that requisite "teenage" vibe.

R129, The initial script that Marie received was a lot coarser than what Olivia ended up doing. Remember, the original Chicago version was raunchy and vulgar. What Marie got was probably toned down, but she was still put off by it and she didn't like that Sandy had to go bad in order to get the guy.

Disco's France Joli was almost cast as Sandy.

Allan Carr had some strong ideas about casting but a friend who was working on the Paramount lot at the time and somewhat helped in the search tells some interesting stories. Paramount had a stake in the soundtrack and as such wanted a pop star to play Sandy so they recommended Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt, both of whom thankfully said no. Carr thought TV stars were good and initially wanted Susan Dey but also was considered Deborah Raffin whom he managed and was also a big name overseas. He tested many girls, including Marie in a blonde wig but it was correctly noted that she too closely resembled Travolta's little sister and it never went any further. Donny also tested and was offered Doody but said no. Because Marty would no longer be a singing part, Carr wanted Debralee Scott but because she also performed on Welcome Back, Kotter, he didn't like the connection with Travolta. Ironically, Marilu Henner was never considered but was only one year away from becoming a name on Taxi. Meg Bennett played Marty on Broadway and had just moved to LA for Y&R and was seriously considered but Carr loved the Dinah Manoff/Lee Grant connection. For Jan, Patricia Birch was pushing for original Jan Garn Stephens. Rizzo was the toughest cast. Once ONJ got Sandy, then everyone had to get older. Carr made overtures to Liza who said no (and she was fresh off three flop movies) and tested her sister Lorna. Lucie was indeed the favorite of Randall Kleiser but Carr finally got Channing whom he was also managing. Adrienne Barbeau was never considered, which is odd since Carr was very willing to hire TV actors. Travolta wanted Ann Reinking for the newly revamped role of Cha Cha. It is thought that Jeff Conaway got the plum Kenickie role as well as featured billing for being, shall we say, good to Carr.

Carr inquired about Marty to Pia Zadora but her husband Riklis insisted she play Sandy.

R134 = Disco’s France Joli

[quote] Carr inquired about Marty to Pia Zadora but her husband Riklis insisted she play Sandy.

Gary told him to talk her out of it.

[quote] So only two of seven of the main stars were in their early 20s. Everyone else was older, so I'm not sure why Stockard was the only one to get so much criticism about her age over the years.

She was still the only one of the actors you list who was in her 30s (and not even barely into them).

However, she isn’t the most absurdly old looking in the group — that would be Michael Tucci, who played Sonny, and was also over 30.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3TmqOorZ6csm%2BvzqZmraCimq6le5Fxb21paWuFbrTOsGSwmaNiwLW7wqSYq5xdmLWius2ipaBlk5bAtXnIp2SgqpWWwKZ5

• ← Previous Post
• Next Post →