Jeff Conaway

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Jeff Conaway

Born	October 5, 1950 (1950-10-05) (age 57) New York, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Rona Newton-John (1980-1985) Keri Conaway (1990-?)

Jeff Conaway (born October 5, 1950, New York City, New York, U.S.) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Kenickie in the 1978 motion picture musical Grease and out-of-work actor Bobby Wheeler in the TV series Taxi. He has also directed direct-to-video features.

[edit] Biography

Conaway began acting on Broadway at the age of two. He is most commonly known for playing "Kenickie" in the movie Grease and for his role on the television series Taxi (1978-1981) where he played grinning, high-energy, out-of-work actor Bobby Wheeler. Conaway left Taxi during the fourth season.

Conaway also played Sgt. Zack Allan (later Security Chief) on Babylon 5. He made an appearance in the film Jawbreaker as the father of one of the teenage girls. From 1989-1990 he was cast on The Bold and the Beautiful in the role of Mick Savage. He has made guest appearances on shows ranging from Barnaby Jones to George and Leo. He also appeared in the Disney film Pete's Dragon.

Conaway appeared in VH-1's Celebrity Fit Club and in early 2008 appeared with other celebrities in the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. The show revealed a wheelchair-bound, raging Conaway addicted to cocaine, alcohol, and painkillers, and in a co-dependent relationship with his girlfriend Viki, also a user of prescription opiates. Conaway had suffered a back injury earlier in his career, which had been exacerbated more recently as a result of lifting boxes in his home. Dr. Drew Pinsky said that Conaway's bad back has been detrimental to his sobriety. Faced with the need for surgery, Conaway opted to leave the rehab facility during the series' seventh episode. During group sessions, Conaway revealed "torture" from his childhood, as older boys in his neighborhood would put the young 3 or 4-year-old Jeff into dangerous situations, tying him up and threatening him. Then when he was 7, he was a victim of pedophiles and child pornographers.^[1] Conaway stated that he had been an addict since he was a teenager.^[2]

With John Travolta's support, Conaway took courses and auditing from the Church of Scientology to cope with his drug problem and depression,^[3] although he did not intend to become a Scientologist.^[4]

On BBC Radio 2's Russell Brand Show,^[5] Noel Gallagher claimed that he got into a confrontation with Jeff Conaway backstage at a gig resulting in Conaway pulling a knife on Gallagher.^[6] According to his interview on the show the following week,^[7] Conaway confirmed he regularly carries a knife and sometimes even a hatchet with him which he blames on "growing up in New York."