Jeff Conaway
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.
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.
Substance abuse problems
After hitting bottom in the mid 80s, Conaway came to grips with the fact that he had a substance abuse problem. He successfully underwent treatment in the late 80s and often spoke candidly about his problem.
By the late 2000s however, Conaway's problems with drugs had resurfaced. 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 Vikki, 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.[Celebrity Rehab episode, "Jeff reveals his traumatic history"] Conaway stated that he had been an addict since he was a teenager.["Jeff talks about Vicki and drugs at home", Celebrity Rehab episode]
With John Travolta's support, Conaway took courses and auditing from the Church of Scientology to cope with his drug problem and depression,
although he did not intend to become a Scientologist.
Conaway will appear on Celebrity Rehabs second season, which will premiere in October 2008.[TV Guide; June 23, 2008; Page 8]["Celebs Check Into Rehab 2 With Dr. Drew"; vh1.com; June 10, 2008.]
Confrontation
On BBC Radio 2's Russell Brand Show,[The Russell Brand Show on BBC Radio 2, 1 March 2008] Noel Gallagher claimed that he got into a confrontation with Jeff Conaway backstage at a gig resulting in Conaway pulling a knife on Gallagher.["Grease star Jeff Conaway pulls a knife on Noel Gallagher"; mirror.co.uk; May 3, 2008] According to his interview on the show the following week,[The Russell Brand Show on BBC Radio 2, 8 March 2008] Conaway confirmed he regularly carries a knife and sometimes even a hatchet with him which he blames on "growing up in New York."
External links
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