Grease star Jeff Conaway died today after a long battle with drug and alcohol addiction. The actor was taken off life support yesterday and passed away this morning at Encino Tarzana Medical Center. He was taken there unconscious on May 11 after an overdose and placed in a medically induced coma. Conaway had been treating himself with pain pills and cold medicine while in a weakened condition, his manager Phil Brock said.
His former Grease co-star John Travolta today paid tribute to a ‘wonderful and decent man.’ He said in a statement: ‘My heartfelt thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this very difficult time. We will miss him.’
Of his troubled client, Brock said: ‘He’s a gentle soul with a good heart… but he’s never been able to exorcise his demons.’
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
