‘Grease’ star Didi Conn makes surprise appearance at event in London
Didi Conn, who plays Frenchie in the original “Grease” film, made a surprise appearance at “Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical” in London, England.
Stockard Channing is back on the red carpet.
The “West Wing” star, 82, stepped out at the premiere of “Practical Magic 2” in London on Wednesday, Aug. 26, after opening up earlier this month about becoming a “recluse.”
Channing, who wore a blue suit, posed on the carpet with costar Dianne Wiest and also took a group photo with the full cast, including Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
The highly anticipated sequel to the 1998 film about a pair of witch sisters sees Channing reprise her role as Frances Owens, the aunt of Bullock and Kidman’s characters.
Channing’s appearance comes after she shared in an essay for The Sunday Times earlier this month that she has been living a reclusive lifestyle since the death of her longtime partner Daniel Gillham in 2014.
“I’ve lived alone since I lost Daniel and I’m happy being a recluse,” she wrote in the piece, in which she chronicled a day in her life.
“Since just before Covid I’ve been living in London,” she wrote. “My partner, Daniel, died in 2014 and it was more devastating than I realized; it had a lag effect. The pattern of my life shifted, so I shifted my life from Maine.”
In the piece, Channing noted that she is directing a production of the Samuel Beckett play “Krapp’s Last Tape” in Edinburgh, Scotland, this year, but she said that she’s “not sure I’ll do anything after that,” adding, “Acting is like everything in life; you never know what’s going to happen.”
“Practical Magic 2” marks Channing’s first film role in four years: Her last movie credit was the 2022 comedy “Angry Neighbors,” starring Frank Langella and Bobby Cannavale. In recent years, she also had a role in the “Sonic the Hedgehog” spin-off series “Knuckles” and appeared in “Julia,” the HBO Max series about Julia Child.
Channing is best known for her roles as Betty Rizzo in the 1978 film “Grease” and as Abbey Bartlet, the first lady of the United States and wife of Martin Sheen’s Jed Bartlet, on the NBC series “The West Wing.” She won an Emmy in 2002 for her role on the show. Channing also earned a Tony for her performance in “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.”
The star was married four times before her relationship with Gillham: to wood sculptor and venture capitalist Walter Channing Jr. (1963-1967), translator and poet Paul Schmidt (1970-1976), writer David Debin (1976-1980) and businessman David Rawle (1980-1988). She does not have any children.
Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY