Jeffrey Charles William Michael Conaway (October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011) His father Charles His mother Helen, an actress who went by the stage name Mary Ann Brooks,
He spent time living with his grandparents in South Carolina, which gave him enough of a Southern accent Conaway remained for the entire run, then toured with the national company of the play Critic's Choice. and later transferred to New York University.
He played the role for years while his friend John Travolta, with whom he shared a manager, later joined the play, playing the supporting role of Doody. The two reunited in the 1978 motion picture musical Grease, in which Travolta played Zuko and Conaway his buddy Kenickie.
He had appeared in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show for the same producers, and, he said in 1987, had been considered for the role of John Burns, which eventually went to Randall Carver:
Conaway left Taxi after the third season. Part of the reason was his drug abuse after season one. Conaway was reported at the time to be dissatisfied with being typecast as a "blond bimbo" and the "butt of struggling-actor jokes," along with finding the nature of the role repetitive. He also felt creatively stymied:
After Taxi
Conaway starred in the short-lived 1983 fantasy-spoof series Wizards and Warriors. He made guest appearances on such shows as Barnaby Jones, George and Leo, and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in films such as Jawbreaker, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, and Do You Wanna Know a Secret?
From 1989 to 1990, he played Mick Savage on The Bold and the Beautiful. In 1993, he appeared onstage in Real Life Photographs. From 1994 to 1999, he played Sergeant, later promoted to Security Chief, Zack Allan on Babylon 5. In 2010, he provided voice-over for the English version of the animated short film Dante's Hell Animated (released in 2013), in which he is credited as "Hollywood legend Jeff Conaway".
Music career
In addition to acting, Conaway dabbled in music. In the mid-1960s, he was the lead singer and guitarist for a rock band, The , which recorded four singles for Cameo Records in 1966 and 1967:
- "Don't Cry to Me Babe" / "R & B In C" (Cameo 425, 1966)
- "Problem Child" / "Hey Mom Hey Dad" (Cameo 442, 1966)
- "Hey Gyp" / "Hey Kitty Cool Kitty" (Cameo 451, 1967) (This single was produced by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, who also wrote the B-side. The A-side is a song by Donovan.)
- "Angel Baby (Don't You Ever Leave Me)" / "You Turned Your Back on Love" (Cameo 485, 1967)
In 1979, Conaway recorded a self-titled debut album for Columbia Records. "City Boy" was released as a single. Bruce Springsteen's manager, Mike Appel, produced the album. In 2000, he released the album It Don't Make Sense You Can't Make Peace on the KEGMusic label.
Personal life
His stepson, Emerson Newton-John, His third marriage was to Kerri Young from 1990 to 2000.
Health problems
After experiencing a crisis in the mid-1980s, Conaway came to grips with having a substance abuse problem. He underwent treatment in the late 1980s and often spoke candidly about his addictions.
By the mid-2000s, he had relapsed. Conaway appeared in VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, but was forced to leave and entered rehabilitation. In early 2008, Conaway appeared with other celebrities in the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. The show revealed that Conaway was addicted to cocaine, alcohol, and painkillers, and that he was in a codependent relationship with his girlfriend, who was also a user of prescription opiates. Conaway had suffered a back injury earlier in his career on the set of Grease while filming the "Greased Lightning" scene, which had been exacerbated by lifting boxes in his home, and he had turned to substances to manage the pain.
Conaway's appearance on the show's first and second seasons drew much attention because of his severely crippled state, his constant threats to leave the facility, and his frequent inability to speak clearly. Upon arrival at the Pasadena Recovery Center (which was filmed as part of Celebrity Rehabs first episode), Conaway, using a wheelchair, arrived drunk, mumbling to Dr. Drew that he had binged on cocaine and Jack Daniel's whiskey the previous night.
During the second episode of Celebrity Rehabs first season, Conaway, fed up with his back pain, withdrawal symptoms, and the humiliation of having to be assisted while using the toilet, told Pinsky that he was thinking of killing himself. After Pinsky asked him to elaborate upon how he would carry out a suicidal act, Conaway glared at the mirror in his room and said, "I see myself breaking that mirror and slicing my fucking throat with it." During group sessions, Conaway revealed he was "tortured" during his childhood, as older boys in his neighborhood would put him into dangerous situations, tying him up and threatening him. He also related that he was molested when he was seven years old. Conaway stated that he had been an addict since he was a teenager.
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.
In June 2009, Conaway joined Celebrity Rehab castmate Mary Carey at the premiere of her parody film Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw.
In August 2009, Conaway was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight. In the interview, the actor claimed he was much better after a fifth back operation, and that he had yet to use painkillers again. He also discussed unscrupulous doctors and enablers.
In March 2010, shortly after the death of actor Corey Haim, Conaway told E! News that he had warned Haim about dying because of prescription drug abuse.
Death
On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances believed to be pain medication and was taken to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed in critical condition. After initial reports, Drew Pinsky, who had treated Conaway for substance abuse, said the actor was suffering not from a drug overdose, but rather from pneumonia with sepsis, for which he was placed into an induced coma.
Though his drug use did not cause his pneumonia, it hampered Conaway's ability to recognize how severely ill he was; he did not seek treatment until it was too late.
An autopsy performed on Conaway revealed that the actor died of various causes, including aspiration pneumonia and encephalopathy, attributable to drug overdoses.
Awards
Golden Globe Award
- 1978 nomination, Best Supporting Actor, Comedy or Musical Series (for Taxi)
- 1979 nomination, Best Supporting Actor, Comedy or Musical Series (for Taxi)
|-
| 1984
| Covergirl
| T.C. Sloane
|
|-
| 1986
|The Patriot
| Mitchell
|
|-
| 1988
| Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
| Travis
|
|-
| 1989
| Ghost Writer
| Tom Farrell
|
|-
| 1989
| The Banker
| Cowboy
|
|-
| 1989
| Tale of Two Sisters
| Taxi driver
|
|-
| 1990
| The Sleeping Car
| Bud Sorenson
|
|-
| 1991
| Dumb Luck in Vegas
|
|
|-
| 1991
| Total Exposure
| Peter Keynes
|
|-
| 1991
| A Time to Die
| Frank
|
|-
| 1992
| Mirror Images
| Jeffrey Blair
|
|-
| 1992
| Eye of the Storm
| Tom Edwards
|
|-
| 1992
| Almost Pregnant
| Charlie Alderson
|
|-
| 1992
| Bikini Summer II / Bikini Summer 2
| Stu Stocker (also director)
|
|-
| 1993
| Alien Intruder
| Borman
|
|-
| 1993
| In a Moment of Passion
| Werner Soehnen
|
|-
| 1993
| L.A. Goddess
| Sean
|
|-
| 1993
| Sunset Strip
| Tony
|
|-
| 1993
| It's Showtime
| Rinaldi
|
|-
| 1994
| 2002: The Rape of Eden
| Reverend
|
|-
| 1997
| The Last Embrace
| Jagger
|
|-
| 1998
| Shadow of Doubt
| Bixby
|
|-
| 1999
| Jawbreaker
| Marcie's Father
|
|-
| 1999
| Man on the Moon
| Jeff Conaway - Taxi Actor
| Uncredited
|-
| 2001
| Do You Wanna Know a Secret?
| Agent Owen Sacker
|
|-
| 2002
| Curse of the Forty-Niner
| Reverend Sutter
|
|-
| 2002
| The Biz
| Gavin Elliot
|
|-
| 2003
| Miner's Massacre
|
|
|-
| 2004
| Ymi
| Digger's Dad
|
|-
| 2004
| Pan Dulce
| Gabriel Levine
|
|-
| 2004
| The Corner Office
| Dick
|
|-
| 2006
| The Pool 2
| Agent Frank Gun
|
|-
| 2005
| From Behind the Sunflower
| Leo
|
|-
| 2006
| Living the Dream
| Dick
|
|-
| 2006
| The Utah Murder Project
| Sheriff Dan Patterson
|
|-
| 2008
| Wrestling
| Franklin Conner
|
|-
|2010
| Dante's Inferno: Abandon All Hope
|40-minute short film
|
|-
| 2010
| Ladron
| Commander Hill
|
|-
| 2010
| Dark Games
| Tom Doyle
|
| TV Special by ABC, first aired on May 19, 1978
|-
| 1979
| Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
| Roy Fletcher
| TV movie
|-
| 1980
| For the Love of It
| Russ
| TV movie
|-
| 1981
| The Nashville Grab
| Buddy Walker
| TV movie
|-
| 1983
| Making of a Male Model
| Chuck Lanyard
| TV movie
|-
| 1983
| Wizards and Warriors
| Prince Erik Greystone
| 8 episodes
|-
| 1984–1994
| Murder, She Wrote
| Howard Griffin / Nolan Walsh / Tom Powell
| 4 episodes, 1984, 1986, 1993, 1994
|-
| 1985
| Berrenger's
| John Higgins
| 11 episodes
|-
| 1985
| The Love Boat
| Andy Jackson
| 1 episode
|-
| 1985
| Who's the Boss?
| Jeff
| 1 episode, 1985
|-
| 1986
| Matlock (NBC)
| Daniel Ward
| 1 episode, "The Affair" (S01, E5)
|-
| 1987
| Bay Coven
| Josh McGwin
| TV movie
|-
| 1987
| Hotel
| Eric Madison
| 1 episode
|-
| 1984–1987
| Mike Hammer
| Harry Farris
| 2 episodes, 1984 and 1987
|-
| 1987
| Stingray
| Ty Gardner
| 1 episode
|-
| 1987
| Tales from the Darkside
| Peter
| 1 episode
|-
| 1988
| The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission
| Sergeant Holt
| Television movie
|-
| 1989-1990
| The Bold and the Beautiful
| Mick Savage
| 61 episodes
|-
| 1989
| Freddy's Nightmares
| Buddy Powers
| 1 episode
|-
| 1989
| Monsters
| Phil
| 1 episode
|-
| 1990
| Good Grief
| Winston Payne
| 1 episode
|-
| 1990
| Shades of L.A.
| Richard
| 1 episode
|-
| 1993
| Matlock (ABC)
| Slick/Waiter
| 1 episode, "Matlock's Bad, Bad, Bad Dream" (S08, E11)
|-
| 1994–1998
| Babylon 5
| Zack Allan
| 74 episodes
|-
| 1995
| Burke's Law
| Dr. Alex Kenyon
| 1 episode
|-
| 1995
| Hope and Gloria
| Bud Green
| 1 episode
|-
| 1996
| Mr. & Mrs. Smith
| Rich Edwards
| 1 episode
|-
| 1997
| George & Leo
|
| 1 episode, "The Cameo Episode"
|-
| 1998
| Babylon 5: The River of Souls
| Zack Allan
| TV movie
|-
| 1998
| Babylon 5: Thirdspace
| Zack Allan
| TV movie
|-
| 1999
| Babylon 5: A Call to Arms
| Zack Allan
| TV movie
|-
| 2000
| L.A. 7
| Manager of Radio Station
| 1 episode
|-
| 2004
| She Spies
| Zachary Mason
| 1 episode
|-
| 2006
| The John Kerwin Show
| Guest
| 1 episode
|-
| 2012
| Planet Houston
| Scareglow
| Voice, 1 episode, "Dedicated to Jeff Conaway", Conaway's final project
|}