About a year after Grease was filmed, I worked on a feature at Universal, "Zanadu", that starred Olivia Newton-John.
The previous year Olivia had worked with Jeff Conaway on Grease at Paramount, and the singer's sister, Rona, began dating Conaway.
We had a big set for Zanadu built on Stage-28 (Where they filmed the original "Phantom of the Opera" back in the 30's).
I remember returning to the set after lunch one day and seeing Conaway with Liv and her sister, and the singer's agent.
They were all happy, laughing, enjoying life. All were at the top of their game.
In short order, the actor's lifestyle would destroy his relationship, and he would be black-balled from the industry.
After the death of John Belushi (in '82), things changed in Hollywood.
When I broke in, especially on productions such as "The Blues Brothers", drug use was common in the film industry.
Once Belushi OD'd, issues relating to liability, etc. forced the industry to clean up.
Word went out to all of us, "If you gotta problem- get rid of it, or we'll get rid of you."
The smart ones flushed there habits down the toilet or desperatly tried to hide it.
The others, such as Jeff Conaway, just continued on with their lifestyle, and were no longer hired.
I didn't know this actor, but the last half of his life had to be a nightmare. Maybe now he can find peace.
