Jeff Conaway is reported to be in critical condition after a drug overdose.
Millions of girls and I had a major crush on him when he starred in Taxi as budding actor Bobby. His feathered hair – the height of male hair fashion in the 1970’s – and charming self-doubt left us all wanting to reassure him!
Now he’s a used-up, messed-up, confused and sad former actor who’s been a drug addict for decades. The crew on Whatever Happened To that filmed him in his Hollywood home said the place was a disaster, like a scene from the show Hoarders. Hangers-on were strewn about the house in various stages of consciousness. Conaway had the attention span of a toddler in a toy store and was incoherent some of the time. You can see it in the clips of him in the episode we did. He looks like a mess and sounds just as bad.
I’ve never been addicted to anything stronger than cigarettes but there comes a time when you stop feeling sorry for the person and just want them to get on with it already. If Conaway lives, will he finally kick the demons to the curb? Sadly, we may not get the chance to find out.
Loved his work in Grease. He was, what, a 30-year-old playing a high-school senior?