Didi Conn
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Edith "Didi" Conn (née Bernstein; born July 13, 1951) is an American actress. She is best known for her work as Frenchy in '' Grease'', Denise Stevens Downey in '' Benson'' and Stacy Jones in '' Shining Time Station''.


Early life

Edith Bernstein was born on July 13, 1951, in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York. She had a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
"holiday Jewish" upbringing.


Career

Conn made her debut as an actress in the 1960s. Her notable characters since the 1970s, when she first became prominent, include Laurie Robinson in '' You Light Up My Life'' (1977; Kasey Cisyk provided the character's singing voice), Frenchy in the feature films '' Grease'' (1978) and '' Grease 2'' (1982), Helen on '' The Practice'' (1976–77), Denise Stevens Downey on '' Benson'' (1981–84), and Stacy Jones on '' Shining Time Station'' (1989–95). She later reprised her role as Shining Time Station manager in '' Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' (2000). Conn provided the voice for Raggedy Ann in the animated feature '' Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure'' (1977) directed by Richard Williams. She appeared as a celebrity guest on game shows like '' Match Game'', '' The $20,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 Pyramids'', '' Whew!'', '' Chain Reaction'', and '' Go''. As a theatre actress, she was involved with Broadway productions of '' Lost in Yonkers'' (1991), '' The Green Bird'' (2000), and '' Say Goodnight, Gracie'' (2002). In 2014 she performed in '' The Underpants'' in Hartford, Connecticut. She also starred in Dan Clancy's play ''Middletown'' from 2019 until 2021. In January 2016, she had a cameo as Vi in the '' Grease: Live'' television special on Fox, thus being the only actress to appear in all three screen adaptations of the franchise. In addition, she has appeared in numerous other roles on television. In 2019, Conn was a contestant on the eleventh series of the British television series '' Dancing on Ice''. At 67, she was the oldest person ever to compete on the show. She, alongside her professional partner
Łukasz Różycki Łukasz Różycki (; born 13 December 1979 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish pair skating, pair skater who competed with Aneta Kowalska. He is married to Finnish skater Alexandra Schauman. Competitive highlights ''Dancing on Ice'' In January 201 ...
, were eliminated in Week 4, after the judges saved Saara Aalto and Hamish Gaman in the skate-off.


Activism

Conn's adopted son Daniel is autistic. On November 13, 2008, she was named national celebrity spokesperson for Autism Speaks. Before that, she was a spokesperson for the National Alliance for Autism Research, now part of Autism Speaks. She has performed at benefits for Foundation for Educating Children with Autism (FECA). On September 27, 2008, Conn performed with David Shire and Lynne Wintersteller at a benefit performance for Barack Obama in Nyack, New York.Sept 27, 2008 Obama Benefit performance
NyackNewsandViews.com, September 21, 2008.


Personal life

She married her first husband, Frank Conn, in 1975 and they divorced in 1978. She has been married to composer David Shire since 1984.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Didi 1951 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American Jews Actresses from Brooklyn American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Autism activists Jewish American actresses Midwood High School alumni People from Midwood, Brooklyn