Jeff Conaway dies aged 60

Actor who made his name playing bad boy Kenickie in Grease was taken off life support after remaining in coma for two weeks Jeff Conaway, the actor who made his name playing bad boy Kenickie in the movie Grease and as struggling actor Bobby Wheeler in the sitcom Taxi has died at the age of 60. Conaway had been hospitalised two weeks ago after he was found in a coma in his Los Angeles home. He never regained consciousness. The actor’s manager, Phil Brock, said he died early today, surrounded by his sisters, nieces and nephews, shortly after being taken off life support. Conaway had been suffering from pneumonia and sepis and was recovering from a recent surgery to ease back pain. He had also struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Reports said his weakened state, compounded by the effects of long-term drug abuse, had inhibited his chances of recovery. Conaway first found fame alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the 1978 musical film Grease. He was also known for playing Bobby Wheeler, a struggling actor making ends meet as a cab driver, on the hit sitcom Taxi between 1978 and 1981. “We lost someone that we loved,” Brock said. “We tried to guide him through his struggles. We know that right now, someone in heaven is getting a hickey from Kenickie.” Conaway’s struggle with addiction were documented in 2008 when he appeared on the US reality television series Celebrity Rehab. Last month, Travolta offered to pay for the troubled actor to go back to rehab, an offer Conaway never took up. “My heartfelt thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this very difficult time,” Travolta said in a statement. Brock earlier this month said Conaway had overcome a rough childhood to succeed as an actor, but suffered from self-destructive tendencies. “When he was seven years old, his grandmother let him taste the moonshine she made in her bathtub; when he was 10 and a child actor, his dad took all his money and ran away,” he told Reuters. “Later, Jeff had the world in his hand and would find ways to destroy it.” Conaway is the second personality featured on Celebrity Rehab – a long-running show on the VH1 cable network that follows stars as they are treated for drug an alcohol addiction – to die this year. Mike Starr, the former bassist of grunge band Alice in Chains was found dead in March after a suspected drug overdose. The show’s presenter, Dr Drew Pinsky, wrote about Conaway’s death on Twitter , saying he was “saddened to report [Conaway] has succumbed to his addiction. There was no evidence of an intentional overdose”. United States Barry Neild guardian.co.uk

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