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Didi Conn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Didi Conn
Conn at Greenville Graffiti Car Show at Greenville, Illinois, in 2018
Born
Edith Bernstein

(1951-07-13) July 13, 1951 (age 73)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
EducationMidwood High School
OccupationActress
Years active1973–present
Known forGrease
Benson
Shining Time Station
Spouses
Frank Conn
​
​
(m. 1975; div. 1978)​
​
(m. 1984)​
Children2
RelativesRichard Bernstein (brother)

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

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Edith Bernstein was born on July 13, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York.[1] She had a Conservative "holiday Jewish" upbringing.[2]

Career

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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).[3] 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).[4] In 2014 she performed in The Underpants in Hartford, Connecticut.[3] She also starred in Dan Clancy's play Middletown from 2019 until 2021.[2][5]

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.[6]

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.[7] She, alongside her professional partner Łukasz Różycki, were eliminated in Week 4, after the judges saved Saara Aalto and Hamish Gaman in the skate-off.

Activism

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Conn's adopted son Daniel is autistic.[2][8] On November 13, 2008, she was named national celebrity spokesperson for Autism Speaks.[9] 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).[10]

On September 27, 2008, Conn performed with David Shire and Lynne Wintersteller at a benefit performance for Barack Obama in Nyack, New York.[11]

Personal life

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She married her first husband, Frank Conn, in 1975 and they divorced in 1978.[6] She has been married to composer David Shire since 1984.[3]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1977 Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure Raggedy Ann (voice) Animated film
1977 You Light Up My Life Laurie Robinson Singing voice provided by Kvitka Cisyk
1978 Grease Frenchy
1978 Almost Summer Donna DeVito
1981 Violet Violet Short film
1982 Grease 2 Frenchy
1983 The Magic Show Cal
2000 Thomas and the Magic Railroad Stacy Jones
2002 Frida Waitress
2005 Shooting Vegetarians Patrice
2006 Helen at Risk Helen Short film
2008 Oh Baby! David's Mom
2018 Most Likely to Murder Fran Green
2020 The Mimic The Gossip Lady
2021 One December Night Norma

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1973 Genesis II TV Actress TV movie
1975 Happy Days Joyce Episode: "Kiss Me Sickly"
1975 The Rookies Young Woman Episode: "Measure of Mercy"
1976–77 The Practice Helen 27 episodes
1977 Handle with Care Jackie Morse TV pilot
1978 Three on a Date Eve Harris TV movie
1978 Match Game Herself (panelist) 6 episodes, 1 for PM
1978 Murder at the Mardi Gras Julie Evans TV movie
1980 Semi-Tough Kiki Episode: "One Bad Apple"
1980–81 The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang Cupcake (voice) 24 episodes
1981–84 Benson Denise Stevens Downey 72 episodes
1982 American Playhouse Receptionist Episode: "Working"
1983 The Love Boat Jenny Episode: "Love on Strike"
1984 Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour Herself (celebrity panelist) Five episodes, airing July 16–20, 1984
1984 ABC Weekend Special Dimples (voice) Episode: "Bad Cat"
1985 Hotel Patty Maloney Episode: "Sleeping Dogs"
1985 Star Fairies Spice (voice) TV movie
1985 The Jetsons Cousin Melissa Episode: "Judy Takes Off"
1987 Cagney & Lacey Dinah Roswell Episode: "Waste Deep"
1987 Highway to Heaven Wanda / Birdy Belker Episodes: "All That Glitters", "Ghost Rider"
1989–93 Shining Time Station Stacy Jones, Gracie Jones 65 episodes
1990 The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda Additional voices Episode: "Pity the Poor Pirate"
1990 Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift Stacy Jones TV special
1992 Civil Wars Hilary Schoenfeld Episode: "Till Debt Do Us Part"
1993 A Flintstone Family Christmas Stella (voice) TV special
1994 L.A. Law Penny Tressman Episode: "He Ain't Guilty, He's My Brother"
1995 Shining Time Station: Once Upon a Time Stacy Jones TV special
1995 Shining Time Station: Second Chances Stacy Jones TV special
1995 Shining Time Station: One of the Family Stacy Jones TV special
1995 Shining Time Station: Queen for a Day Stacy Jones TV special
1995 Cybill Sitcom Mom Episode: "The Cheese Stands Alone"
1998 Saturday Night Live Herself Episode: "Steve Buscemi/Third Eye Blind"
2002 Rugrats Caroller (voice) Episode: "Babies in Toyland Part 1"
2003 Stanley Mrs. Goldberg (voice) Episode: "Going-Away Goose/Time to Climb!"
2003 The Wild Thornberrys Muskox #2 (voice) Episode: "Clash and Learn"
2008–10 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Nurse 3 episodes
2011 Gigantic Didi Conn Episode: "Scramble"
2012 Didi Lightful Didi Lightful (voice) TV pilot
2015 Transparent Joyce Feldman Episode: "The Book of Life"
2016 The Call Corrine TV pilot
2016 Grease: Live Vi TV movie
2019 Dancing on Ice Herself (contestant) 4 episodes, Series 11
2019 Welcome to the Wayne Oldest Annacille (voice) Episode: "Some Sort of Bad Luck Curse"
2022 Blue Bloods Mrs. Devlin Episode: "Where We Stand"
2023 Harlan Coben's Shelter Mrs. Friedman Season One: Episodes 1-6

References

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  1. ^ "Dancing on Ice 2019 Didi Conn: Age, net worth, movies and husband revealed". heart. January 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Zighelboim, Selah Maya (April 16, 2019). "Didi Conn Talks 'Middletown,' Bar Mitzvahs". Jewish Exponent. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Actress Didi Conn Explains Her Voice And Attraction To 'Underpants'". Hartford Courant. January 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  4. ^ "Didi Conn (Performer)". Playbill. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "MIDDLETOWN Starring Didi Conn, Donny Most & More To Open At Actors' Playhouse". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Didi Conn". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  7. ^ Dancing On Ice star opens up on being oldest contestant in 2019 series, OK! Magazine; accessed January 20, 2019.
  8. ^ "Commentary: I was the 'queen of denial' on autism". www.cnn.com. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Didi Conn Named a National Celebrity Spokesperson for Autism Speaks, AutismSpeaks.org, November 14, 2008.
  10. ^ "Devereux Millwood gala goes retro". devereux.org. Archived from the original on September 25, 2006. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  11. ^ Sept 27, 2008 Obama Benefit performance, NyackNewsandViews.com, September 21, 2008.
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