Stockard Channing played Rizzo in Grease decades ago, but the actress' career hasn't slowed
down since. Over the years, Channing has split her time between the silver screen and the
Broadway stage. And there's even more to know about the actress who played Rizzo in the
ever-popular film.
After finding success in Grease, Stockard Channing went on to star in two television
shows: Just Friends and The Stockard Channing Show. Just Friends came out soon after Grease
in 1979, and followed Channing's character Susan, a recent divorcée, as she moved from
Boston to Los Angeles to rebuild her life.
The series was rebranded and recast the next season, resulting in The Stockard Channing
Show. While there isn't much known about either of these shows, Channing did let fans know
one thing: She didn't love that title.
"I said, 'I didn't want to call something The Stockard Channing Show because it embarrassed
me.'"
Channing also noted that working on sitcoms like The Stockard Channing Show or her later
show, Out of Practice, came with their own struggles. She said that even though she worked
on those shows decades apart, they always ran into the same issues when it came to dealing
with network executives and industry politics.
"I said, 'My God, this hasn't changed at all.' I admire anybody who makes a sitcom work because
it's so tough and scary."
Grease may be an iconic film for a generation of moviegoers, but for Stockard Channing,
taking the role of Rizzo was all about the paycheck. After her initial success in the
film industry with movies like The Fortune, work seemed to be drying up for Channing until
Grease came along. Speaking to Variety, the actress explained,
"It was a summer job. I needed the gig.”
Channing, who was already in her early 30s at the time, said that when she was offered
the role of the 17-year-old Rizzo, she gladly accepted.
"I was grateful just to pay my rent for a few months."
She went on to explain that while she thought she was an odd choice to fill the role given
her background, she wasn't about to complain, telling herself:
"Well, it's a job like any other, and I'm gonna do it."
Even with the film's major success, Channing said that she's only seen the finished film
twice.
"I saw it when it first came out at the premiere, and I saw it, I think there was a 20 year
anniversary."
And she dropped this truth bomb after admitting she hadn't seen the film's sequel, Grease
2.
"I have other things to do!"
It's rare that actors portray the same role on the stage and the screen, but seasoned
actors like Stockard Channing can do it without even breaking a sweat. Channing starred in
the Broadway show and eventual film adaptation of Six Degrees of Separation. For her performances,
she was nominated for several prestigious awards, including an Oscar.
Channing said that she originally opened the play in England, and then came back to do
the film. In fact, she was so good in the original play that the playwright only agreed
to make the film if Channing kept her role.
"It was a fascinating enterprise to do. And I think that it really helps when you redo
things."
Plus, along with the unique experience of getting to approach the same part in multiple
ways with a different cast, Channing said there was one more additional perk to reprising
her role for the film.
"Guess what? You know your lines!"
In 1996, Stockard Channing starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Robin Wright in Moll Flanders.
The film followed Moll Flanders, played by Wright, as she finds a way to survive after
her mother is executed. Wright's character comes in contact with Channing's character,
Mrs. Allworthy, the headmistress of a brothel, when she's looking for work.
The wealthy Mrs. Allworthy isn't exactly the world's greatest boss, but she's one of the
most powerful women in the story. She's pretty conniving in the film, and Channing does an
amazing job of playing a woman we love to hate.
In one interview, Channing gave some insight into what it was like playing an "evil woman."
"Sometimes it's uncomfortable, because evil people, I think, are usually angry at people
around them for not doing their job right and not giving them what they want and all
the rest of it."
Speaking about her character in Moll Flanders, Channing clarified that she didn't think Mrs.
Allworthy was a total psychopath, explaining that the character was "an ordinary, venal
human being," who despite her greed, could be "kind of funny at times."
If you've seen The First Wives Club, you may not have realized that Channing has a pivotal
role in the film, especially because she was only in the movie for a few minutes. Stockard
Channing had a bit part as Cynthia, the old college friend of the film's main stars.
After learning that her ex-husband Gil has married his mistress, Channing's character
gifts her expensive pearl necklace to her maid, mails off letters to her old friends
explaining her situation, and then promptly throws herself off her penthouse balcony.
While not explicitly stated, it's suggested that she ended her life because of her ex-husband's
recent marriage.
Channing's role is fairly short, but arguably, her scene is one of the most important moments
of the entire film. Without Cynthia, the three friends in the film wouldn't have felt the
need to come together and get revenge on their own ex-husbands.
While some fans recognize Stockard Channing as Rizzo from Grease, plenty of others were
introduced to the actress in 1998's Practical Magic, the witchy classic known for its spot-on
music choices, iconic '90s fashion, and its focus on the power of family.
The movie mainly focuses on the story of two sisters, played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole
Kidman. However, the sisters' aunts, played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, are
a pair of scene stealers in their own right.
Practical Magic didn't do great when it first came out, but it's achieved cult status in
the years since it premiered, and we definitely think this is in part due to Channing's amazing
performance as the quirky Aunt Frances. And, though the film wasn't well-received initially,
Entertainment Weekly confirmed in 2019 that HBO Max greenlit a new prequel series for
the film. Reportedly, the series will focus on Channing's character doing witchy stuff
in the 1960s.
One of Stockard Channing's most well-known roles since starring in Grease was her recurring
guest spot as Dr. Abbey Bartlet, the president's wife, in the political drama The West Wing.
Airing from 1999 to 2006, the show was a mega-hit. Over its seven-season run, it was nominated
for over 250 awards, and won 120. Channing's performance was responsible for several of
those nominations, and she even won an Emmy herself for her performance in 2002.
Fans of the show know that The West Wing felt particularly relevant when it aired in the
early 2000s. Channing even confirmed that fans of the series thought that the show somehow
knew something audiences didn't, thanks to its often prescient storylines.
"At the time, it was so parallel to the current administration, people said, 'Oh, come on,
you must have access to information we don't have access to.'"
Channing also revealed that she almost didn't take the gig because, originally, she didn't
have a huge role. However, her one scene with Martin Sheen, who played President Bartlet,
went so well that she was added into the show on a semi-regular basis.
"Turned out we had great chemistry, and there was a couple moments when everybody loved
it and the ratings went up and-"
"Yeah."
In 2002, Channing took on the role of Judy Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story, a far
cry from her experience playing Rizzo in Grease. Based on a true story, the film covered the
trial and sentencing of the killers of Matthew Shepard, who was tragically beaten and murdered
in 1998 for being gay. Channing played his grief-stricken and conflicted mother. The
movie itself was incredibly powerful, and Channing's performance won her a Screen Actor's
Guild Award and an Emmy Award.
Channing admitted in a Q&A with the Screen Actors Guild Foundation that the movie was
a tough project to get off the ground. It seemed like no one wanted this story told,
even with Goldie Hawn as one of the producers.
"It took a lot of pressure, even after we made the film, to get it out there and get
it supported, et cetera."
But Channing was proud that everyone involved pushed so hard to get the film made, saying
that she thought it was an important story to tell, with a far-reaching impact.
Long after playing Rizzo in Grease and after her award-winning TV roles, the next step
for Stockard Channing was to find a new program for her to show off her acting chops. That
opportunity came along with the short-lived yet super funny Out of Practice.
The show followed therapist Ben Barnes, played by Christopher Gorham as he struggled to find
his own way in the world while under the shadow of his extremely successful family. Channing
played the mother of Gorham's character, Dr. Lydia Barnes, a status-obsessed cardiologist
whose ex-husband is played by Henry Winkler. A pre-Modern Family Ty Burrell starred in
the show as well.
Unfortunately, the show was only on the air for one season, despite pretty solid reviews.
Still, Channing's performance as Dr. Barnes stood out to many, and she was nominated for
an Emmy Award in 2006.
After her time on film and television, Stockard Channing made a return to Broadway with the
revival of Pal Joey in 2008. Although it got mixed reviews, Stockard Channing spoke highly
of her experience playing Vera Simpson. In addition to Pal Joey, Channing starred in
Other Desert Cities in 2011. After that, she moved to another show called It's Only A Play,
which featured Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and Rupert Grint.
The Grease actress said that working with such a well-known cast of actors was like
being on a basketball team. Speaking to Broadway World, Channing explained,
"You have to play the game and you have to play it with each other. It really is teamwork."
Channing also starred in Apologia twice, once in London in 2017 and again in New York in
2018.
"It was so good. It was just so good, and the part was very large and very interesting."
The actress went on to explain what drew her to the complex, and sometimes misunderstood,
character of Kristin Miller, saying that the show avoided cliches while giving every character
their own unique point of view.
"And it's funny, too!"
The Good Wife fans probably recognize Stockard Channing from her time as Veronica Loy, the
mother of Alicia Florrick, played by Julianna Margulies.
"Hi Mom."
"Hi Alicia."
"What a lovely mother you have, Alicia."
"Thank you."
The star was featured on the show from 2012 until the show ended in 2016. In a description
that sounds extremely reminiscent of her role in Grease, Entertainment Weekly's original
announcement of Channing's casting described the character of Veronica:
"[She is] mercurial and influenced by her 1960s counterculture youth."
Channing's character first appeared on the show in an episode called "A Defense of a
Marriage," in which Veronica comes to town to get legal support from her daughter after
Veronica's husband dies. Veronica is annoyed because, at the last minute, her late husband
cut her out of his will because she cheated on him. Audiences enjoyed watching Channing
and fellow Broadway veteran Mary Beth Peil, who played Alicia's mother-in-law Jackie,
consistently throw jabs at each other, which lasted all the way until Channing's final
episode.
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