100 Fun Facts About Grease

What is the name of the fictional Chicago-area school where Grease is set?

The stage show set it in Northwest Chicago and named it after singer Bobby Rydell; the film moved everything to the suburbs.

The school in Grease takes its name from which real 1950s teen idol?

Jim Jacobs based the whole show on his own years at Chicago's Taft High School.

Where did the stage musical Grease have its very first performance, in February 1971?

That original version was raunchy and full of Chicago landmarks; it was toned down and re-scored before it moved to New York.

When Grease's original New York run closed in 1980 after 3,388 shows, what record did it hold?

A Chorus Line overtook it in 1983; it now sits 18th on the all-time list.

Before playing Danny in the film, John Travolta toured in Grease as which T-Bird?

He also recorded the top-10 hit 'Let Her In' in 1976 and had just made Saturday Night Fever with the same producer.

Which Happy Days star turned down the role of Danny Zuko for fear of being typecast as a greaser?

He later said he regretted it; Travolta got the part as part of a three-picture deal with producer Robert Stigwood.

Sandy's character was rewritten as an Australian immigrant for the film. What was the main reason?

Newton-John also negotiated star billing and the right to make Sandy less passive in exchange for a lower fee.

Sandy's film surname, Olsson, was the maiden name of which actress briefly considered for the role?

On stage the character is Sandy Dumbrowski, one of many Polish-American names that vanished in the move to Hollywood.

Stockard Channing was the oldest actor playing a Rydell student. How old was she during filming?

Director Randal Kleiser made the 'students' take a 'crow's feet test' to see if they could pass for teenagers in close-up.

Which song did Stockard Channing lobby hard to keep in the film over producer Allan Carr's objections?

Lorna Luft and Lucie Arnaz had both auditioned for Rizzo before Channing, a client of Carr's, was cast.

Which rock legend was considered for the heavenly role that went to Frankie Avalon, but died first?

Frankie Valli was offered the part too but chose to sing the theme instead, and Donny Osmond was also in the frame before Avalon got it.

Frankie Valli was given a choice between singing the film's title song and playing which character?

He picked the song, reasoning it was the likelier hit, and it went to number one.

Who wrote the film's title song 'Grease', recorded by Frankie Valli?

Director Randal Kleiser had wanted a Charles Fox and Paul Williams composition, but the producers overruled him at the last minute.

Which guitarist from the Sgt. Pepper's film cast was invited to play on the 'Grease' title-song session?

The songwriter also sang backing vocals; the track was cut separately from and later than the rest of the film's music.

Which producer wrote 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' and 'You're the One That I Want'?

Halfway through shooting, Newton-John's contractually guaranteed solo still didn't exist, so her own producer wrote one.

'Hopelessly Devoted to You' was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar but lost to which disco track?

The winner came from the film Thank God It's Friday; the Grease song was later added to the stage show for the 2007 revival.

How many weeks did 'You're the One That I Want' spend at number one in the UK in the summer of 1978?

It topped the chart months before the film even opened in Britain, and it remains among the UK's 20 best-selling singles ever.

Which Grease song came from the stage musical rather than being written for the film?

It spent seven weeks at number one in the UK, and the soundtrack ended 1978 as America's second-best-selling album behind Saturday Night Fever.

The Grease soundtrack finished 1978 as the second-best-selling album in the US. Which album beat it?

Both soundtracks starred John Travolta and were released by Robert Stigwood's RSO label within seven months of each other.

Which 1950s-revival group plays Johnny Casino & The Gamblers at the school dance?

Their set at Woodstock, going on right before Jimi Hendrix, helped spark the fifties nostalgia craze that made Grease possible.

What was the name of the TV dance show that broadcasts live from the Rydell gym in the film?

Host Vince Fontaine was played by Edd Byrnes, one of several 1950s television veterans cast in adult roles.

Who wins the dance contest at the Rydell dance?

Sonny shoves Sandy off the floor mid-contest, and the T-Birds end the broadcast by mooning the cameras.

Frenchy drops out of Rydell to train for which career?

After a disastrous class she reluctantly returns to finish high school, and the Teen Angel appears to advise her.

Kenickie's beat-up car, which he restores for the drag race, is nicknamed what?

He plans to race it at Thunder Road, but a concussion from his own car door means Danny drives instead.

Danny tries several sports to impress Sandy. Which one does he finally succeed at?

He shocks the T-Birds by turning up to the graduation carnival as a letterman.

What does Sandy do when Danny tries to make out with her at the Pickwick, after accepting his ring?

She has just accepted his ring; the drive-in scenes were shot at Burbank's Pickwick Drive-In, demolished in 1989.

How does the film end for Danny and Sandy at the graduation carnival?

A filmed final kiss was lost through an editing error and survives only in black and white; Kleiser tried and failed to colourise it for the 1998 reissue.

Producer Allan Carr's Pepsi deal meant what for the Frosty Palace scenes?

Carr told Kleiser to reshoot with Pepsi products or remove the rival logos; Kleiser said they just had to hope Pepsi wouldn't complain.

Which adult-film star was signed to play Coach Calhoun before Paramount vetoed the idea?

Sid Caesar took the role instead, one of many 1950s TV veterans in the adult cast alongside Eve Arden and Joan Blondell.

The exterior Rydell scenes, including the bleachers number, were shot at which real Los Angeles campus?

The interiors, including the dance, were filmed across town at Huntington Park High.

Where was the Thunder Road drag race filmed?

The stretch between the First and Seventh Street bridges has hosted countless car chases since.

The opening beach scene at Leo Carrillo State Beach makes an explicit reference to which classic film?

The stage script also name-checks Sal Mineo, Troy Donahue and Annette Funicello in its lyrics.

Grease topped 1978's global box-office chart. Which record did it take from The Sound of Music?

It took $341 million worldwide and later, on its 1998 reissue, overtook The Godfather as Paramount's biggest film.

Grease opened at number two at the US box office. Which film beat it that weekend?

It took the top spot a week later and hit $100 million within 66 days.

The rights to Grease were first bought in 1974 by a producer who planned to make it in what form?

Steve Krantz called it 'a property that lends itself best to the cartoon film form'; his option lapsed and Stigwood and Carr picked it up.

Grease 2, released in 1982, gave which future star her first leading role?

It made $15 million against an $11 million budget, a fraction of the original's $132 million, and co-writer Jim Jacobs disowned it.

Who directed Grease 2, having choreographed both the stage show and the first film?

The sequel was originally titled More Grease and is now regarded as a cult classic.

Which network broadcast the live television production Grease Live! in January 2016?

Julianne Hough played Sandy, Aaron Tveit was Danny, and Vanessa Hudgens went on as Rizzo the day after her father died of cancer.

Who played Frenchy in Grease Live!, which gave the character a new song?

The song was 'All I Need Is an Angel'; the special was shot at Warner Bros. in Burbank using 44 cameras and won five Emmys.

The 2023 prequel series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is set in which year?

It ran for one season on Paramount+ before being cancelled and pulled from the service.

Which future star played Sonny as a replacement during the original Broadway run of Grease?

The replacement list also included Patrick Swayze and Treat Williams as Danny and Travolta as Doody.

Who played Danny in the original 1972 Broadway cast of Grease?

Adrienne Barbeau was the first Rizzo, and Jeff Conaway later took over as Danny before playing Kenickie on screen.

Which comic actor was considered for Principal McGee, with a Carmen Miranda outfit scene planned?

Eve Arden got the part; the film gave Elvis-era TV veterans like Sid Caesar and Joan Blondell most of the adult roles.

What was the title of Olivia Newton-John's first album after Grease, echoing Sandy's leather look?

She posed on the cover in all-leather with teased hair, a look lifted straight from the carnival scene.

Jeff Conaway went from Grease into which sitcom as struggling actor Bobby Wheeler?

He had already played Danny on Broadway and made his film debut alongside Robert De Niro in 1971.

Grease was the feature directorial debut of which director?

He moved the setting from urban Chicago to a suburb reflecting his own teen years at Radnor High School near Philadelphia.

The director's original choice of theme song, overruled in favour of Barry Gibb, was written by which pair?

Producers Robert Stigwood and Allan Carr commissioned Gibb's title song at the last minute.

What happened to the closing scene of Danny and Sandy kissing?

It survives only in black and white; Kleiser hopes to have a satisfactory colourised version restored by the film's 50th anniversary in 2028.

Which 2012 film overtook Grease as the highest-grossing live-action musical worldwide?

Grease held the US record until Beauty and the Beast in 2017 and, discounting inflation, is now seventh worldwide.

How much did Grease gross in the United Kingdom, making it the country's highest-grossing film at the time?

It had opened with a record $2.2 million in its first eight days there.

John Travolta was already famous as Vinnie Barbarino on which sitcom when he starred in Grease?

Welcome Back, Kotter made John Travolta a household name, and the ABC sitcom was still on air when Grease reached cinemas in 1978.

How do the T-Birds disrupt the live television broadcast of the school dance contest in Grease?

They moon the cameras as the contest ends, baring their backsides on live TV. In the stage show a character called Roger even sings a whole number about the hobby.

At the sleepover in Grease, Rizzo mocks Sandy by comparing her to which wholesome film star?

Sandra Dee, a teen star known for playing wholesome ingénues, is the target of Rizzo's song. Sandy later sings a reprise of it alone before changing her image.

Four years before Grease, Olivia Newton-John sang for Britain at Eurovision but lost to which act?

ABBA won the 1974 contest in Brighton with Waterloo, leaving Olivia Newton-John in fourth place. She later admitted she disliked the song the British public chose for her.

Stockard Channing, Rizzo in Grease, played First Lady Abbey Bartlet in which White House drama?

The West Wing cast Stockard Channing as First Lady Abbey Bartlet from 1999 to 2006, and the part won her an Emmy in 2002.

Which actress was passed over for Sandy in Grease because the filmmakers could not tell whether she could sing?

Carrie Fisher had just finished Star Wars when she was considered for Sandy. Its footage gave no clue to whether she could carry a tune, so the filmmakers moved on.

What does Rizzo confide to Marty in Grease that soon spreads around the whole drive-in?

A pregnancy scare hangs over Rizzo through the final act, and she tells Kenickie the baby is not his. At the carnival she learns it was a false alarm.

Which TV series had its high-school club stage Grease in a 2012 episode with a punning title?

Glee called the episode Glease and had McKinley High put on the musical. It was the third time the series built an episode around a school production.

Olivia Newton-John played Australian newcomer Sandy in Grease, but in which country was she born?

England was her birthplace: Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge in 1948 to a Welsh father. The family emigrated to Melbourne when she was five.

What knocks Kenickie out before the Thunder Road race in Grease, forcing Danny to drive instead?

A car door does it: Kenickie's head collides with his own door and leaves him concussed. Danny takes the wheel and wins the race for him.

Which activity does Sandy join in Grease, performing at the pep rally where she flirts with Tom?

Cheerleading puts Sandy in front of the crowd at a pep rally for the school's failing football team. Tom, the player she flirts with, never speaks a word in the film.

Which ensemble number do the graduating friends sing at the carnival to close the film Grease?

We Go Together is sung by the whole cast as the friends promise to stay close after graduation. On stage the number is heard twice, returning as a reprise to end the show.

Olivia Newton-John's first film after Grease was which 1980 musical fantasy co-starring Gene Kelly?

Xanadu gave Gene Kelly his final film role and Olivia Newton-John the chart-topping single Magic. Critics panned the film, but its soundtrack went double platinum.

Which High School Musical star played Rizzo in Grease Live! the day after her father died?

Vanessa Hudgens went on hours after announcing that her father Greg had died the night before. The broadcast was dedicated to his memory.

Danny shocks the T-Birds at the carnival in Grease by turning up dressed in what?

A letterman sweater shows Danny has stuck with school sport to impress Sandy. He peels it off moments later, when she appears with a new look of her own.

To fit in at the Pink Ladies' sleepover in Grease, Sandy tries cigarettes, wine and which makeover?

Pierced ears are the third thing Sandy attempts that night, and none of it goes well. The other girls end up mocking her prudery instead.

A 1979 re-release pushed Grease past which earlier blockbuster to become Paramount's biggest earner?

The Godfather held the studio's record until Grease returned to 1,248 cinemas in May 1979, Paramount's widest saturation release up to then.

Kenickie's beaten-up race car in Grease is a 1948 model from which American carmaker?

Ford built the 1948 De Luxe that the T-Birds turn from a wreck into a gleaming racer. It was the final model year before the company launched an all-new design.

What is the first name of Rizzo, the leader of the Pink Ladies in Grease?

Betty Rizzo is her full name, and it has stayed the same from the original stage show through the film and the 2016 live TV version.

Johnny Casino and the Gamblers strike up which number for the televised dance contest in Grease?

Born to Hand Jive drives the contest, with couples tagged out one by one as it plays. The number was written for the stage show, not borrowed from the 1950s charts.

Which star of the 1950s sitcom Our Miss Brooks played Principal McGee in both Grease and its sequel?

Eve Arden spent the 1950s playing a sardonic high-school teacher on Our Miss Brooks. Grease cast several veterans of that decade's television in supporting roles.

Which comedy legend of TV's Your Show of Shows played Coach Calhoun in the film Grease?

Sid Caesar made his name in the early 1950s on Your Show of Shows, a live 90-minute sketch series. He returned as the coach in Grease 2.

Jamie Donnelly reprised her Broadway role in the film Grease, dyeing her greying hair to play which schoolgirl?

Jan was Jamie Donnelly's part on Broadway, and she was 31 when the film came out. Most castmates who had done the show on stage played different characters on screen.

Which singer nearly played Sandy in Grease before balking at how far the character rebels?

Marie Osmond almost accepted, then realised how completely Sandy transforms and turned the part down. She starred in the comedy Goin' Coconuts instead.

Allan Carr chose Olivia Newton-John for Grease after meeting her at a party hosted by which singer?

Helen Reddy hosted the soirée where the two met. Newton-John nonetheless asked for a screen test before saying yes, worried that she was too old to pass for a teenager.

Which future Falcon Crest heartthrob dyed his hair blond to play wordless jock Tom Chisum in Grease?

Lorenzo Lamas was a last-minute replacement after the first choice developed stage fright. He went blond so that nobody would mistake him for one of the T-Birds.

Ellen, who plays a waitress at the Frosty Palace in Grease, is which relative of John Travolta?

His sister Ellen Travolta appears as a waitress. She had also guest-starred on his TV sitcom, playing a classmate's mother in three episodes.

In Grease, Leo and the rival greasers who race the T-Birds at Thunder Road belong to which gang?

The Scorpions were created for the film. On stage the rival gang is the Flaming Dukes, who are talked about but never actually turn up.

Marty, the Pink Lady played by Dinah Manoff in Grease, has which surname shared with a bar staple?

Maraschino, as in the bright red cocktail cherry, is Marty's surname. The part was Dinah Manoff's film debut, and she went on to win a Tony Award on Broadway.

Which Rebel Without a Cause actor was cut from Rizzo's sleepover song in Grease after his murder?

Sal Mineo was stabbed to death a year before filming, so the line that names him in the stage version was rewritten for the film.

Grease's director first worked with John Travolta on which 1976 TV movie co-starring Diana Hyland?

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble paired the two men two years before Grease. Travolta fell for co-star Diana Hyland on that set, and her death shortly before filming left him grieving.

Which producer of the stage hits Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar co-produced Grease with Allan Carr?

Robert Stigwood had John Travolta under a three-picture deal, which is how the actor landed the lead. Stigwood's own label, RSO, released the soundtrack.

The car race in Grease was first written to evoke a famous scene from which Hollywood epic?

Ben-Hur was the model: the script had the cars speeding round a school track like chariots in its famous race. Budget constraints forced a rewrite before filming.

How did a Paramount sound executive rescue Grease's decaying music masters for the 1998 re-release?

Baked them in an oven at home, in fact: the heat rebound the oxide to the film just long enough to make a transfer. The masters had been too fragile to unwind or play.

In 2020 the Library of Congress chose Grease for preservation by adding it to which list of films?

The National Film Registry honours films judged culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. Grease joined in the same class as Shrek and The Dark Knight.

After Olivia Newton-John died in 2022, AMC re-released Grease with proceeds going to which cause?

Breast cancer research received a dollar from every ticket sold. Newton-John had the disease three times and became a prominent advocate for the cause.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John reunited on screen after Grease in which 1983 romantic comedy?

Two of a Kind was a critical and commercial failure, though its soundtrack went platinum. The album carried a brand-new duet by the pair.

Which Grease actor returned in Grease 2 and again, as waitress Vi, in the 2016 live TV production?

Didi Conn played Frenchy in the first two films and returned as Vi in 2016, making her the only actor to appear in all three screen versions.

Which British actor played the lead, Michael, in Grease 2 before joining Dynasty as Miles Colby?

Maxwell Caulfield led a largely new cast, but the sequel took only $15 million at the box office against the original's $132 million in North America.

In Grease 2, how is British newcomer Michael Carrington related to Sandy from the first film?

Her cousin Michael arrives from Britain two years after Sandy's graduation, and it is Frenchy who shows him around the school.

Which Motown vocal group sings Back to School Again with the cast to open Grease 2?

The Four Tops sing the number as a new class arrives in the autumn of 1961, and it returns over the yearbook-style closing credits.

Which R&B group shared the role in Grease Live! that Frankie Avalon had played in the 1978 film?

Boyz II Men turned a solo part into a group number. It was one of several cameos that the 2016 live production handed to chart acts.

Which 77 Sunset Strip heartthrob played TV dance-show host Vince Fontaine in the film Grease?

Edd Byrnes had been a pin-up as Kookie on 77 Sunset Strip, and even charted with a novelty single about the character's comb.

Which future author of the novel Fried Green Tomatoes plays the school nurse in Grease?

Fannie Flagg was a regular on 1970s game-show panels when she played Nurse Wilkins. Her novel followed in 1987 and spent 36 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

The film Grease dropped which stage number to make room for the new duet You're the One That I Want?

All Choked Up was the couple's original reunion duet on stage. It was left out of both the film and the soundtrack album.

Which streamer first ordered Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies before it moved to Paramount+?

HBO Max ordered the prequel straight to series in October 2019 under a different title. A year later its executives passed, and the show premiered on Paramount+ instead.

In the original stage version of Grease, Danny's gang is not called the T-Birds but which name?

Burger Palace Boys was the gang's stage name, taken from their hangout. Revivals later adopted the T-Birds because the film had made that name famous.

Sandy's surname is Olsson in the film Grease, but what is it in the original stage musical?

Dumbrowski is Sandy's stage surname. The film renamed her Olsson when the character became Australian, and the 2016 TV version changed it again, to Young.

Co-writer Jim Jacobs based the school in Grease on his own, which is named after which US president?

William Howard Taft High School gave Jim Jacobs his raw material. The film's director then moved the story to the suburbs, drawing on his own school days near Philadelphia.

Olivia Newton-John, Sandy in Grease, was the granddaughter of which Nobel Prize-winning physicist?

Max Born shared a Nobel Prize for his fundamental work in quantum mechanics. His daughter Irene was Newton-John's mother.