Whatever Happened To Stockard Channing, Rizzo From ‘Grease’?

UPDATED 8/26/2020

We all remember Stockard Channing who played the badass, rough-around-the-edges, Rizzo in the 1978 hit film Grease. However, if it seems like you haven’t heard from her in a while, you aren’t going crazy. She’s been relatively quiet lately and people are wondering what she’s up to this day, which is what we’re exploring in this article right now!

At 76 years old, she’s enjoying the successes of her career in TV and film. After garnering 13 Emmy Award nominations and 7 Tony Award nominations, it’s no wonder she’s taking it slower these days. She actually got her first acting credit in 1970, shortly before taking on her role in Grease. She appeared in a short called Comforts of Home and continued to have both credited and uncredited roles throughout the ’70s until her breakthrough success came in ’78.

How old was Stockard Channing in ‘Grease’?

Before acting in TV and film, she got her start in live theatre performance. She first started with the experimental Theatre Company of Boston, performing in an off-Broadway version of the Elaine May play Adaptation/Next in 1969. Following her success in Grease, she would go on to appear in many more film roles. These include The Cheap Detective (1978), Heartburn (1986), Up Close & Personal (1996), Practical Magic (1998), and Woody Allen’s Anything Else (2003). She also played a recurring role on the show The Good Wife (2012-2016).

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Some of the highlights of her career besides Grease include her recurring role in NBC’s The West Wing. She would go on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. In Grease, she was actually 33 years old, playing a high school student.

Back to her roots in theatre

Beyond The West Wing, she would continue secure roles, one of them being alongside the great Henry Winkler in 2005’s Out of Practice. Following The Good Wife, Stockard would return to the stage to play Lady Bracknell in Rough Magic Theatre Company’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Theatre became a very large part of Stockard’s life in the 2010s, being nominated for a Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play, and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.

In 2018, she would claim the leading role in Apologia, which had a limited run in London before moving to the Roundabout Theatre Co. in NYC.

Is Tatum Channing related to Stockard Channing?

Stockard currently resides in Maine with her partner of 30 years, Daniel Gillham, when they’re not working. She does have one film in post-production currently with an unknown release date. Hopefully, that means we get to see more of her soon! Do you remember Stockard Channing in all of her successes? We sure do! Also, fun fact- she is NOT related to the ever-popular Channing Tatum.