Didi Conn

Didi Conn
Conn at Greenville Graffiti Car Show at Greenville, IL in June 2018
Born	Edith Bernstein (1951-07-13) July 13, 1951 (age 70) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Frankie Conn ​ ​ (m. 1975; div. 1978)​ David Shire ​ ​ (m. after 1982)​
Children	2

Edith “Didi” Conn (née Bernstein; July 13, 1951), is an American actress, best known for her work as Frenchy in Grease, Denise Stevens Downey in Benson and Stacy Jones in Shining Time Station.^[1]

Early life[]

Edith Bernstein was born in Brooklyn, New York City. She had a Conservative "holiday Jewish" upbringing,^[2] and is the daughter of a clinical psychologist; "Didi" was her childhood nickname. She attended Midwood High School. Her brother is opera singer Richard Bernstein.

Career[]

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 (for which Kasey Cisyk provided the character's singing voice)^[1]
• Frenchy in the feature films Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982)
• Helen on The Practice (1976–77)
• Denise Stevens Downey on Benson (1981–84)
• Stacy Jones on Shining Time Station (1989–95)^[1]

Conn provided the voice for Raggedy Ann in the animated feature Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) directed by Richard Williams. Her voice is one of her trademarks. She appeared as a celebrity guest on game shows like Match Game, The $20,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 Pyramids, Chain Reaction, and Go.^[3]

In 2013, she starred as Pearl in the play A Heap of Livin' by Elliot Shoenman at The Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

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. ^[4]

In 2018, it was announced that Conn would be a contestant on the eleventh series of the British television series Dancing on Ice. At 67, she was the oldest person ever to have competed in the show.^[5] 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[]

Conn's adopted son Daniel was diagnosed with autism.^[6][2] On November 13, 2008, she was named national celebrity spokesperson for Autism Speaks.^[7] 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).^[8]

On September 27, 2008, Conn performed with David Shire and Lynne Wintersteller at a benefit performance for Barack Obama in Nyack, New York.^[9]

Personal life[]

She married her first husband, Frank "Frankie" Conn, in 1975, but they divorced in 1978. She has been married to composer David Shire since 1982. Conn is the stepmother of Matthew Shire, a Los Angeles screenwriter and the son of Talia Shire,^[3] who was David's first wife.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

References[]

External links[]

• Didi Conn at IMDb
• Didi Conn at the Internet Off-Broadway Database