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

Edith Bernstein was born on July 13, 1951, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. She had a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

"holiday Jewish" upbringing, 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), Frenchy in the feature films '' Grease'' (1978) and ''

Grease 2 ''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and the sequel to the 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Originally titled ''More Grease'', the film was produced ...

'' (1982), Helen on ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy ...

'' (1976–77), Denise Stevens Downey on '' Benson'' (1981–84), and Stacy Jones on '' Shining Time Station'' (1989–95). Conn provided the voice for

Raggedy Ann Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. Gruelle r ...

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 ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelis ...

'', '' The $20,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 Pyramids'', '' Whew!'', ''

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

'', and '' Go''. In 2013, she starred as Pearl in the play ''A Heap of Livin by Elliot Shoenman at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, California. 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.Didi Conn profile
Jewish Woman's Archives; accessed September 8, 2018. In 2019, Conn was a contestant on the eleventh series of the British television series ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their prof ...

''. At 67, she was the oldest person ever to compete on the show. She, alongside her professional partner

Łukasz Różycki Łukasz Różycki (; born 13 December 1979 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish pair skater who competed with Aneta Kowalska. He is married to Finnish skater Alexandra Schauman. Competitive highlights ''Dancing on Ice'' In January 2011, Różycki h ...

, were eliminated in Week 4, after the judges saved

Saara Aalto Saara Sofia Aalto (born 2 May 1987) is a Finnish singer, songwriter, and voice actress. In 2012 she came second in the first season of '' The Voice of Finland''. In 2016 Aalto finished as the runner-up in the thirteenth series of ''The X Fac ...

and Hamish Gaman in the skate-off.

Activism

Conn's adopted son Daniel was diagnosed with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. On November 13, 2008, she was named national celebrity spokesperson for

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is a controversial autism advocacy organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, an ...

. 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). On September 27, 2008, Conn performed with David Shire and

Lynne Wintersteller Lynne Wintersteller is an American actress best known for her work in the theatre. A gifted soprano, she has appeared in several musicals including starring in the original production of Maltby and Shire's off-Broadway musical ''Closer Than Ever'' ...

at a benefit performance for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retains a very small western section in Clarkstown. It is a suburb of New York City lying approximately no ...

.Sept 27, 2008 Obama Benefit performance
NyackNewsandViews.com, September 21, 2008.

Personal life

She married her first husband, Frank Conn, in 1975 and they divorced in 1978. She has been married to composer David Shire since 1984. Conn is the stepmother of Matthew Shire, a Los Angeles screenwriter and the son of

Talia Shire Talia Rose Shire (née Coppola; born April 25, 1946) is an American actress who played roles as Connie Corleone in ''The Godfather'' films and Adrian Balboa in the ''Rocky'' series. For her work in ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''Rocky'', Shire ...

, David's first wife.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Didi 1951 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Autism activists Jewish American actresses Midwood High School alumni People from Midwood, Brooklyn 21st-century American Jews