




































© BrunoPress
0 / 37 Fotos
The 1972 Broadway musical originally ran for 3,388 performances - It has since been revived twice.
© Getty Images
1 / 37 Fotos
Changes were made for the film adaptation - While the greasers were called "Burger Palace Boys" in the Broadway show, the much catchier "T-Birds" was used in the movie.
© Getty Images
2 / 37 Fotos
The 1978 film producers wanted it to be an animated movie - They finally settled for a live-action film with animated opening credits instead.
© Getty Images
3 / 37 Fotos
Four Grease film stars also appeared in the Broadway production - John Travolta was Doody on Broadway and Danny on-screen, Jeff Conaway was Danny on Broadway and Kenickie on-screen, Barry Pearl was Sonny on Broadway and Doody on-screen, and Jamie Donnelly was Jan both on Broadway and in the movie.
© Getty Images
4 / 37 Fotos
Most of the main actors hadn’t seen the inside of a high school in quite some time - John Travolta was 23 at the time, Olivia Newton-John was 28, and Stockard Channing was 33.
© Getty Images
5 / 37 Fotos
Frankie Valli sang the film’s title song ‘Grease’ - The song comes on during the opening credits.
© Getty Images
6 / 37 Fotos
Henry Winkler was supposed to bring Danny to life - He turned down the role because he didn’t want to be typecast after playing Fonzie in ‘Happy Days.’
© Getty Images
7 / 37 Fotos
Other popular actresses were considered for the part of Sandy - Susan Dey of ‘The Partridge Family’ and Deborah Raffin of ‘7th Heaven’ were both considered. The role went to English-Australian Olivia Newton-John instead.
© Getty Images
8 / 37 Fotos
John Travolta had to convince Olivia Newton-John to star in the movie - Travolta said in an interview that the director originally wanted Carrie Fisher to star in the movie, but he wanted Olivia Newton-John. He went to her house to convince her, and then later had to convince the director.
© Getty Images
9 / 37 Fotos
Olivia Newton-John’s popularity is the reason creators changed Sandy’s last name - To capitalize on the singer’s success, the filmmakers decided to keep her Australian accent and change her last name from Dumbrowski to Olsen.
© Getty Images
10 / 37 Fotos
Elvis Presley was offered the role of Teen Angel - Elvis Presley turned down the role not long before his fatal heart attack in 1977. The role ultimately went to Frankie Avalon.
© Getty Images
11 / 37 Fotos
“Elvis, Elvis, let me be!/Keep that pelvis far from me!” - This Elvis Presley-reference scene was filmed the day of his death.
© Getty Images
12 / 37 Fotos
Dinah Manoff was a horrible dancer - That’s why Marty was conveniently missing from most of the dance scenes.
© Getty Images
13 / 37 Fotos
Lucie Arnaz was the original choice for Rizzo - Her mother refused to let her do a screen test.
© Getty Images
14 / 37 Fotos
The son of President Gerald Ford was almost cast as Sandy’s jock boyfriend Tom - Steven Ford decided he was too nervous though. The role went to Lorenzo Lamas instead.
© Getty Images
15 / 37 Fotos
100,000 pieces of bubble gum - That’s how many pieces the cast reportedly chewed during shooting.
© BrunoPress
16 / 37 Fotos
'You’re the One that I Want' was filmed at a traveling carnival in town for the day - The carnival had to be recreated for later close-up shots.
© BrunoPress
17 / 37 Fotos
Real hickeys - The hickeys on Rizzo’s neck in the diner scene were actual hickeys given to actor Stockard Channing by Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie.
© Getty Images
18 / 37 Fotos
John Travolta was not supposed to sing ‘Greased Lightning’ - Jeff Conaway was supposed to sing it, but Travolta convinced the producers to let him sing it.
© Getty Images
19 / 37 Fotos
Vaseline - Grease was released under the name Vaselina (Spanish for Vaseline) in Mexico and Venezuela.
© BrunoPress
20 / 37 Fotos
John Travolta was against the jumping hot dog scene - He wanted the song ‘Sandy’ to end with a close up on him, but director Robert Kleiser was adamant about having a cartoon hot dog jumping into a bun. “That hot dog was fantastic. I didn’t want to shoot the close-up because I loved the hot dog. That was a battle, but I won,” he told The New York Post.
© BrunoPress
21 / 37 Fotos
The soundtrack had two number-one singles - ‘Grease’ and ‘You’re the One That I Want.’
© Getty Images
22 / 37 Fotos
Jeff Conaway had to slouch when he was filmed next to John Travolta - That’s so Travolta would appear to be taller.
© Getty Images
23 / 37 Fotos
Most of the dancers had character names - Those names included Sauce, Trix, Cee Cee, Woppo and Bubba, but they were never used in the movie.
© BrunoPress
24 / 37 Fotos
The Rydell prom scene was filmed in 116ºF weather - The scene in downtown Los Angeles took two weeks to film, and several extras had to be treated for heat stroke.
© BrunoPress
25 / 37 Fotos
The actor who played Eugene threw up after filming the final carnival scene - All the spinning made Eddie Deezen sick.
© Getty Images
26 / 37 Fotos
Annette Charles (Cha Cha) checked herself out of the hospital to film the drag race scene - She was rushed into surgery for an ectopic pregnancy later that day. She had been in intense pain for days.
© Getty Images
27 / 37 Fotos
Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into the pants for the 'You’re the One That I Want' scene - The pants were actually hers in real life, but they were 25 years old.
© BrunoPress
28 / 37 Fotos
The producers were counting on a product placement deal with Coke - Because that never happened, several shots of Coca-Cola products and signs in the Frosty Palace scenes had to be blurred out or digitally removed.
© BrunoPress
29 / 37 Fotos
Paramount had plans for a 'Grease' franchise - The franchise was supposed to feature three more movies and a TV series, but these plans were put on hold following the disappointing release of ‘Grease 2’ in 1982.
© BrunoPress
30 / 37 Fotos
The song ‘Beauty School Dropout’ was inspired by a news story about a teenage murderer - The writers wrote the song after coming across the story of a beauty school dropout turned murderer.
© BrunoPress
31 / 37 Fotos
The actors behaved like high schoolers on set - Despite all being adults in real life, the actors would show up several hours late to the set and were constantly being lectured.
© BrunoPress
32 / 37 Fotos
Jamie Donnelly had to dye her hair - The actor had prematurely gray hair, so she had to dye it black to play Jan.
© Shutterstock
33 / 37 Fotos
Kenickie married Sandy’s sister in real life - Jeff Conway married Rona Newton-John in 1980.
© Getty Images
34 / 37 Fotos
‘Grease 2’ had double the budget of the original film - Despite having a $13 million budget, the movie made only $15 million at the box office.
© BrunoPress
35 / 37 Fotos
‘Grease’ is the highest-grossing movie musical of all time - Its production cost only $6 million, and it’s made more than $400 million internationally.
© BrunoPress
36 / 37 Fotos
© BrunoPress
0 / 37 Fotos
The 1972 Broadway musical originally ran for 3,388 performances - It has since been revived twice.
© Getty Images
1 / 37 Fotos
Changes were made for the film adaptation - While the greasers were called "Burger Palace Boys" in the Broadway show, the much catchier "T-Birds" was used in the movie.
© Getty Images
2 / 37 Fotos
The 1978 film producers wanted it to be an animated movie - They finally settled for a live-action film with animated opening credits instead.
© Getty Images
3 / 37 Fotos
Four Grease film stars also appeared in the Broadway production - John Travolta was Doody on Broadway and Danny on-screen, Jeff Conaway was Danny on Broadway and Kenickie on-screen, Barry Pearl was Sonny on Broadway and Doody on-screen, and Jamie Donnelly was Jan both on Broadway and in the movie.
© Getty Images
4 / 37 Fotos
Most of the main actors hadn’t seen the inside of a high school in quite some time - John Travolta was 23 at the time, Olivia Newton-John was 28, and Stockard Channing was 33.
© Getty Images
5 / 37 Fotos
Frankie Valli sang the film’s title song ‘Grease’ - The song comes on during the opening credits.
© Getty Images
6 / 37 Fotos
Henry Winkler was supposed to bring Danny to life - He turned down the role because he didn’t want to be typecast after playing Fonzie in ‘Happy Days.’
© Getty Images
7 / 37 Fotos
Other popular actresses were considered for the part of Sandy - Susan Dey of ‘The Partridge Family’ and Deborah Raffin of ‘7th Heaven’ were both considered. The role went to English-Australian Olivia Newton-John instead.
© Getty Images
8 / 37 Fotos
John Travolta had to convince Olivia Newton-John to star in the movie - Travolta said in an interview that the director originally wanted Carrie Fisher to star in the movie, but he wanted Olivia Newton-John. He went to her house to convince her, and then later had to convince the director.
© Getty Images
9 / 37 Fotos
Olivia Newton-John’s popularity is the reason creators changed Sandy’s last name - To capitalize on the singer’s success, the filmmakers decided to keep her Australian accent and change her last name from Dumbrowski to Olsen.
© Getty Images
10 / 37 Fotos
Elvis Presley was offered the role of Teen Angel - Elvis Presley turned down the role not long before his fatal heart attack in 1977. The role ultimately went to Frankie Avalon.
© Getty Images
11 / 37 Fotos
“Elvis, Elvis, let me be!/Keep that pelvis far from me!” - This Elvis Presley-reference scene was filmed the day of his death.
© Getty Images
12 / 37 Fotos
Dinah Manoff was a horrible dancer - That’s why Marty was conveniently missing from most of the dance scenes.
© Getty Images
13 / 37 Fotos
Lucie Arnaz was the original choice for Rizzo - Her mother refused to let her do a screen test.
© Getty Images
14 / 37 Fotos
The son of President Gerald Ford was almost cast as Sandy’s jock boyfriend Tom - Steven Ford decided he was too nervous though. The role went to Lorenzo Lamas instead.
© Getty Images
15 / 37 Fotos
100,000 pieces of bubble gum - That’s how many pieces the cast reportedly chewed during shooting.
© BrunoPress
16 / 37 Fotos
'You’re the One that I Want' was filmed at a traveling carnival in town for the day - The carnival had to be recreated for later close-up shots.
© BrunoPress
17 / 37 Fotos
Real hickeys - The hickeys on Rizzo’s neck in the diner scene were actual hickeys given to actor Stockard Channing by Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie.
© Getty Images
18 / 37 Fotos
John Travolta was not supposed to sing ‘Greased Lightning’ - Jeff Conaway was supposed to sing it, but Travolta convinced the producers to let him sing it.
© Getty Images
19 / 37 Fotos
Vaseline - Grease was released under the name Vaselina (Spanish for Vaseline) in Mexico and Venezuela.
© BrunoPress
20 / 37 Fotos
John Travolta was against the jumping hot dog scene - He wanted the song ‘Sandy’ to end with a close up on him, but director Robert Kleiser was adamant about having a cartoon hot dog jumping into a bun. “That hot dog was fantastic. I didn’t want to shoot the close-up because I loved the hot dog. That was a battle, but I won,” he told The New York Post.
© BrunoPress
21 / 37 Fotos
The soundtrack had two number-one singles - ‘Grease’ and ‘You’re the One That I Want.’
© Getty Images
22 / 37 Fotos
Jeff Conaway had to slouch when he was filmed next to John Travolta - That’s so Travolta would appear to be taller.
© Getty Images
23 / 37 Fotos
Most of the dancers had character names - Those names included Sauce, Trix, Cee Cee, Woppo and Bubba, but they were never used in the movie.
© BrunoPress
24 / 37 Fotos
The Rydell prom scene was filmed in 116ºF weather - The scene in downtown Los Angeles took two weeks to film, and several extras had to be treated for heat stroke.
© BrunoPress
25 / 37 Fotos
The actor who played Eugene threw up after filming the final carnival scene - All the spinning made Eddie Deezen sick.
© Getty Images
26 / 37 Fotos
Annette Charles (Cha Cha) checked herself out of the hospital to film the drag race scene - She was rushed into surgery for an ectopic pregnancy later that day. She had been in intense pain for days.
© Getty Images
27 / 37 Fotos
Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into the pants for the 'You’re the One That I Want' scene - The pants were actually hers in real life, but they were 25 years old.
© BrunoPress
28 / 37 Fotos
The producers were counting on a product placement deal with Coke - Because that never happened, several shots of Coca-Cola products and signs in the Frosty Palace scenes had to be blurred out or digitally removed.
© BrunoPress
29 / 37 Fotos
Paramount had plans for a 'Grease' franchise - The franchise was supposed to feature three more movies and a TV series, but these plans were put on hold following the disappointing release of ‘Grease 2’ in 1982.
© BrunoPress
30 / 37 Fotos
The song ‘Beauty School Dropout’ was inspired by a news story about a teenage murderer - The writers wrote the song after coming across the story of a beauty school dropout turned murderer.
© BrunoPress
31 / 37 Fotos
The actors behaved like high schoolers on set - Despite all being adults in real life, the actors would show up several hours late to the set and were constantly being lectured.
© BrunoPress
32 / 37 Fotos
Jamie Donnelly had to dye her hair - The actor had prematurely gray hair, so she had to dye it black to play Jan.
© Shutterstock
33 / 37 Fotos
Kenickie married Sandy’s sister in real life - Jeff Conway married Rona Newton-John in 1980.
© Getty Images
34 / 37 Fotos
‘Grease 2’ had double the budget of the original film - Despite having a $13 million budget, the movie made only $15 million at the box office.
© BrunoPress
35 / 37 Fotos
‘Grease’ is the highest-grossing movie musical of all time - Its production cost only $6 million, and it’s made more than $400 million internationally.
© BrunoPress
36 / 37 Fotos
‘Grease’ turns 40! 36 little-known facts about the beloved American musical
You think you know ‘Grease?’
© BrunoPress
In 1978, the hit musical ‘Grease’ made its debut on the big screen. Previously a play, the production ended up inspiring the world’s most successful movie musical of all time. Check out some interesting facts about this American classic—both on-screen and onstage—as listed by Broadway.com.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU




























MOST READ
- Last Hour
- Last Day
- Last Week
-
1
CELEBRITY Relationships
-
2
FOOD Fruit
-
3
-
4
TRAVEL Italy
-
5
LIFESTYLE History
-
6
HEALTH Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
-
7
CELEBRITY Assaults
-
8
HEALTH Winter blues
-
9
MUSIC Curiosities
-
10
MUSIC Drums