<em>Grease</em>, <em>Taxi</em> Star Jeff "Kenickie" Conaway Dies

Jeff Conaway, the 60-year-old actor known to one generation for Grease and Taxi another for Celebrity Rehab, died today after being taken off of life support following a potential painkiller overdose.

The actor, who was born in New York and began acting on Broadway at age 10, got his big break playing struggling actor/cabbie Bobby on NBC's Taxi, though he's probably best known for his role as Kenickie in the 1978 film version of Grease alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. In recent years, however, his name was more often associated with his drugs and alcohol, as Conaway battled various addictions from the 1980s onwards. In 2008, he appeared on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, and he also told Howard Stern that he tried to commit suicide 21 times, "mostly with pills."

Conaway's girlfriend discovered the actor unconscious in his LA house, where he had been recuperating from a bout of pneumonia, about two weeks ago and immediately called 911. He had been in the hospital in a medically-induced coma since then and was taken off of life support today. Dr. Drew said his death likely wasn't an overdose, bur rather "inevitable because [Conaway] had been a serious pill popper for years and the constant substance abuse wore down his body."

Here's a video of a young Conaway, looking handsome as a greaser: