Stockard Channing has unveiled her newfound life as a ‘happy recluse’ (Image: Getty)
The beloved “Grease” star, Stockard Channing, now identifies herself as a content recluse since relocating to London shortly before the pandemic unfolded. At 82, the American actress—best known for her role as the defiant Rizzo in the classic film “Grease”, where she starred alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John—has shared intimate details of her life in the bustling capital city in a frank new interview.
Channing made the move across the Atlantic seven years ago, following the passing of her longtime partner and producer Dan Gillham in 2014. In her latest revelations, she confessed that after Gillham’s death, she adopted a more reclusive lifestyle and finds peace in her solitude.
Reflecting on her transition, she disclosed to The Times, “I settled in London slightly before the Covid outbreak. After my partner Daniel’s death in 2014, the impact was far deeper than I’d anticipated; it crept up on me. My life’s routine altered significantly, prompting me to leave behind my life in Maine.”
Channing went on to discuss how her move coincided with the political upheaval brought on by Donald Trump’s election in the United States. Since the loss of Dan, who had stood by her side since 1990, she has been living independently.
Stockard Channing moved to London in 2019 (Image: Getty)
“I’m happy being a recluse,” she said. “I was married four times before Daniel and they all represent epochs of me. I grew up in the Sixties, reacting to that repressed notion of marriage and sexuality from the Fifties – kinda like Rizzo.
“Children were thought about and, yeah, I think about them now because it’d be great to have someone taking care of me. But hey, children can be just as selfish as everybody else out there.”
Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, the star also admitted that Dan’s death became more impactful to her as time went on.
“It was more devastating than I realised; it had a lag effect. The pattern of my life shifted, so I shifted my life from Maine [to London],” she explained.
The actress has been married four times (Image: Getty)
Stockard has been married and divorced four times. She wed her first husband, wood sculptor, Walter Channing Jr, in 1963 before they split in 1967.
The on-screen star then walked down the aisle with professor, Paul Schmidt in 1970, but they divorced after six years together. Her third marriage was to writer and producer David Deblin, who she was with from 1976 to 1980.
Stockard then married businessman David Rawle in 1980. They split eight years later before the actress met cinematographer and producer Daniel in 1990, who she was with until he died in 2014.
The star played Betty Rizzo in the beloved 1978 classic Grease. In recent years, she also found success when appearing on the show The Good Wife.