Iconic actress Didi Conn, best known for her role in “Grease,” has made a remarkable return in a captivating beauty campaign.
Nearly half a century has passed since the 74-year-old dazzled audiences in the 1978 hit film alongside stars like John Travolta and the beloved Olivia Newton-John.
Conn channels her memorable “Grease” persona in a fresh advertisement for Laura Geller Beauty, where she revisits her character Frenchy—forever remembered as the ‘beauty school dropout’—through a nostalgic nod to her storyline’s iconic theme song.
In a social media clip released Tuesday, she humorously reflects, ‘Hello there. Remember when I dropped out of beauty school? I once thought it spelled doom for my hair and I would be trapped in a cycle of costly salon visits forever.’
Her witty dialogue serves to promote the brand’s innovative Full Root-ine Hair & Brow Concealing Cream and Powder.
In a nod to Frenchy’s status in the high school girl group Pink Ladies, the clip showed her clad in a pale pink dress with a pleated skirt and name tag.
Grease star Didi Conn has returned to the spotlight in a new beauty campaign
In a new Laura Geller Beauty ad, Conn riffs off her Grease storyline – in which her character Frenchy was a ‘beauty school dropout,’ complete with a plot-defining song
Conn, whose hair was mistakenly dyed a gingery red hue in the beloved movie-musical, looked chic with a brunette bob.
In the decades since the career-defining film, she has brushed off claims that Grease is sexist.
Grease followed the naive, teenage Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), who was reunited with her summer sweetheart Danny (John Travolta) after transferring to his high school.
While Danny has a reputation as a ‘bad boy’ who hangs with his ‘greaser’ crew, Sandy is demure and inexperienced.
But by the end of the movie, viewers see her transform into a sassy, cigarette-smoking version of herself to keep up with Danny.
Conn insisted in 2020 that Sandy was ’emancipated’ rather than exploited by her metamorphosis.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, the actress explained that Sandy opted for a sexier appearance to escape her restricted upbringing, after critics said the character shouldn’t have to change herself to be with the charming Danny Zuko.
Bringing her role into the conversation, she said: ‘Frenchy always wanted to be a beautician. She wanted to make people beautiful and bring every great quality in them.’
In a nod to Frenchy’s status in the high school girl group Pink Ladies, the clip showed her clad in a pale pink dress with a pleated skirt and name tag
‘Hi there. You might remember when I famously dropped out of beauty school. I thought my life and my hair was ruined and I’d have to spend eternity making expensive salon appointments,’ she said in a clip shared on social media Tuesday
The monologue plugged the brand’s Full Root-ine Hair & Brow Concealing Cream and Powder
Conn, whose hair was mistakenly dyed a gingery red hue in the beloved movie-musical, looked chic with a brunette bob
She was joined by brand founder Laura Geller in the fun ad
It comes nearly 50 years after the 74-year-old actress made a splash in the 1978 film starring John Travolta and the late Olivia Newton-John
Conn played Frenchy in the classic 1978 film, opposite Olivia Newton-John, who played Sandy (pictured)
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Does Sandy’s transformation in Grease empower women or reinforce harmful stereotypes about beauty?
Conn continued: ‘She failed, she had a few problems in the tinting class over there. She still cared, especially for her friends.
‘So when Sandy is all alone by herself after the car race and she decides she wants to be part of the gang, she wants to have fun and allow herself to be emancipated a little bit. She says to Frenchy, “Can you help me Frenchy?” you know.
‘So, it’s like the first makeover show, she is becoming more of herself. She is allowing herself to come through.
‘It’s not so much to get her man but it’s to be who she is 100%. He ran away from the dance because he was dancing with Cha-Cha and she couldn’t confront him because there was this part of herself that wanted to come out.’
She noted that despite Sandy’s innocent appearance, she was secretly hoping to bring out her sexuality, which sets the stage for her makeover by the film’s end.