Robin PottratzWhat the Hell Happened to Jeff Conaway?!!
October 24th 2008 21:13
I know that as the moderator of an entertainment site, I should stick to topics that relate to celebrities that are relevant to today's entertainment world. However, there is one particular has-been celebrity that has created an aura that is very unsettling. The celebrity that I am talking about is 70's era actor Jeff Conaway, the star of the television show "Taxi," and the iconic film "Grease." More recently the largest role that Mr. Conaway has been playing is that of a junkie in VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew Pinsky."
Last Thursday was the season premiere of "Celebrity Rehab," and Jeff Conaway was the only holdover from the first season. In fact he left the first season early in order to have much needed back surgery. No one who has seen them, could forget the images of the first season with Conaway arriving at rehab drunk and spending the first few days alternating between hysterical crying, hysterical screaming, intense seizures, and violent hallucinations. I remember talking to my sister Ana about the first few episodes of the program and her only response was:
"I don't know what happened to Kenickie, but its really upsetting to see him like that."
My Dad had a different response to seeing Jeff Conaway in his drug induced state:
"The nice guy that was Jeff Conaway is gone and all thats left is the asshole Jeff Conaway."
I'm sure that the reactions of my family were not different from other viewers of the show. We all remember seeing Jeff Conaway as the handsome, charasmatic, out of work actor Bobby on "Taxi." We remember seeing him doing the hand jive in "Grease." Now we see a troubled old man with a vampiresque girlfriend who enabled him to fall even deeper into a downward drug spiral. The Jeff Conaway that we see on the program is merely a shell of his former self. We saw him dancing in "Grease"...now in "Celebrity Rehab" he can barely walk.
We saw in his prevideo before his first stint in "Celebrity Rehab" that he had a cupboard filled with prescription medication, and he even snorted crushed up medication that for all we know could've been cocaine. His behavior while in rehab only served as a reminder of how far Mr. Conaway had fallen in 30 years. He was loud, rude, and disruptive. However, as evidenced by the first two seasons of the show there are a few people who still want to help him.
Dr. Drew Pinsky must have the patience of Jobe in being able to deal with Conaway and all of the other patients. Conaway has been disruptive and even threatened to leave numerous times, but he has never given up and despite the odds Conaway has made strides. In season 2, they have given Conaway help by involving someone who is just as crazy as he is...Gary Busey. Busey entered rehab under the impression that he would be just a counselor even though all of the staff views him as just a patient. However, Busey may be one of the few people who is irritating and insane enough to get through to Conaway and finally get him clean.
I will continue to watch "Celebrity Rehab" to watch the progress of Jeff Conaway, as well as others. I do sincerely hope that Mr. Conaway can get clean and undo whatever the damage was that changed him from Kenickie to the ragged, drug addicted bastard that he is now. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain...a man that is in as deep as Jeff Conaway is can only be helped if he truly wants to be, and I hope for his sake that is the case.
Last Thursday was the season premiere of "Celebrity Rehab," and Jeff Conaway was the only holdover from the first season. In fact he left the first season early in order to have much needed back surgery. No one who has seen them, could forget the images of the first season with Conaway arriving at rehab drunk and spending the first few days alternating between hysterical crying, hysterical screaming, intense seizures, and violent hallucinations. I remember talking to my sister Ana about the first few episodes of the program and her only response was:
"I don't know what happened to Kenickie, but its really upsetting to see him like that."
My Dad had a different response to seeing Jeff Conaway in his drug induced state:
"The nice guy that was Jeff Conaway is gone and all thats left is the asshole Jeff Conaway."
I'm sure that the reactions of my family were not different from other viewers of the show. We all remember seeing Jeff Conaway as the handsome, charasmatic, out of work actor Bobby on "Taxi." We remember seeing him doing the hand jive in "Grease." Now we see a troubled old man with a vampiresque girlfriend who enabled him to fall even deeper into a downward drug spiral. The Jeff Conaway that we see on the program is merely a shell of his former self. We saw him dancing in "Grease"...now in "Celebrity Rehab" he can barely walk.
We saw in his prevideo before his first stint in "Celebrity Rehab" that he had a cupboard filled with prescription medication, and he even snorted crushed up medication that for all we know could've been cocaine. His behavior while in rehab only served as a reminder of how far Mr. Conaway had fallen in 30 years. He was loud, rude, and disruptive. However, as evidenced by the first two seasons of the show there are a few people who still want to help him.
Dr. Drew Pinsky must have the patience of Jobe in being able to deal with Conaway and all of the other patients. Conaway has been disruptive and even threatened to leave numerous times, but he has never given up and despite the odds Conaway has made strides. In season 2, they have given Conaway help by involving someone who is just as crazy as he is...Gary Busey. Busey entered rehab under the impression that he would be just a counselor even though all of the staff views him as just a patient. However, Busey may be one of the few people who is irritating and insane enough to get through to Conaway and finally get him clean.
I will continue to watch "Celebrity Rehab" to watch the progress of Jeff Conaway, as well as others. I do sincerely hope that Mr. Conaway can get clean and undo whatever the damage was that changed him from Kenickie to the ragged, drug addicted bastard that he is now. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain...a man that is in as deep as Jeff Conaway is can only be helped if he truly wants to be, and I hope for his sake that is the case.
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