Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway ( born October 5, 1950 in New York City, New York, † 27 May, 2011 Encino, Los Angeles, California ) was an American actor. He was the father of racing driver Emerson Newton-John.
Life
Conaway's career aspiration as a child was actually astronaut; after he got prescribed glasses, which, however, was impossible. So he became an actor in 1971 and gave his debut in the film Jennifer on My Mind. This was followed by many smaller roles in films and television series, such as in Kojak - Kojak, Murder, She Wrote or Matlock. Larger roles he played in the comedy series Taxi (1978-1981) and in the films Grease ( 1978), The Ghost Writer ( 1984), The Patriot ( 1986) and Alien Intruder (1993). But his most famous role was probably that of Zack Allan in the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1994-1998).
For the film Bikini Summer II (1992 ), he wrote the screenplay, where for the only time Director.
For his role in the series Taxi Conaway was in 1979 and in 1980 was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actor in a supporting role, but could not win the prize. In 2007 he was honored along with the other actors of the series at the TVLand Awards with the Medallion Award.
Jeff Conaway died on May 27, 2011 in Encino, Los Angeles. According to Dr. Drew Pinsky, who had cared for Conaway 2008 during the filming of the TV series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, years of substance abuse was a co-determining cause of Conaway's death. An overdose as cause of death Pinsky graduated from.