Grease icon 'happy' living like a 'recluse' since husband's death
Grease legend Stockard Channing has opened up about her isolated life since losing her husband
Stockard Channing has said she is enjoying a reclusive life in London after relocating from the US seven years ago.
The 82‑year‑old actress, best known for playing Rizzo in Grease, moved to the UK following the death of her beloved partner, Dan Gillham, in 2014.
Stockard never had children, a decision she now reflects on with some regret.
She said: “I’m happy being a recluse. 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.”
Stockard said the grief of losing Dan took time to fully hit her and ultimately led to her move overseas.
She said: “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].”
There are several chapters to Stockard's love life, with several marriages behind her. Her first husband was Walter, whom she married in the early 1960s before the relationship ended a few years later. She later tied the knot with Paul in 1970, though that marriage also came to an end after six years.
Her third marriage was to David, a writer and producer she spent four years with in the late 1970s. Stockard went on to marry another David in 1980, a businessman she remained with until the late 1980s. Dan entered the picture in 1990 and they had 24 years together.
Stockard’s career took off after her breakout as Rizzo in Grease, a role that made her a household name. She later moved into television and theatre, earning critical acclaim and picking up a Tony Award for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. More recently, she reached a new generation of viewers through her work on The Good Wife.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Stockard is set to reprise her role as Aunt Frances Owens in the upcoming Practical Magic sequel.
And, despite being in her eighties, Stockard is still expanding her skillset and will direct Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape at the Edinburgh Festival.
