She grew up in New York City where she began her career as a stage actress, performing in a slew of shows through the Theater Company of Boston.

The actress, now 80, started acting on Broadway in the early 1970s before making her break onto the big screen. 

She landed her first breakout role in the TV movie The Girl Most Likely To… in 1973 alongside Joan Rivers, before starring in The Fortune with Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty.

Her success has seen her receive three Golden Globe nominations, a whopping 13 Emmy nods, winning three, as well as clinching a Tony Award from the seven she was up for. 

The glamorous actress’s relocation to London in 2019 saw her return to the stage as she embarked on a slew of UK theatre roles – and she is soon back on the West End in director Daniel Fish’s new production of Elektra alongside Marvel’s Brie Larson.

But can YOU guess who it is?

This glamorous actress’s success has seen her receive three Golden Globe nominations, a whopping 13 Emmy nods, winning three, as well as winning a Tony Award from the seven she was up for – but can YOU guess who it is?

It is none other than Grease superstar Stockard Channing, who played the iconic role of Betty Rizzo in the 1978 high-school flick. 

The actress is also well known for her role as First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing, alongside Martin Sheen.

Stockard shared her disbelief at the eternal cultural hit Grease became over the years, describing its impact as ‘bizarre’ to The Times.

But it was a complicated experience for the actor, she says, adding: ‘I gave [Grease] my all, and I’m proud of the performance and proud of the character – but at the time, it was not taken at all seriously. 

‘The money that it was making was resented, I was resented. It’s a kid’s movie — it was really p****d on.’

Much to the disappointment of her affluent family, particularly her mother, Stockard never ahd children and was married and divorced four times between 1967 and 1988.

She met her long term partner, cinematographer Daniel Gillam, in 1990. The pair were together until his death in 2014. 

And ahead of turning 81, Stockard revealed her relationship with Daniel was her last, as she is not on the look out for love. 

It is none other than Grease superstar Stockard Channing, who played the iconic role of Betty Rizzo in the 1978 high-school flick

The actress is also well known for her role as First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing, alongside Martin Sheen

Stockard shared her disbelief at the eternal cultural hit Grease became over the years, describing its impact as ‘bizarre’ to The Times (Pictured in 2023)

‘I think that would be such a pain in the ᴀss,’ she said. 

Stockard is gearing up for her latest role as Clytemnestra in an adaptation of Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Elektra at the Duke Of York’s Theatre. 

Marvel star Brie Larson is making her West End debut in the lead of Elektra.

Elektra enjoyed a week of performances at the Theatre Royal Brighton from January 13 to January 18 and will move to the Duke Of York’s on Friday – where it will run until April 12.

Stockard’s rise to fame after her role in Grease only continued as she starred in her own CBS sitcom called The Stockard Channing Show, Without a Trace in 1983.

Throughout the 1980s she featured in drama The Men’s Club, the war film A Time of Destiny, and CBS miniseries Echoes in the Darkness (which earned her an Emmy nomination). 

She then returned to her roots – appearing in Broadway plays They’re Playing Our Song, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, The House of Blue Leaves, and Six Degrees of Separation.

In 1993, Stockard starred in the movie adaptation of Six Degrees of Separation, which garnered her both an Oscar and Golden Globes nomination.

She met her long term partner, cinematographer Daniel Gillam, in 1990. The pair were together until his death in 2014

Her other acting credits include the romantic drama Up Close & Personal, Practical Magic, Smoke, USA’s An Unexpected Family, The West Wing, CBS sitcom Out of Practice, the docudrama The Matthew Shepard Story, The Business of Strangers, and The Good Wife.

She has been married and divorced four times over her decades-long career. She wed her first husband, a wood sculpture named Walter Channing Jr., in 1963, and they split in 1967.

She then tied the knot with a professor named Paul Schmidt in 1970, but they divorced after six years together.

Her third marriage was to writer and producer David Deblin, whom she was with from 1976 to 1980. She wed businessman David Rawle later that year after their split.

They went their separate ways eight years later, in 1988. She then entered into a relationship with cinematographer Daniel in 1990 until he pᴀssed away.