‘Doody’ from Grease on Olivia Newton-John: ‘She was one very special woman’

Actor Barry Pearl, best known for playing Doody in the 1978 movie Grease, opens up about falling in love with acting, moving to New York with his Mum, and working with Olivia Newton-John.

“Olivia was a delight to work with and, while I’m in Australia, I will go to her wellness centre.” Credit: Courtesy of Monopoly Events

My parents, Sarah and Jacob, separated when I was 10 months old and divorced when I was one. I was raised by my mother and her three sisters – Rose, Frieda and Mildred – and my maternal grandmother, Mary.

I grew up in a Jewish kitchen that was full of great aromas. Grandma was an excellent cook, and it was a kosher household. She made latke – a type of potato pancake – and a great pot roast.

When my grandmother fell ill and couldn’t run her store anymore, it was Aunt Rose who took over. She kept everybody’s head above water. She was like the father figure of the troop.

My Aunt Frieda had one daughter, named Roxanne – she was more like a sister to me growing up. We are close in age. My aunts and Mum took care of, and loved me, in a very non-helicopter way. They nurtured my desire to act.

Mum enrolled me in tap-dancing classes when I was nine. At the end of two consecutive years, the teacher put on a revue that centred around me – the youngest boy in the class – and a young girl, Maxine. That was the bug that bit me and I knew I wanted to act.

My first kiss was with a girl called Joan, who was in a production of Oliver! when I was 12. After the show, we would meet up and kiss.

My celebrity crush growing up was Doris Day. I saw her sing Secret Love and fell in love. I don’t know what it was about her; she was very attractive. Natalie Wood in the film version of West Side Story was another crush.

In 1959, I was cast as Sonny Flood in the production of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs at Fulton Opera House. It was there my mother met a New York playwright, Chuck Miller. He told Mum he’d get me on Broadway. In 1961, she received a call from Chuck. They were looking for a replacement for Randolph MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie and I got the part.

Mum packed her bags and we moved to New York. We stayed in a one-bedroom apartment in midtown Manhattan. Mum would occupy the sofa and I had the bedroom.

Living with my mother taught me about the dynamics between men and women. In our case, it was mother and son, but when it came to having a girlfriend and living with subsequent wives, that interplay and communication came natural to me.

Pearl as Doody, alongside Didi Conn as Frenchy, in 1978’s Grease.Credit: Getty Images

Olivia Newton-John had made a movie that didn’t go well before she came on the set to do Grease. She wanted to prove she could do the role of Sandy. John Travolta really helped her with that because he wanted her for the part.

Olivia was a delight to work with and, while I’m in Australia, I will go to her wellness centre. We remained in contact over the years and I sent her an email a week before she passed. She was one very special woman.

I have been married three times. I met my first wife at Club Med Martinique; that went south a year and a half into it. My second wife, Heather, and I met while doing a production of Guys & Dolls. It lasted three-and-a-half years. We tried therapy and I hoped we would get back together but never did.

I met my third wife, Cindy, while she was going through a divorce herself and we’ve been happily together for 23 years. Cindy has a great head on her shoulders. We met in Santa Barbara through mutual friends, and fell in love over a plate of spare ribs.

Barry Pearl will be live in conversation at ACMI, Melbourne on June 19, and doing a Q&A with fans at Fonzies Diner, Kilsyth on June 21 and 22.

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