“Grease” and “West Wing” actress Stockard Channing quit the U.S. with zero fanfare after the devastating death of longtime partner Daniel Gillham more than 10 years ago and hasn’t looked back, according to a report.
“I’ve lived alone since I lost Daniel and I’m happy being a recluse,” the now 82-year-old told London’s The Sunday Times in a recent interview. “My partner, Daniel, died in 2014, and it was more devastating than I realized; it had a lag effect. The pattern of my life shifted, so I shifted my life from Maine.”
The Oscar-nominated, Tony- and three-time Emmy winner’s fame is spread across generations, depending on when one was born. She made marks as Rizzo in 1978’s “Grease,” as first lady Abbey Bartlet in NBC’s “The West Wing” from 1999-2006, and as Aunt Franny to Sandra Bullock’s Sally and Nicole Kidman’s Gillian in “Practical Magic” in 1998.
“Different age groups recognize me from different characters,” Channing said. “For younger girls it’s ‘Practical Magic,’ for grown-ups it’s ‘The West Wing,’ and for real grown-ups it’s ‘Grease.’ ”
Reclusive does not mean idle. Though she lives far from Hollywood’s bright lights with her elderly dog Benny (who she said gobbles up her discarded ramen), Channing is working steadily, dipping into directing, and has a full life overall, she told The Sunday Times.
She’s directing Samuel Beckett’s play “Krapp’s Last Tape” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival through the end of this month. Channing is also reprising her Aunt Franny role in “Practical Magic 2,” set for release in September.
The actress has never sought another partner, having been married four times before settling down with cinematographer Gillham in 1990, two years after they met on the set of “A Time of Destiny.” Though children came up during her marriages, she said, she has no regrets that it didn’t happen.