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Grease Edd Byrnes has died, aged 87.
The news was announced by the actor’s son, Logan – a US news presenter – who paid tribute to his “best friend”.
He wrote: “It is with profound sadness and grief that I share with you the passing of my father Edd Byrnes. He was an amazing man and one of my best friends.”
Byrnes died suddenly at his home in California on Wednesday (8 January).
He starred in the 1978 musical alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton John as the smooth-talking dance contest host Vince Fontaine.
“His is the story of an ambitious young kid who, in his twenties drove out to Hollywood from New York City with a few hundred dollars and a dream of making it big in the entertainment business,” his son wrote on Twitter.
As well as Grease , Byrnes was best known for the role of Kookie in the TV series 77 Sunset Strip
His character, a parking attendant at a Hollywood nightclub who helped out with detective cases, made the actor a teen idol.
In fact, it is claimed that Byrnes was so popular he received 15,000 fan letters a week.
Byrnes was also in the running for a role in 1960 heist film Ocean’s 11 alongside Frank Sinatra , but missed out due to restrictions in his contract with Warner Bros.
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Annie Hall began life as Anhedonia, which is the scientific term for the inability to experience pleasure. But the title Annie Hall was eventually settled on, inspired by actress Diane Keaton's real name, Diane Hall, and her nickname, Annie.
United Artists
27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Dynasty (1981-89) Original title: Oil
The hit series, which revolves around the family of an oil magnate, was originally supposed to be titled… wait for it… Oil. But it was then changed to Dynasty to compete with rival soap Dallas.
CBS Television Distribution
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Universal Pictures
27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title The Breakfast Club (1985) Original title: The Lunch Bunch
The original script for this classic high-school movie went by the very naff name The Lunch Bunch, but thanks to the son of one of director John Hughes's friends, who had a school detention class called The Breakfast Club, the title was changed.
Universal Pictures
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Paramount Pictures
27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Licence to Kill (1989) Original title: Licence Revoked
This Bond film was, at one time, called Licence Revoked, but test audiences associated the title too much with driving, so thankfully it was changed to something far punchier.
United Artists
27 films and TV shows that were forced to change their title Saved by the Bell (1989-93) Original title: Good Morning, Miss Bliss
NBC’s Good Morning Miss Bliss centred on Hayley Mills as the eponymous teacher but, after the comedy briefly moved to the Disney Channel and then back to NBC, it was re-tooled to focus on the teenage students instead, therefore taking on a new name: Saved By The Bell.
CBS Studios International
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Warner Bros
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Buena Vista Pictures
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The beloved sitcom went through many different name changes, with all the following titles considered: Friends Like Us, Six of One, Across the Hall, Once Upon a Time in the West Village, and Insomnia Cafe. It’s now hard to imagine the show becoming such a monumental hit with any of those names.
Warner Bros Television Distribution
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Pulp Fiction was initially inspired by the detective crime stories in the seminal magazine Black Mask, hence its first name. The publication was a pulp magazine, which goes some way to explaining the new title.
Miramax Films
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In a line from the classic 1997 film, the older version of Rose says: "Titanic was called the ship of dreams, and it was, it really was." It was also the original title of the film, before the simpler name of Titanic was chosen.
20th Century Fox
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Carsey-Werner Distribution
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Universal Pictures
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New Line Cinema
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Buena Vista International Television
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Buena Vista Pictures
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Disney-ABC Domestic Television
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Warner Bros Television Distribution
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Disney – ABC Domestic Television
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CBS Television Distribution
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Paramount Pictures
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20th Television
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Warner Bros Pictures
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Netflix
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Paramount Pictures
Other TV shows he appeared in included Fantasy Island and Murder, She Wrote . He was also the original host of the US version of Wheel of Fortune before Chuck Woolery took over.
Byrnes is is survived by his partner, Catherine Gross, his sister Jo-Ann Breitenberger, his brother, Vincent Breitenberger, and his son, Logan, who is an presenter on the KUSI news team.
He was married to Logan’s mother – TV star Asa Maynor – for nine years between 1962 and 1971.
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