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Aktor terkenal lewat film Kenickie tahun 1978, Jeff Conaway, meninggal dunia di rumah sakit Los Angeles Kamis waktu setempat. Conaway dilarikan ke Rumah sakit awal bulan ini setelah mengomsumsi obat pereda rasa sakit.

Selama dua pekan keluarga berusaha meminta dokter untuk mengobati. Namun, menurut dokter, Aktor ini kelebihan dosis sehingga membuat kegagalan dalam fungsi otak.

Aktor Jeff Conaway meninggal dunia di usia 60 tahun pada Jumat, 27 Mei 2011 pagi sekitar pukul 10.30. Manajernya, Phil Brock telah mengonfirmasi berita itu.

"Alat penunjang hidup telah dilepas dari Kamis sore. Sejak itu seluruh keluarganya, termasuk saudara perempuan dan keponakannya terus berada di sisinya," kata Brock.



Dalam sebuah pernyataan pribadi, keluarga sebagai perwakilan almarhum berkata, 8 tahun sudah mereka berperan sebagai perwakilan Conaway. Sebagai pribadi, Conaway begitu dicintai oleh orang-orang disekitarnya. Dan ia dihormati sebagai seorang penghibur juga aktor yang ideal.



Dilansir dari laman Us Magazine, Jumat, 27 Mei 2011, Conaway dirawat di rumah sakit pada 11 Mei silam karena mengalami over dosis resep obat. Tak lama kemudian barulah diketahui bahwa ia menderita radang paru-paru dan sepsis, infeksi darah yang sangat berbahaya. Sejak itu ia berada dalam kondisi koma selama lebih dari 2 minggu.



"Hingga kini masih belum diketahui kapan rencana pemakaman," kata Brock



Conaway beberapa kali tampil di acara TV seperti Happy Days, The Mary Tyler Show dan Kojak Conaway. Namun ketenaran ia dapatkan saat berperan sebagai Kenickie, sahabat dari Danny Zucko yang diperankan oleh John Travolta, dalam drama musikal Grease tahun 1978.



Di tahun yang sama ia tampil dalam acara televisi yang sangat diminati Taxi. Ia berperan sebagai Bobby Wheeler, seorang supir taksi yang terus berjuang dalam hidup selama 4 musim.



Karirnya pun semakin berkembang. Ia tampil dalam beberapa acara seperti opera sabun The Bold and the Beautiful (1989 - 1990), serial sci-fi Babylon 5 (1994 - 1998), Elvira (1988), Mistress Of The Dark (1988), Jawbreaker (1999), dan Do You Want To Know A Secret (2001).



Sayang di tengah pencapaian karir, ia pun terlibat dengan narkoba. Conoway mulai mengonsumsi obat-obatan terlarang di pertengahan tahun 1998. Dan pada 2008 ia muncul di acara VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Drew Pinsky karena ia mencari pertolongan untuk keluar dari ketergantungan kokain, obat penghilang rasa sakit, dan alkohol.



Seringkali Conaway mengancam untuk undur diri dari dunia hiburan dan menolak untuk berpisah dengan kekasihnya, Vikki Lizzi yang juga menderita karena penyalahgunaan resep obat. Aktor ini tercatat pernah menikah 2 kali: Rona Newton-John (1980 -1985), saudara dari Olivia Newton-John yang juga bermain di Grease dan Michelle Conaway pada tahun 1990.



"Walau kita begitu sedih sepeninggalan Jeff, tapi ia tak lagi merasa kesakitan. Kita tahu bahwa ia berada di tempat yang lebih baik sekarang. Di surga sana akan ada malaikat yang menyambutnya," ungkap Brock.

Grease star Jeff Conaway died today after a drug overdose sent him into a coma two weeks ago.

His family are understood to have decided to turn off his life support machine yesterday.

His ex-girlfriend Vikki Lizzi, who claims she has power of attorney over the 60-year-old, had tried to block the move.

The actor, who famously played Kenickie in the hit 1978 film, had been in a deep coma since taking an overdose of painkillers earlier this month.

Conaway's family, who kept a vigil at the Los Angeles hospital over the past two weeks, were told by doctors that the star was losing his battle to live, according to Radar Online.

A source said earlier this week: 'Doctors advised the family that Jeff has had no brain function since he was brought into the hospital,.

'The feeding tube has already been removed.'

His ventilator was then set to be removed, until Vikki Lizzi contacted the hospital.

'Vikki has the power of attorney and also has a living trust from 2007 that names her as a guarantor of the trust,' a source told Radar. 'The hospital has assured the attorney they won’t do anything until they re-read the trust.'

Conaway has been in a coma since he was found unconscious on the floor of his Encino home on May 11, from what was thought to be a prescription drug overdose.

'Jeff has remained unconscious and is unaware of what is going on,' the source added.

Former love: Vikki Lizzi had dated Conaway for years, and claims she holds power of attorney over his affairs

Dr Drew Pinsky, who treated Conaway on Celebrity Rehab, told the website that the actor had suffering from pneumonia and sepsis, a severe illness in which the bloodstream is overwhelmed by bacteria.

Hopes had not been high for the actor's recovery, with his spokesman Phil Brock saying on Wednesday that Conaway was showing no improvement.

'He is still unconscious, ventilated and intubated,' Brock told E! News.

Fighting his demons: Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie in Grease, is in a deep coma in a California hospital. He is seen here on U.S. reality show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in which he spoke about his battle with drug addiction in 2008

Conaway has been battling a long-time addiction to booze and drugs, with his battles with substance abuse said to date back to the 1980s.

His manager Kathryn Boole told MailOnline last week: 'The doctors are not optimistic and he is fighting for life right now.

Boole also told MailOnline that Conaway's addiction to painkillers stems from back injuries he sustained while performing in Grease on Broadway in the 1970s.

She said she had pleaded with him to beat his addiction and added the star wanted to turn his life around and quit drugs.

Asked about reports that it was a suicide attempt, Boole said: 'I have heard those reports, but I would be highly surprised. He is not the sort of person who would intentionally take his own life.'

Overdose: Conaway (far left, with Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta and Stockard Channing) starred in the classic 1978 movie Grease

At the time of the overdose he was still recovering from a near-fatal fall at his Los Angeles home last year.

T-Bird: Jeff Conaway in his famous role

Conaway had to undergo emergency surgery after he fractured his neck and broke his hip in the fall in January 2010.

He is best known for his role as Kenickie in Grease in which he starred alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

His character was second-in-command of the Rydell High School boys' gang with Danny, played by Travolta, as the leader.

Kenickie asks Danny to be his right-hand man at a race between him and Leo, the pockmarked leader of the T-Birds rival gang the Scorpions. But he is knocked unconscious just as the race is about to start and Danny steps in to replace him.

Conaway is also known for his part in the US comedy series Taxi, in which he starred as out-of-work actor Bobby Wheeler from 1978 to 1981.

In 1980, he married Olivia Newton-John's sister Rona, but the couple, who have a son called Emerson, divorced five years later.

During that decade, Conaway was treated for a substance abuse problem which again became a problem in the mid-2000s.

In 2008 he signed up for Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and spoke candidly about his addictions to cocaine, alcohol, and painkillers.

He also took courses from the Church of Scientology to cope with his problems after Travolta came to his aid, but is believed to have struggled recently with his addictions.