[Lee Stewart]

John Travolta wasn't a shoo-in for lead role of greaser Danny Zuko. Henry ("The Fonz") Winkler was offered the part, but turned it down because he was afraid of being typecast. Marie Osmond might have been cast as Sandy Olsson—the part played by Olivia Newton-John—but she didn't like the idea of turning into a bad girl at the end of the movie. Susan Dey of "The Partridge Family" didn't care to play another teenager. And Frankie Avalon landed the role of the Teen Angel only after Elvis Presley passed on the offer