Highly opinionated and definitely sure of herself are ways that would sound fitting to describe Dinah Manoff and in a big way these would be compliments since just reading her bio she’s been a fairly strong-willed and very confident individual for a long time. When on screen there have likely been a few times that she had to flub just make sure that she stuck around, as it’s been revealed that during her time as Marty Maraschino in Grease she couldn’t dance or sing and somehow faked her way through auditions. During the movie it was found out later that even when it was her time to shine she was conveniently hidden in the background or to the side. Ironically enough this is the character that a lot of people know her as and the one that really kicked in the idea that she was bound to be famous and at least well-known enough to be welcomed onto one set after another. To learn that she was faking it for that role at least is kind of amusing really at this point since it means that the director might not have been on point or had so much going that catching her in the lie wasn’t as easy as it might have sounded. In any case it worked out and she became a popular character in one of the most popular musicals of all time.
That wouldn’t be her only time in the spotlight however as she’s had quite the career moving forward through the years, and one memory in particular came during the 1988 horror movie Child’s Play when, as ‘Aunt’ Maggie she was watching over her friend’s son, Andy, and ran afoul of his doll Chucky at one point. Obviously those that Chucky didn’t like weren’t meant to last too long in the movie since the tension built to a crescendo and then died down just a moment before a toy hammer sent Aunt Maggie falling from a window to her death in a scene that kind of painted the picture of the movie when it came out in the trailer. That gruesome ending was the end of her role in the Child’s Play movie and while some might have figured that’s a good thing (cult classic or not it started getting worse with part 2) it did open up her schedule to keep doing what she enjoyed. Dinah did what a lot of actors do during her career as she bounced back and forth between the movies and TV on occasion, taking up the role of director, writer, and producer at one point or another as she continued to expand her repertoire.
She retired from acting in 2009 and at this moment it’s uncertain of how much she still has to do with show business, but it’s easy to think that she might still dabble in it from time to time if she’s not writing or directing. There’s always the possibility that she’ll act as producer on a project as well since there are quite a few people that find it hard to stay away from the life once they’ve gotten a taste of it. According to an article written by N.F. Mendoza of the Los Angeles Times, Dinah didn’t really find her groove until she was in her 20s and by that time she was hooked and wanted to keep going. Why she retired a little over a decade ago might be a personal matter or it might have just felt like the right time for the mother of three to focus on other things in her life and continue forward without Hollywood being in her back pocket just waiting to call on her. For a lot of celebrities a clean break with the business doesn’t always sound as simple as one might think it could be, especially if the individual in question was still considered to be someone of importance. For others however it might be that Hollywood just finally tired of them and gradually forgot they existed for one reason or another. For a woman that played one of the Pink Lady’s in Grease though the latter explanation doesn’t feel as though it would stick.
Instead it feels as though Dinah got out of acting when she felt the time was right. Her net worth would indicate that she’s well off enough to take care of herself and her family and that while she didn’t amass a ridiculous fortune she did well enough to be considered fortunate and even blessed in a way that she had the chance to shine and be remembered. Being a part of at least a couple of movies that are bound to remain as a couple of the most notable contributions to pop culture is nothing to sneeze at after all, and it’s a heck of a legacy to leave behind.Grease
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