“Grease” actor reveals how flubbed line made it into the final cut of the classic 'Summer Nights' scene

Marina WattsTue, June 2, 2026 at 4:06 PM UTC

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Jeff Conaway, John Travolta, Barry Pearl, and Kelly Ward in 'Grease'
Credit: Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy Everett Collection.Key Points -

Grease star Barry Pearl reveals how his goofed improvisation stayed in the final cut of the movie.

Instead of shouting an Italian insult, Pearl's Doody called a football player a gumdrop.

Grease is available to stream on Paramount+.

An unusual insult in Greasecame to be thanks to a flub on an actor's part.

Barry Pearl, who portrayed Doody in the 1978 movie musical, admitted that he misspoke during the scene leading up to the "Summer Nights" number, and the directors kept it in the final cut. While hurling an insult at a football player, Pearl's improvisation took a sweet turn.

“When we’re in the bleachers, before we sing ‘Summer Nights, we’re making fun of Tom Chisum, Lorenzo [Lamas’] character,” Pearl told Remind Magazine. "He’s running in his football stuff, and he puts his foot in his helmet, and we say, ‘You really put your foot into it this time, Chisum!'”

Didi Conn and Barry Pearl in 'Grease'
Credit: CBS via Getty

“Michael [Tucci, who played Sonny], who’s an authentic Italian, as I’m an authentic Jew — I’m supposed to be Italian in this, at least that was my choice — Michael uses the word when he puts somebody down, ‘you’re a real gavone.’ A ‘gavone’ is like a nerd. That’s Italian: You gavone, you stupid person,” he continued, explaining the slang.

"I loved that, and in the moment, because we did a lot of improvisation in many of the scenes, when it came time for us to be making fun of Tom Chisum, I wanted to call him, ‘You’re a real gavone,’ or ‘Hey gavone,’ at which point Michael actually said it, ‘What a gavone.'"

Pearl wanted to echo Tucci's sentiment, but stumbled on the delivery. "At that point, I already had the 'G' coming out of my mouth. So, I said, ‘Gumdrops, man,'" he recalled. As for what it meant, Pearl admitted it "means nothing." "It’s not a put-down, it’s nothing! And that’s the shot that they’ve got in the movie."

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Among Pearl's screen credits are My Favorite Martian, appearances in Days of Our Lives, Baywatch, Even Stevens, and House. Most recently, Pearl was featured in an episode of Nobody Wants This.

He also made an appearance in the 2016 Grease Live special as Stan Weaver. He and his onscreen love interest, Didi Conn (who played Frenchy), were the only two original stars to come back for the Fox special.

Barry Pearl, Kelly Ward, Michael Tucci, Jeff Conaway, and John Travolta in 'Grease'
Credit: Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy Everett Collection

In June 2025, Pearl, along with original Grease stars Conn, Michael Tucci (Sonny), and Kelly Ward (Putzie), and the film's director, Randal Kleiser, reunited for a sing-along screening of Grease at the Hollywood Bowl.

John Travolta surprised fans and the Grease alum at the start of the event in a black leather jacket and jeans a la Danny Zuko, joking that he thought his former costars "were going back to Australia!"

"Tonight at the Hollywood Bowl, for the first time I surprised everyone at the Grease Sing-a-Long and dressed up as Danny Zuko," Travolta wrote on Instagram after the event. "No one knew. Not even the cast. Thank you for a great evening."

Grease is available to stream on Paramount+.

on Entertainment Weekly

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